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Appendix No. 4.
VANCOUVER ISLAND.
Sir,
448
No. 129.
Colonial Office to Royal Commission on the Defence of British Possessions and Commerce Abroad.
Downing Street, October 18, 1881. I AM directed by the Earl of Kimberley to transmit to you a copy of a letter from the War Office, inclosing, for the information of the Royal Commission on the Defence of British Possessions and Commerce Abroad, a copy of a Report and plans, by Colonel Crossman, C.M.G., R.E., on the defence of Esquimalt Harbour, British Columbia.
I am, &c.
(Signed)
JOHN BRAMSTON,
Inclosure 1 in No. 129.
War Office to Colonial Office.
Sir,
War Office, October 10, 1881. I AM directed by the Secretary of State for War to inclose a copy of a Report and plans by Colonel Crossman, C.M.G., R.E., on the defence of Esquimalt Harbour, British Columbia, and to request that the Earl of Kimberley will be so good as to forward the same for the information of the Royal Commission on the Defence of British Possessions and Commerce Abroad.
I have, &c.
(Signed)
RALPH THOMPSON.
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Inclosure 2 in No. 129.
Memorandum by Colonel Crossman, R.E., on the Defence of Esquimalt.
IN considering the defence of Esquimalt, the position of the Naval Yard must determine the plan to be adopted.
The present position of the Yard, though subject to the disadvantage of the heavy sea which runs at times at Grant's Knoll, as mentioned by the late Colonel Lovell, R.E., in his Memorandum of the 20th December, 1879,* cannot be said to be badly chosen for the service of the fleet. For, wherever the stores may be placed, ships will, as a general rule, lie at anchor in Constance Cove, where there is deep water, and shelter from all winds.
In a defensive point of view, however, nothing can be worse than the position of the Yard at Esquimalt, placed as it is at the very mouth of the harbour, and so entailing the necessity of advancing the works of defence required to secure it against bombardment.
Considering that the value of the stores collected there amounts to upwards of 70,000l., and that these stores would be largely increased in time of war, and further that, even when the Canada Pacific Railway is completed, it will be most difficult to replace them if destroyed, it would appear that, if this naval station is to be retained, the stores should be moved to a more secure position at the head of the harbour.
To substitute bomb-proof buildings for the present storehouses, which are all of wood, would entail a greater expense than the removal of the yard to a new site at a greater distance from the open sea.
The best position would appear to be near the ground now occupied by the Indian Reserve in Plumper Bay, as recommended, I believe, by Admiral Hastings some years ago.
Owing to the shallow water at the head of this bay, it would be necessary, in order to enable ships to load and discharge alongside, to have a much greater extent of wharfage than is required at the present Yard, and increased facilities for the towage of lighters would have to be provided, owing to the greater distance of the Yard from the principal anchorage.
On the other hand, it must be borne in mind that the present storehouses and other buildings on Duntze Head are of wood, easily destroyed by fire, and will require reconstruction in a few years; that the present wharf accommodation requires to be increased; and that the factory and workshops require considerable extension.
When the new graving-dock is completed, and a railway made from Nanaimo to Esquimalt, which will no doubt be done as soon as the Canada Pacific Railway is finished, the ground on which the present Yard stands will be of great value for commercial purposes; and estimating the cost of a new establishment at 50,000, it is probable that in the long run the cost of removal would, if not altogether, be to a considerable extent covered by the sale of the present site and buildings.
I inclose a separate Memorandum, with an estimate showing how the above sum of 50,000l. was arrived at.
It is unfortunate that, when the site for the new graving-dock was decided upon, the question of its security from bombardment was not taken into consideration.
It is too late now, however, to think of any change, as about two-thirds of it have been already excavated.
But the fact of its being at Constance Cove should not be allowed to affect the proposal of the naval stores being removed to a more secure position.
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Inclosure 2 in No. 125.
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