THE CHINA MAIL, MARCH 23,
BRITAIN'S NEW CITADEL IN
With the formal opening of graving dock Britain's new nav
at Seletar, Singapo
ed as being in comm
the
18 months may elapse, however, be-
fore the vast undertaking is complete to the last detail.
FAR EAST
From the ranthe east- anel vieady to the chaine as fanked on
irth by the Singapore hills and - on the north by several islands ad-
are
that forward tendency which has tance too great to admit of sustained joining the mainland Both hills and The story of how the Singapore become so marked in recent years. The naval operations. On the other hand it islands, now bristle with guns of all base" came into existence is an epic British Commonwealth, with immense is sufficiently near to British ber calibres, the heaviest having a range of human craftsmanship triumphing and vital interests at stake, dare not points in the Indian Ocean and the of 25 miles,
entrust them, indefinitely to the good- Pacific to provide for their defence în over the forces of Nature.
The westward approach to the base Less than 14 years ago the entire will of any foreign Power:
an emergency. The mileage from is rendered almost impassable by rocks. area now occupied by one of the larg Those interests include a great deal Singapore to these points is as follows: and shoals, and is blocked by a cause est and certainly the most modern of of valuable property in China and the Hong Kong, 1,435; Port Darwin (Norway linking the island with the main- the world's naval dockyards was
Incrative Chinese trade; the flourish thern Australia), 1,900, Colombo, land. The defending batteries forbidding maze of tropical jungle, ing port of Hong Kong: Borneo and 1,565; Calcutta, 1665; Rangoon, 1,150, sited to command every approach by walled about by solid, ramparts of New Gumes, veritable treasuries of Finally, Singapore is 8,200 miles from sea, and are so concealed among the natural wealth, and the vast but al- England and 6,000 miles from Malts, trees and palm groves that even the nightmare vegetation and dense un-
most unguarded territories af Aus headquarters of dergrowth, flanked to seaward by
the Mediterranean flash of the guns would be difficult to tralasia. On any single day of the FleetTM
detect. mangrove swamps and black slime,
year British ships and cargoes worth the haunt of crocodiles and serpents.
To its remoteness from Europe is
DOCK FACILITIES: S £160,000,000 are afloat in the China due the unequalled strength of UNPROMISING SITE
the In the Johore Strait there is · 87- defences with which the new base has chorage for the largest fleet ever likely to be seen in those waters. The base itself has a frontage of four miles. Its outstanding feature is the giant graving dock, measuring over 1,000ft by 130ft, with a depth of 55ft. Constructed of cement faced with granite from the quarries of Aber- deen, and Johore, its foundations are carried to a depth of 80ft below the floor of the dock. Within this huge basin there is room and to spare for
UTILITY IN DEFENCE
BY
HECTOR C. BYWATER
The task of clearing, levelling, and Seas, the Indian Ocean, and in Aus draining this temain was rendered talasian waters. To deny these rich still more difficult by the intense heat assets protection would have been to and humidity, for Singapore lies but put a premium on aggression. a few miles north of the equator. The temperature rarely falls below 80 de Singapore is ideally situated as the grees, and the average annual rainfall hub of our Far Eastern defence sys- is 100in. Life in the swamps is ren tem. Lying at the tip of the Malay dered almost intolerable by insect Peninsula, it commands the direct pests, and even now 70,000 galls, of route between the North Pacific and kerosene are used every year to keep the Indian Ocean. The only alterna- down the mosquitoes in the area er- tive passage involves dangerous navi- ed by the base.
gation in a labyrinth of islands, where been provided. It must, in short, be When the project was first mooted in war-time a fleet would be in con- capable of holding out against every conceived in the brain of the naval
form of attack for an indefinite period, in 1921 even the residents of Singa- stant peril of ambrish.
for it would be a matter of weeks at least before succour could arrive from European waters.
vision to see the fulfilment of
"TO STAND SIEGE
pore voted the Admiralty mad for A British ueet based at Singapore choosing so unpromising a site; they would thus be admirably placed to dis- declared it to be physically incapable of being transformed into a naval base. the Indian Ocean, or to intercept an pute the passage of a hostile force into Yet someone at Whitehall had the enemy with designs on Borneo, New
Its elaborate fortifications, oil tanks with a capacity of 2,500,000 gallons, the Guinea, or Australian territory. miracle and the resolution to accom the same time it would automatically and the immense reserves. of muni- plish it.
