Fort Tanjong Katong

About

Fort Tanjong Katong was a military fort in Tanjong Katong, Singapore. The fort stood from 1879 to 1901 and was one of the oldest military forts built by the former British colonial government of Singapore. Located on what is now the junction of Fort Road and Meyer Road, it is currently located and displayed at Katong Park. The fort used be garrisoned by the Singapore Volunteer Artillery Corps (SVA).

Ideas to build defenses around the Tanjong Katong area were conceived as early as 1819, with a proposal in 1827 and subsequent proposals recommending to build a fort there, though it was not effectuated as it was thought that the sandy soil in the site was unsuitable. It was recommended by Governor of the Straits Settlement William Drummond Jervois in 1875 that Fort Tanjong Katong be built, with the fort built in 1879 to protect Singapore from foreign powers. After its completion, the fort was nicknamed "The Wash-out Fort" by locals due to the fort being constructed on low-level land, resulting in the batteries aiming to sea level. A tower was constructed to mitigate it but it made determining the target range for the guns hard as it was built on sand, resulting in the tower shaking when the gun was fired. In 1885, its three-gun battery was planned to be upgraded to 8 in (200 mm) guns. Five years after the upgrades were completed, there were calls to demolish Fort Tanjong Katong due to its poor structural design and remoteness. It was decided to abandon the fort in 1901, with most of the fort buried after World War I (WWI) except for a bastion, which was visible until the late 1960s, where it was reburied as part of land reclamations for the East Coast, resulting in the fort's site becoming part of Katong Park.