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341
No. 102.
War Office Memorandum on the Defence of Hong Kong.
IN any European war in which Great Britain is engaged, the chances are that she will find herself in opposition to Russia, no matter what complexion the strife may assume; thus the contemplated alliance of the three most autocratic monarchs in Europe, viz., the Emperors of North Germany, Austria, and Russia, was understood to be adverse to Great Britain, and more recently, when the two former fell away from the Emperor of Russia, the latter looked for, if he did not absolutely find, his ally in the French Republic.
In the event of a conflict with Russia, her hope of striking us with effect lies in the Pacific, and looking to the unremitting efforts she is making to place a powerful squadron in its waters, and to the short distance of her naval establishments in that ocean from Hong Kong, Hong Kong becomes of very great importance to us, lying as it does at the farthest extremity of our eastern trade route, and covering upon that side the routes to Singapore and the Australian Colonies.
It is of paramount importance not to suffer any nation, or combination of nations, to destroy the prestige or to lessen the influence of Great Britain with China, and Great Britain must be prepared to assert herself at Hong Kong at all hazards, not forgetting that the second of the combinations indicated above would give to Russia France with her military establishments in the East, and that circumstances may rank with them the United States, which, with cynical contempt of consistency, has shown herself equally ready to ally herself with the most autocratic in action, and the most democratic in aspiration, of European countries.
Looking to the fact that Russia has already in the Pacific three vessels of war carrying from 8 to 10 inches of iron armour,* and is intent upon placing there still more heavily armoured vessels, we should have guns equal to cope with at least 10 inches of iron at 2,000 yards; and with this object it is proposed to provide either 10-inch muzzle-loading rifled guns of 18 tons, or the 10-4-inch breech-loading rifled guns of 26 tons.
Up to 1878 the armament of Hong Kong consisted of nine smooth-bore guns of various calibres, and was worse than useless, the batteries being disposed close about the
town.
The Colonial Defence Committee then recommended that eight 61-ton muzzle-loading rifled guns, and seven 64-pounder muzzle-loading rifled guns, should be provided for tem- porary defence, and that batteries should be prepared for these guns at Kowloon Dock Point, Stonecutter's Island, and Belcher's Bay; they recommended also that batteries should be prepared at North Point and Kowloon West for three 7-inch breech-loading rifled guns each, as these guns were then at the station.
The positions selected by the Colonial Defence Committee are well chosen, and batteries for four guns each have been constructed at North Point and Kowloon Dock, and for three guns at Kowloon West. It is only necessary to provide these batteries with a heavier armament by adding to each one of the heavy guns indicated above, and to modify the designs of the batteries about to be built to receive armaments of similar heavy calibre. Provision should also be made for closing these batteries and for rendering them secure, and for adding a certain proportion of bombproof shelter for the garrisons.
Appendix No. 4.
HONG KONG.
Kowloon Dock Battery.
At Kowloon Dock battery it is proposed to place three 9-inch muzzle-loading rifled guns in the three emplacements recently constructed, to make the fourth emplacement for a 1 10-in. M.L.R. gun. 10-inch gun, to close the gorge, and to render the battery secure against assault.
The cost of this is estimated at 7,5901.
At North Point it is proposed to treat the battery in a similar manner. The cost is estimated at 8,0301.
3 9-in. M.L.R. guns.
•
£
Battery Armament
7,590
10,971
North Point Battery.
•
1 10-in. M.L.R. gun.
3 9-in. M.L.R. guns, Battery
8,030
10,971
In order to meet the deficiency of heavy gun fire upon the mouth of Lyemoon Pass, through which a vessel would pass with great rapidity, and to search out the waters of Kowloon Bay, in which she might lie with some security from the preceding works, a site Armament should be selected either at Bremer, or at Quarry Point, for a new battery to mount three Bremer or Quarry Point. guns of 18 tons and two medium guns.
£
17,765
3 10-in. M.L.R, guns, 18 tons. Lyemoon Pass is the entrance to Hong Kong which is nearest to Russia, and during 2 64-pr. M.L.R. guns. two-thirds of the year the monsoon blows directly from Russia towards Hong Kong, giving
Battery her the weather gauge for attack, no inconsiderable advantage; for full-powered steamers Armament experience considerable difficulty in steaming up through these narrow inland seas against this monsoon when it is in strength.
The work should be closed here, as it commands the road leading from Tytam Bay by the east of the island to the town of Victoria; if at Bremer Point it blocks it absolutely; if at Quarry Point it sweeps it at very short range. The cost of this work is estimated at 17,7657.
Kowloon West.
Kowloon West.----A battery for three 7-inch breech-loading rifled guns has been thrown up here; it is an excellent and central position, seeing across the harbour the slopes from 3 9-in. M.I.R. guns, the summit ridge of Hong Kong to the water's edge, commanding the whole of the British 1 64-pr. portion of Kowloon Peninsula, and commanding though at long range-the greater Battery entrance to the harbour between Green and Stonecutter's Islands,
It is proposed to substitute 9-inch muzzle-loading rifled guns of 12 tons for the
* She has also a considerable force (some 20) of large and fast heavily-armed ocean-going steamers.
[1103 |
4 S
Armament
10,755
£
7,205 7,386
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