The tiny island of Singapore maybe one of the world’s smallest countries but it is also one of the most dynamic. The country has a population of close to three and half million with an additional transient population of around two million. World class restaurants, bars, shopping malls, hotels and serviced apartments in Singapore are evidence that the island is growing in popularity as a tourist destination. Furthermore, Singapore enjoys a strong economic climate and Singapore city is a major commercial hub and port of call for anyone doing business in Southeast Asia. Business travelers can find themselves a comfortable home away from home at the Somerset Orchard Singapore.
Among the many attractions in Singapore lie a few historic ones, like the Jahore Battery. The Jahore Battery was built by the British in 1939, at the start of World War Two. The location held support structures for three large guns placed in a row, five hundred meters from each other. Each gun had a sixteen and a half meter long barrel and fired a fifteen inch wide shell that was able to pierce the armour of the most powerful ship 30 km away. The gun was able to rotate at a three hundred and sixty degree angle and target objects both on land and at sea. The Jahore Battery site also consisted of a labyrinth of tunnels built to store ammunition for the ‘Monster Guns’, as they were known. Vertical shafts led to the labyrinth that extended three stories underground. Hydraulic lifts and a ram were used to load the guns.
The positioning of the heavy artillery was a preemptive measure to protect Singapore from the Japanese launching an attack by sea. The Jahore Battery was forgotten when the British left Singapore and was only discovered in April 1991 by the Singapore Prisons Service during a routine cleaning at its Abington Centre. A replica of a single Monster Gun and its massive shell can be seen at Cosford Road in Changi.
Chandrishan Williams is a travel writer who writes under the pen name, Caleb Falcon. He specializes in writing content based on the many exciting world adventures that await intrepid travellers.
