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ANTI-PIRACY MEASURES.
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III. ANTI-PIRACY MEASURES IN FORCE AT PRESENT.
Guards and Grilles.
11. Guards and grilles may be considered together as they are necessary to each other. A grille door could be forced unless there were a guard to watch it and a sentry could be overpowered unless protected by a grille. Practically all coastal ships trading between Hongkong and Singapore or Shanghai and possessing passenger licenses are fitted with grilles.
12. It is not proposed to give minúte details of these defences as they vary in different ships, but the rough idea of grilles is to make a fortress of the centre part of the ship. The enclosed area contains the bridge, officers' and 1st class cabins, engine and boiler rooms. The deck passengers cannot go through into this defended area without passing through a grille-door. There is a sentry on each door who can communicate with the guards off watch and this sentry only allows authorised persons to pass through.
13.
In case of trouble the sentry rings alarm bells and fires his rifle, officers and off watch guards rush to defend the bridge and signals are broadcasted by wireless. There is no doubt that a heavily grilled ship with an efficient force of guards should be unpiratable. But there are various disadvantages to these methods of defence. To name a few, grilles are costly, they add weight and take up a great deal of room. They impede the free passage of officers and men in the execution of their various duties and they may be most inconvenient when working cargo. Guards too are expensive to maintain and they need accommodation which might otherwise be used for passengers.
Naval Patrols.
14. A naval vessel, destroyer or sloop, is maintained continuously on patrol in the neighbourhood of these pirate bays. These patrol vessels are in communication with Hongkong and any information concerning movements of pirate gangs, ships overdue etc. is sent to them.
15. The patrol vessel cruises up and down the coast keeping a look out on shipping and especially noting any vessel which is not on a normal course that is E. ad or S.W.
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16. On certain nights she runs at high speed between Chilang Point and the entrance to Bias Bay communicating by flash lamp with all ships which she may meet.
17.
Another naval vessel is retained at Hongkong with steam at short notice ready to augment the patrol if necessary.
Convoy System.
18. Lerchant ships sailing from Swatow to Hongkong have been recommended by the British Naval Authorities so to arrange their departure and adjust their speed that they arrive together off Chilang Point at a certain fixed time. varies with the monsoon.
This time
19.