GWR
11-06-05, 10:45 PM
There was a recent enquiry on the frontpage about whether Thailand already has any 'drawbridges' in advance of one perhaps being encorporated into the 'Gulf of Thailand Causeway Bridge'. I had a sort of deja-vu about this question; which was only recently addressed when I was examining Thailand's 'Coup' History. I read an account of the Manhattan Coup of 1951 and remembered that I have passed under the Phra Puttha Yot Fah (Memorial) Bridge on ferries twice. I seem to remember having read someplace that it was a ‘swingbridge’; and it certainly looks like one. I suspect it hasn’t been used as such for many years.
The Naval HQ is actually upstream of this bridge, so it makes sense for it to have originally been a swinger; especially since the Navy also had its fuel depot there.
In 1951, PM Plaek Phibun Songkhram was asked to accept the US-funded waterway dredger 'Manhattan' from the US Government. Junior Naval Officers used the event to stage a coup. Plaek was arrested and taken aboard the Navy’s Japanese-built Flagship ‘Sri Ayutthaya’ (commissioned 1938). The coup seems to have been very badly coordinated. For example, it seems that the Navy didn’t seize the bridge and open it to allow the ship passage to a less vulnerable place. The Army were wary of the ship’s large armaments, but deliberately proceeded to inaccurately shell the ship by way of warning. As a result, there were about 3,000 casualties and 1,200 fatalities; mostly amongst civilians. The Navy’s Oil Depot also went up in smoke after being hit by ‘stray’ shells. Eventually the shelling became more accurate after the ship stalled in the process of turning somewhere near Bangkok Noi Station. Whilst drifting downstream, the ship was bombed from the air. Plaek jumped ship and swam to the shore just before the ship sank. Plaek was still in the grip of the Naval Officers at this point; but soon after many of them ‘abandoned’ the Coup ‘ship’ and scuttled off to Burma; aboard a north-bound train, of all things. Beats me how they ever managed that in a city full of soldiers! Wonders will never cease!
Many Naval Officers were imprisoned as a result; although most were pardoned for the 2,500th Anniversary of the Buddha’s Birth (1957 = 2500 Buddhist Era). The Navy was cut down to about a third of its 1951 size and naval personnel were deliberately sent to very remote, far-flung postings. One half suspects that the burning of the Oil Depot lead it to being relocated in its present Khlong Toey site downstream. Downstream bridges built after this era were probably too low for naval ships; and thus the swing function of the Memorial Bridge probably became redundant. The Naval HQ is still in the same location, but I suspect after this coup neither side exactly had the stomach to open the swingbridge and allow large naval ships into Central Bangkok.
Makes you wonder how and when Sri Ayutthaya was salvaged. Was she completely scrapped; or perhaps refloated and recommissioned?
The Naval HQ is actually upstream of this bridge, so it makes sense for it to have originally been a swinger; especially since the Navy also had its fuel depot there.
In 1951, PM Plaek Phibun Songkhram was asked to accept the US-funded waterway dredger 'Manhattan' from the US Government. Junior Naval Officers used the event to stage a coup. Plaek was arrested and taken aboard the Navy’s Japanese-built Flagship ‘Sri Ayutthaya’ (commissioned 1938). The coup seems to have been very badly coordinated. For example, it seems that the Navy didn’t seize the bridge and open it to allow the ship passage to a less vulnerable place. The Army were wary of the ship’s large armaments, but deliberately proceeded to inaccurately shell the ship by way of warning. As a result, there were about 3,000 casualties and 1,200 fatalities; mostly amongst civilians. The Navy’s Oil Depot also went up in smoke after being hit by ‘stray’ shells. Eventually the shelling became more accurate after the ship stalled in the process of turning somewhere near Bangkok Noi Station. Whilst drifting downstream, the ship was bombed from the air. Plaek jumped ship and swam to the shore just before the ship sank. Plaek was still in the grip of the Naval Officers at this point; but soon after many of them ‘abandoned’ the Coup ‘ship’ and scuttled off to Burma; aboard a north-bound train, of all things. Beats me how they ever managed that in a city full of soldiers! Wonders will never cease!
Many Naval Officers were imprisoned as a result; although most were pardoned for the 2,500th Anniversary of the Buddha’s Birth (1957 = 2500 Buddhist Era). The Navy was cut down to about a third of its 1951 size and naval personnel were deliberately sent to very remote, far-flung postings. One half suspects that the burning of the Oil Depot lead it to being relocated in its present Khlong Toey site downstream. Downstream bridges built after this era were probably too low for naval ships; and thus the swing function of the Memorial Bridge probably became redundant. The Naval HQ is still in the same location, but I suspect after this coup neither side exactly had the stomach to open the swingbridge and allow large naval ships into Central Bangkok.
Makes you wonder how and when Sri Ayutthaya was salvaged. Was she completely scrapped; or perhaps refloated and recommissioned?