615
ד
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
TP
Reference :-
CO.885/25
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-
COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
88
APPENDIX A.--REPORTS.
primarily for the conveyance of coal to London. Since then some prize steamers have been allocated for the same purpose, and the Admiralty Coasting Trade Office, to meet the requirements of the London coal trade, secured, on hire, eight hoppers from the Port of London Authority, and three hoppers from the Ribble Conservancy, which it converted into colliers out of its own funds. Of these, all the latter and five of the former survive.
2. Between the 20th January, 1915, and the 31st May, 1918, the C.T. fleet carried and delivered :---
Total
5,978,468 tons of coal to London.
393,584 tons of coal to outports.
67,174 tons of sundry cargo.
6,439,226 tons.
3. During these years fifty-four steamers, with a carrying capacity of some 115,500 tons, were, for varying periods, on our books. Of these
Total
6 were withdrawn after short service.
18 were lost by enemy action.
3 were lost by marine risks.
1 was never heard of after leaving Newcastle.
2 were torpedoed but salved.
30 vessels.
4. On the 31st May last there were twenty-four vessels in commission, of an approximate carrying capacity of 38,300 tons, all of which continued under the executive management of Messrs. Everett and Newbigin at Newcastle. But only eighteen steamers, of approximately 24,000 tons carrying capacity, remained in the service of the Admiralty Coasting Trade Office. The remaining six, viz., C.T.S Nos. 4, 6, 7, 12, 14, and 59, were taken out of the London coal trade (as also were C.T.8 60 and 16, subsequently dealt with amongst the casualties or eight vessels in all) by the Ministry of Shipping in March-April to fill an emergency demand for the transport of fuel to Allied Governments, thus furnishing an example of advantages referred to in the letters written two months later, quoted in paragraph 22.
5. Since the end of 1917, when the fleet consisted of twenty-nine vessels, the following casualties have occurred:-
C.T.11, "Vianna" (German, 369 tons c.c.), torpedoed on the 31st March. She had completed one hundred and thirty voyages and delivered 47,542 tons of cargo, mostly coal and burnt ore, and had a book value of £3,500.
C.T. 33, "Hercules " (German, 1,298 tons c.c.), torpedoed on the 25th March. She had completed one hundred and four voyages and delivered 134.827 tons of coal, and had a book value of £1,750.
C.T. 58, "Lonhelen " (Port of London Authority, converted hopper, 993 tons c.c.), She had made fifty-one voyages and sunk by contact with mine on the 12th April. delivered 50,826 tons of coal, and had a book value of £39,776; but, as in the cases of the "Lonada” and “Lonclara," she will have to be replaced and the cost thereof may be in excess of her book value.
C.T. 60,
Polleon" (in prize, 1,750 tons c.c.), was torpedoed on the 28th March when engaged under the Ministry of Shipping in foreign trade. Her loss falls on an Allied Government.
C.T. 16, "George Harper " (German, 2,512 tons c.c.). This vessel was torpedoed in April, when engaged under the Ministry of Shipping for a foreign Government. She was, however, salved, and will be repaired; but whether the cost of reinstate- ment will fall on the British Government or on the Allied Government concerned I do not know. She had completed one hundred and twenty-eight voyages with coal to London, and had delivered 320,880 tons.
6. C.T. 13, “Lucida" (German), a casualty recorded in my last report, was taken over by the Admiralty Marshal and advertised for sale by auction, but pro- She ceedings were withdrawn on the Ministry of Shipping requisitioning her. might have fetched in the market more than her original book value, for which the Whether the Ministry of Admiralty Coasting Trade Office was responsible. Shipping had her valued, or how the accounts between the offices will be adjusted, I do not know.
APPENDIX A.-REPORTS.
89
7. Sailing Schooners. We had twenty-six of these small craft in commission at one time, but the eleven survivors were made over to the Ministry of Shipping as reported last year. The accounts are, I believe, in course of being closed, "but the results I have not seen. It is, I think, certain, however, that they did not run at a profit.
8. Finance. The total amount paid to the Accountant-General of the Navy to the 31st May by the Newcastle Office from surplus balances was £1,790,000. Had the freight earned on the eight vessels diverted (paragraph 4) been received the total would have been greater.
9. Coal. It is on the coal side of this Office that my energies have been prin- cipally engaged as things have developed. At the start it was recognized that a much closer touch with consumers would be necessary if their requirements were to be adequately safeguarded. A system of weekly returns was, therefore, inaugurated, and the figures of over a hundred Public Utility Undertakings were secured and tabulated. It is on these figures that our weekly reports were prepared and issued during one hundred and seventy-three consecutive weeks.
10. These weekly statistics have all along covered the same interests, and furnish a reliable and useful record. It is, I believe, the intention of the Coal Controller to continue the work without change.
11. Recognizing the incompleteness of the first list, inquiries were sent out in the autumn of 1915 to some 400-500 various undertakings and firms, and almost
all those found to be burning over forty tons of coal per week were brought on to a new list, and weekly returns obtained from them. There was a good deal of trouble in securing regular statements in many cases, but they have all come into line now. A report on them, similar to that prepared from the first list, has been made up weekly for some time. But it is an Office record and has not been circulated.
12. During the past financial year London, according to the official returns, received 17,230,000 tons of coal. The statistics kept by this Office record the stocks, and rail-borne and sea-borne receipts, of parties who during the period consumed 9,230,000 tons, leaving 8,000,000 tons, of which bunker requirements are estimated to have taken 1,500,000 tons, domestic requirements 5,500,000 tons, minor industries, etc., 1,000,000 tons. It will be noticed, therefore, that the Admiralty Coasting Trade Office succeeded in tapping the great bulk of large consumers in the London area.
13. From the commencement it has been my practice to go through every return personally, with the endeavour to forestall trouble before it became acute, to whip up the laggards, help those in difficulties, and, in season and out of season, to hammer away at the building up of reserve stocks. In several cases we success- fully pressed the taking of additional ground for storage accommodation.
14. The Public Utility Undertakings in January, 1915, were reduced to gross stocks of 365,000 tons only, a dangerously low figure, even in those days, when the coal position was not abnormal, submarining of merchant shipping had not become general, and tonnage, only, was difficult to secure. It has never been repeated, for- tunately, but, as things are to-day, I should put the danger zone at a far higher quantity. The annual minimum stocks occur in April, and the maximum in October, the summer months being the period for building up reserves for winter needs. The following figures of the Public Utility Undertakings may be of interest :—
Stocks.
1915
Tons. Minimum 370,000, April.
1916
J1
1917
11
To May, 1918
585,000, 590,000, 608,000
13
31
"
Consumption.
1915
1916 1917
15
"
To May, 1918
Tons. Minimum week 79,000, July. 96,000, June. 108,000, 105,000, May.
++
Tons.
Maximum 1,288,000, October.
17
1,269,000,
"
*
1,485,000,
15
L
677,000, May.
Tons.
+1
Maximum week 150,000, Dec.
165,000, 176,000, Jan. 140,000, April. There has been a progressive increase in the consumption of the Public Utility Undertakings, as will be seen from the following totals:-
1915-16
1916-17
1917-18
6,029,500 tons. 6,588,000 7,194,000
11
31
1