SAVINGRAM
To the Secretary of State for the Colonies.
From the Governor, Hong Kong.
Date
No.
19
Enclosures Nos. 7 & 8.
8.
-3-
I shall be grateful then if, in view of the altered circumstances, you will inform the Ministry of Transport of this Government's views on a settlement as in the preceding paragraphs.
9.
With reference to the specific queries raised in your savingram under reference, lists of Admiralty and War Office craft are enclosed, which are additional to the list of Ministry of Transport vessels enclosed with my despatch Don'48 No.19 of 30th January, 1948, The valuations on the three
lists stand as recorded in paragraph 4 of your savingram under reference.
Enclosure No.9.
10.
Amirall
There is at present no officer in the Marine Department who was in the Colony throughout the period of the Military Administration, and it is therefore a matter of great difficulty to give a complete answer to paragraph 6 of your savingram. Nevertheless I enclose a revised schedule compiled from extant correspondence showing the provenance of the various craft. Only three out of sixty- eight Ministry of Transport vessels and five out of thirty- seven vessels had arrived by 1st May, 1946. These therefore will come under category (a) while the remainder would be classified under (b). There is reason to suppose, however, that far more than eight vessels earmarked for the Civil Affairs side actually arrived before the 1st May, 1946. The Naval Authorities took possession of these craft as they arrived for their own purposes and arranged for replacements to be sent up from Australia, which did not arrive until after the establishment of Civil Government. Had the Civil Affairs Branch been allowed to complete their establishment by taking over a reasonable proportion of small craft arriving in the Colony, there is little doubt that this claim in respect of vessels which arrived after the 1st May, 1946, would have been on a much more modest scale, or would not have been presented at all. Moreover, the heavy storage charges, already met by this Government in respect of vessels in Australia awaiting opportunities for shipment to Hong Kong, would probably never have been incurred.
TS: omd