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APPENDIX.
Appendix No. 1.
PAPER PUT IN BY SIR ALEXANDER MILNE.
n.Coaling Stations
Lists of Coaling Depôts and Stations now used by Her Majesty's Ships, and Remarks on.
required in time of War.
It
THE accompanying Return is the Official Admiralty List and classification of the various coaling depôts and places at home and abroad where Her Majesty's ships can now obtain supplies of coal. will be seen that there are three arrangements in force.
1. There are Admiralty depôts, which are kept complete with coal by supplies sent from England or other places by the Admiralty. Five of these, however, are in foreign territories, and consequently would be closed to Her Majesty's ships in war.
2. In this list there are thirty-seven various places or stations in different parts of the world to which coal is not sent by the Admiralty, but is obtained by local agreements or contracts, the con- tractors being bound to keep a certain fixed quantity of coal in store; but twenty-three of these places are also in foreign territories.
3. Under this arrangement coal is purchased in the open market at the places where any of Her Majesty's ships may arrive and require supplies.
Under the conditions of the first arrangement a grave responsibility devolves on the Admiralty Departments to send and to keep up a sufficient store of coal which would be required for the use of Her Majesty's ships, especially during or in the prospect of war; and unless this important question has timely consideration, Her Majesty's ships might be rendered inefficient for service.
It is very doubtful how far supplies of coal in war could be obtained with any degree of certainty under the second arrangement, as it could not be expected that any peace agreement or contract could be fulfilled during a period of hostilities, especially when large and unexpected supplies would be required. It therefore appears to be essential, in the interests of Her Majesty's service during war, that coal should be sent and the requisite supplies maintained by the Admiralty at their own depôts, as the only reliable means of securing those necessary supplies required for Her Majesty's ships.
The following are the coaling-stations under the three arrangements:—
Admiralty Depôts.
(1.)
Storage Room, under Cover.
Tons.
Best Season of the Year
for Shipment from England.
Chatham Sheerness
Portsmouth
Portland
Devonport
Haulbowline
Home.
..
Mediterranean.
Gibraltar
Malta
West Coast of Africa.
Sierra Leone Fernando Po*
Ascension
Cape of Good Hope
Zanzibar Trincomalee
Hong Kong
Nagasaki*
East Indies.
China.
a
Nil
3,800
7,100
3,750
6,600
2,700
6,000
40,000
::::
2,000 700
2,500
5,000
February to October.
N.B. The contractors are not bound to deliver coals during No- vember, December, or January.
Shipments can be made at any season of the year.
February to September. September to January. October to February. July to September.
3,300
May to October.
::
6,000
July to October.
7,000
3,200
December to Mid-April.
Hiogo*.
3,800
Yokohama*
North America and West Indies.
Halifax
4,600
March to July.
Bermuda
3,600
Jamaica
5,000
Mid-December to April.
Barbadoes
1,200
Pacific.
Esquimalt
1,000
* Those places to which a (*) is attached indicate the stations which will be closed to Her Majesty's ships during a period of war.
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