Mount Serapong Gun Batteries
Mount Serapong on Google Earth. Any exploration of the remains on Mount Serapong should be planned and correct safety equipment carried. No one should explore alone as there is always a risk of falling and being injured. In addition to the risk of injury, there are Pythons, Cobras, and Green Tree Snakes on Serapong. Large Monitor Lizards can also be seen.
LEFT: Mount Serapong in 1922. This shows centre left, the two gun Serapong 9.2-Inch Battery, and on the right, the single 9.2-Inch BL Gun of the Serapong Spur Battery. It is important to note that these were two separate gun batteries.
Due to the amount on military installations and the large water catchment area, Mount Serapong acquired a nickname, ‘Cement Hill’. Unlike today, in times past, the vegetation was cleared from the hill so that the guns had a clear field of fire.
The first military presence on Mount Serapong was an Infantry Redoubt. Sir William Drummond Jervois who was Governor of the Straits Settlements 1875-1877 recommended the construction of the Redoubt in 1876. Sir William had been with the Department of Fortifications at the War Office in England before becoming Governor. He pointed out to the British Government that there was some 70,000 tons of coal in Singapore and precious little coastal defence to protect it.
In order to create the Redoubt, much of the primary jungle on Mount Serapong had to be cleared. This was done by using prisoners from India as the work force.
In 1885 Plans were drawn up to install two 8 Inch BL Guns on the top of Mount Serapong. Fort Tanjong Katong was also to be up rated with two more 8 Inch BL Guns. The 8 Inch BL Gun was not a standard British coastal artillery gun, and these four guns were to be the only 8 Inch BL Guns in the British Empire. Due to delays with fittings, it was to be 1887 before the guns were ready for service and the Serapong Battery came into service. At nearby Berhala Reping, two Twin 6 Pounder Rapid Firing Gun emplacements were constructed. The photograph on the right shows one of the two surviving 8 Inch Gun Barrels. This one belongs to the Royal Artillery Museum in London. The other is on Display at Fort Siloso.
By the early 20th Century, the 8-Inch Guns had had their day. Fort Tanjong Katong had had its day and was decommissioned and abandoned. However, Mount Serapong was to be up gunned and extensively altered. The 8-Inch Guns were to be removed and replaced by two 9.2-Inch Mark X BL Guns on Mark V Barbette Carriages. At the nearby spur of Mount Serapong, a new Battery, to be named ‘Serapong Spur’ was to be constructed and armed with a single 9.2-Inch Mark X BL Gun on Mark V Barbette Carriage. The second Mount Serapong Battery became operational around about August 1910, and the Spur Battery around about March 1911. The 9.2-Inch BL Guns on Mount Serapong were to form the last battery on the top of Mount Serapong and the battery was decommissioned during the 1930s. However, Serapong Spur was to see a transformation during the 1930s. Instead of being abandoned it was reconstructed to accept a Mark VII 6-Inch Gun on a Mark II Barbette Carriage. A new similarly armed emplacement was to be constructed just up hill from the Spur Battery. This new Battery would be called the Serapong Battery.
Neither of the 8-Inch or the 9.2-Inch Batteries atop Mount Serapong ever fired a shot in anger, nor did the Serapong Spur 9.2-Inch Battery. Examination of records has failed to determine whether the Serapong 6-Inch Battery fired in anger. It would seem unlikely that it did given the Japanese main line of advance in February 1942. The guns being on the eastern side of Mount Serapong, and having rearward overhead cover could not have been bought to bear on the advancing Japanese. They could however, have fired towards the south west of Singapore and Kallang airfield. Records do show that the guns were used to fire warning shots across the bows of ships straying towards the minefield. At least one ship was lost by striking a mine in the minefields.
Following the Second World War, Mount Serapong was not re-armed. The emplacements and associated buildings were abandoned. However, a military use was found for the Mount. A concrete platform for a Saluting Battery of 25-Pounder Gun-Howitzers was constructed where the No.2 8-inch and 9.2-Inch Guns had once stood.
Two views of the Saluting Battery on Mount Serapong.
A new accommodation block was built on the hill and used to house Catholic service people on religious retreats. Transportable army Radar equipment was also installed on Mount Serapong.
Once the British Army handed Blakang Mati over to the Singapore Armed Forces, Mount Serapong was left for nature to reclaim it, and the hill became overgrown again after around 100 years of military life.