Page 465
Page 465
437
235
VANCOUVER
They would be most useful to fire upon the decks of vessels entering the harbour to command the Appendix No. 4. road leading to the rear of Rodd Hill and the higher ground behind that hill, with the bridge and road at the head of the harbour, to cover the hills on the eastern side of the harbour, to flank the shore toward Macaulay Point, and, if of larger calibre, to give effective fire upon the entrance of Victoria Harbour and upon the outer roads.
Brothers Island, in front of Signal Hill, consists of two parallel ridges of rock lying in a north and south direction, and having between them a mass of earth into which the sea has made, and is making, such deep inroad, that it seems probable the island will, in a few years, be divided into two parts; the surface of the island is of limited area and irregular form, and is not suitable for the con- struction of a permanent work. The island is cut off from the mainland by a channel 300 yards wide and 18 feet deep.
Cape Saxe and Macaulay Point are merely projecting portions of the clay cliff, on a substratum of rock, which has, to some extent, prevented these points from being washed away by the waves as rapidly as the cliff on each side of them; they offer about equal facilitias for the construction of a battery. Cape Saxe, where the battery would be about 35 feet above the sea, has the advantage of being the nearer to Sangster's Knoll by about 700 yards, and therefore is a better site for a battery if Esquimalt alone can be considered. Macaulay Point has the advantage of about 10 feet more height above the sea, and, being the more prominent, is better suited for a battery if the two harbours are considered together.
The four points to the eastward of Victoria Harbour are of a similar character to Cape Saxe and Macaulay Point; they slightly differ in themselves, and in their height above the sea.
Holland Point, 20 feet above the sea, is a good position for a battery of small guns to defend the entrance to Victoria Harbour, and to flank the beach.
This site was proposed by Lieutenant-Colonel Irvine for one of the temporary batteries, but not approved, as the proprietors of the land asked 400 dollars for the site.
Myers Point is only deserving of notice on account of a temporary battery having been placed upon it instead of on Holland Point.
Finlayson Point, 55 feet above the sea, is a good position to flank the shore between Holland and Clover Points, and also to command the water in front, but an intervening hill on the east masks its fire upon Ross Bay, from whence the city of Victoria can be bombarded as effectually as from any other part of the roads. The summit of the small projecting mass at Finlayson Point does not afford room for a battery, which would therefore have to be retired to about the general line of the shore. Guns mounted on this and Holland Point being only 1,200 yards apart would be unneces- sarily close together.
Clover Point is open, level ground, about 20 feet above the sea, and would afford ample room for a battery. Guns mounted here would command the water towards Holland Point, and would prevent vessels from lying or disembarking troops in Ross Bay.
Beacon Hill, about 250 yards behind Finlayson Point, rises to a height of 140 feet above the level of the sea.
Heavy guns on its summit would command the entrance to Victoria Harbour, the shore and water from Holland to Finlayson Points, and see into Ross Bay, over the hills behind Clover Point, and if the flank guns were mounted on counterpoise or central pivoting guns in pits, they would command the valley between Ross Bay and the city, and give distant fire upon an enemy advancing from the north or cast.
The temporary works which are on Brothers Island, Macaulay Point, Myers and Finlayson Points, are all of a similar construction; the emplacements are sunk sufficiently (about 2 ft. 6 in.) into the ground to enable the guns, which are mounted on naval carriages, to fire over the natural surface; the platforms are made of 3-inch fir plank laid upon and spiked to sleepers or baulks bedded in the ground. Where racers and pivots are used the racers are secured to the platforms by spikes, &c. The guns, which are judiciously placed so as not to attract attention from an enemy, work very fairly, and will probably continue to do so as long as the platforms are kept in order. The genouillère is revetted with 1-inch plank. The earth of which the traverses, &c., are made, is very friable, and under the influence of the weather, and the feet of cattle, which have almost free access to the batteries, the slopes are giving way. There are no proper magazines or shell stores in the works, and the only accessories are a small side-arm shed and temporary magazine in each battery constructed of rough posts and boarding, covered with a few inches of earth. In some of them rain finds admission freely.
As neither the excavations for the batteries nor the material of which they are constructed could be utilized in permanent works, and the sites do not seem adapted for such works, I would recommend that the batteries should be left as they are in charge of the Dominion Government, so that the station may not be entirely defenceless during the construction of the permanent works. The sites of the temporary batteries and the lateral traverse of the guns are shown in green on the plans and charts ;* the details are given in the plans prepared under Lieutenant-Colonel Irvine.
The positions I propose for the permanent batteries to defend Esquimalt Harbour are Sangster's Knoll, Rodd Point, Signal Hill, and Cape Saxe.
Of these, the guns at Signal Hill and Cape Saxe would aid in the defence of Victoria Harbour, and for its further defence, and for preventing an enemy's ships approaching near the city or lying in Ross Bay, I propose a battery on Beacon Hill.
Assuming that these sites will be approved, it would be advisable to increase the number as well as the power of the guns suggested by the Colonial Defence Committee.
Royal Roads are free from any impediment to navigation, so that a hostile vessel could advance at full speed, and if kept about mid-channel she would not be more than ten minutes passing over the distance within which she could be struck from the batteries at Sangster's Knoll and Cape Saxe at a more direct angle than 45 degrees. In that time it would not be practicable to fire more than three
* Not printed.
ISLAND.
[1103]
Page 465
5 T
Page 465
Page 465Page 466