cover the richly-endowed Dutch East tions and stores which have been.. The necessity for a modern fleet Indies, a fact of which the Netherlands accumulated-all these are designed base in the Far East had become ap- Government is fully aware.
to enable the island to withstand parent even before the end of the war From the strategic point of -vies siege of unlimited duration. Japan had taken advantage of Europe's Singapore is, first and last, a defen- pre-occupation to extend and consoli- sive position, implying no menace to date her power in the Western Pacific, foreign territory From Japan proper and her policy was already assuming it is separated by 2,500 miles, a dis-
The new base is situated on the old Johore Strait, which divides the island of Singapore from the mainland of the Malay Peninsula, and is 14 miles from
WHY SUFFER FROM
HEADACHES SLEEPLESSNESS IRRITABILITY
when ASPRO
WILL
PROTECT YOU
HESE are nervous complaints that quickly yield to the soothing influence of ASPRO
So many thousands of people have proved it-if you have not proved it for yourself. you will generally find that your friends can tell you that "ASPRO' defnitely does banish beadaches in a few minutes brings sweet sleep to the sleepless and soothes away your scr bility quickly and effectively. So why suffer? "ASPRO does its work without harming the heart or the stomach. The me has passed when it was necessary to take dangerous drugs and narcotics for these irritating complaints. ASPRO is safe sure and effective in- action-you can take it anywhere—at any time. The fact that after ingestion in the system "ASPRO' is an anti-pyretic or fever-reducer an anti-periodic germicide internal antiseptic and a solvent of Uric Acid. makes it one of the most useful medicines ever given to mankind. Its parity and efficiency is vouched for by doctors and nurses all over the world.
Try 'ASPRO'to-day
and BANISH PAIN and NERVINESS
the mightiest warship either afloat or constructor.
The dockyard is equipped with cranes to handle the heaviest
guns or manchinery parts, and when the Plant is fully installed it will be pre- pared to execute repairs of every description Near the dry dock is moored the 50,000-ton floating dock which was towed out from England 1928. Two capital ships could therefore be docked simultaneously.
Adjacent to the base is a great mili- tary aerodrome, while the large civil flying field and seaplane station re- town Cently opened near Singapore would-be available for military" pur- poses in an emergency.
in
Circumstantial accounts of the elab- orate system of fortification have been published in the foreign Press. At Changi, the promontory dominating Johore Stra a new town has been created to house the fortress command and the garrison of artillerymen, en- gineers, and infantry charged with the defence of the base.
ers.
This gigantic achievement, dockyard and defences, is the joint work of British engineers and Chinese labour- No official figures of the total cost have been issued as yet, but the naval works alone havé sbsorbed about £11,000,000, and a further £9,000,- 000 has been spent on the fortifications and Royal Air Force establishments. DOMENTONS VIEWS
Of the approximate total £20,000,- 000 the Federated Malay States have contributed $2,000,000, the Sultan of Johore £500,000, New Zealand -$1,000,- 000, and Hong Kong $350,000. Aus- tralia was originally to have made a large cash contribution, but in 1924, when the British Socialist Govern- ment discontinued work on the base, the Australian quota was diverted to the modernisation of the Common- wealth Navy. It will be seen that while the Singapore base is essentially an Imperial undertaking, not less than four-fifths of the total cost has been defrayed by the taxpayers of Great Britain
When the plan, was first announced 1923 it aroused fierce controversy, Liberal and Labour spokesmen deno-
itas provocative and unneces sary. One of the earliest and actions the Socialist Government in 1924 to suspend all work on it, after the Dominion Governments had been invited to express their views:
It was found that Australia and New Zealand regarded the completi of the chase as-esserhal ko. Tampire defence, South Africa opposed it as contrary to the interests of peace; Canada and the Irish Free State preferred not to
while the
of India were the Sch have 14 years that
indispensable bulwark COMMON, SEcurity.
FLEET AND THE BASE That Singap
240
and
-DODWELL & CO., LTD.
Chemists and Dez
Is Bout
sued on Page 93