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by Q.F. guns as soon as she came in their arc, and when she passed through the fixed beam at ranges down to about 50 yards.
No. 37 was seen from Belchers at 8.2′ off Stonecutters, but not fired on, range too long. She was not seen from Stonecutters, and entered the harbour unopposed.
No. 20 was discovered by Stonecutters search-light at about 8·15′, and fire was opened when she advanced at 8·45′ by the channel N. of Stonecutters.
The inference to be drawn appears to me to be that, in clear weather, torpedo- boats cannot enter by the Lyemun Pass unobserved, and that with three or more boats at the western entrance some will pass in unobserved. Thick weather would be all in favour of the attack.
As regards the chance of boats, when detected, being able to run past, I consider that at Lyemun, when efficient artillery defence is provided, which is far from being the case at present, their chance would be small. On the other hand, at the western entrance I consider that no possible arrangement of the lights, or reasonable number of guns, could effectively bar the passage.
Commander Green, R.N., commanding the attack, considers—
(i.) That a second search-light is required at Stonecutters.
(ii) That the fixed beams are weak.
The R.A. officers charged with the defence consider
(i.) That the search-light at Belchers would be better on a lower level.
(ii.) That the channels N. and S. of Stonecutters cannot both be watched by one search-light.
(iii.) That the fixed beams at the western entrance are too weak.
(iv.) That more Q.F. gun defence is required for the channel north of Stonecutters. (v.) That the S. W. portion of the Lyemun Pass is not sufficiently lighted. And I concur with them.
Lieutenant Bamber, R.N., in command of No. 37, thinks he might have shot away the search-lights at Lyemun. This is of course possible but not very probable, if the boat stopped for the purpose she would be exposed to the fire of the medium guns of the fort, as would also those that adopted the tactics of stopping and turning end on when observed by the search-light. Fire was generally opened using the search-light and carried on with it until the boats entered the fixed beam, which of itself does not seem to be of much use against torpedo-boat raids except in the case of a narrow entrance as at Lyemun; the light is indifferent and I supposed the boats would pass through it in about two minutes, while the range to mid-channel between Belchers and Stonecutters would hardly be less than 2,500 yards.
The Q.F. gun defence at both ends of the harbour is very weak and it is most essential that the latest approved armament should be provided as early as possible.
A. R. FRASER, Lieutenant-Colonel,
(Signed)
The C.S.O., Hong Kong,
April 10, 1900.
O.C.R.A., China.
Sub-Enclosure 3.
Remarks by the C.R.E. on combined Operations on the Evenings of the 27th, 28th, and
29th March, 1900.
I concur in the opinion of Commander Green, R.N., and the R.A., that a second search-light is necessary at Stonecutters. The single search-light there has an arc of over 180 degrees to search. To do this it must either traverse the circle too quickly for close observation, or else leave portions of the are too long in darkness.
There is room
for another engine at Stonecutters, and the light might be placed as marked in yellow pencil on plan of O.C.S.M.*
2. Owing to the positions of the fixed beams at the western entrance, their power is destroyed by their shining dead against one another. This is unavoidable unless we
* Facing page 6. (Secretary C.D.C.)
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