Fort Siloso:
Engine Room
The underground Engine Room supplied power to the guns and to associated building in the fort.
Some time ago, Andrew Hintz made me aware of an underground chamber close to No.3 Emplacement. He had visited the chamber back in the 1970s before the entrances were sealed. Unfortunately, with the passage of time he had forgotten some details. Based on what he told me, I thought that it may have been an artillery store or workshop - both of which the fort would have had. Since then, some intrepid explorers have accessed the chamber. The photos and plan I received from their visits, made me reappraise the purpose of the chamber. I am now convinced that the chamber was the engine room for the fort, not the underground chamber that I thought was the engine room.
I had always accepted that the underground chamber close to the No.2 Gun was the engine room. It had appropriate exhaust vents and beds for the generators. I did feel that it was small for the engine room of a three gun 9·2 inch battery though, as it did not resemble engine rooms for 9·2 inch batteries in Gibraltar and Australia for example. Perhaps it is a secondary engine room or workshop. Maybe one day I will find out. My thanks to Andrew and the other explorers for their photos and input, and importantly for correcting me.
The arrows show probable entrance locations
The circle show another probable entrance
Plan of the Engine Room by Lukas Menkhoff
Extracts from Faber Fire Command Survey of Operations
18 January 1942
In the Fort itself, at least 14 Bombs fell in all. One fell on top of the Engine Room but failed to do any damage.
14 February 1942
This was followed by the destruction of the engine room and pump chamber by R.E. personnel (35 Fortress Coy R.E.).