PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
C.O. 885/
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-
COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
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guns above proposed, the auxiliary armaments of 40-prs., 16-prs., and 9-prs. being, as before, provided at Imperial charge, the additional cost would be :-
6-6" guns on H.P. mountings
100 rounds of ammunition per gun
Total
£
17,200
2,740
19,940
In this case the total estimate for works may be reduced by 1,0007. Thus the total capital charge to be borne by the Colonies becomes :→
If the armament offered by the Imperial Government is mounted If 6-6" B.L. guns are substituted for 8" R.M.L. guns If 4-2-barrelled Gardner machine guns are provided, add
£ 31,580 46,440 1,000
The annual charge to be borne by the Colonies jointly would have to provide a total permanent garrison of 80 men and a small amount for keeping up the works in repair. No estimate has been made of the charge for the permanent garrison, which in the case of Princess Royal Harbour might probably be calculated from the cost of the permanent artillery force of Victoria, and in the case of Thursday Island would be somewhat greater. The total cost of maintenance of the works would amount to about 500/
annum.
per
The following is the approximate value of the armanent offered by the Imperial Government, including equipment and 100 rounds of ammunition for each gun.
4-8" R.M.L. guns 4-7" R.M.L.
$5
2-40-pr. R.B.L. 4-16-pr. R.M.L.„, 4-9-pr. R.M.L.
""
£
3,400
2,600
750*
1,292+
1,184+
Total
9,226
Submarine mines for Princess Royal Harbour
-
3,500
12,726
General total
No. 68.
DEFENCE OF KING GEORGE'S SOUND AND TORRES STRAITS.
SECOND COLONIAL OFFICE MEMORANDUM.
THE question of the defence of King George's Sound and Torres Straits has been discussed at some length by the Conference, and I think it is desirable to call attention to certain points which have arisen, on which some misapprehension appears to exist, The choice of Imperial coaling stations was made after careful consideration by the Royal Commission, and neither King George's Sound nor a position in Torres Straits was recommended by that Commission. I am unaware that Her Majesty's Government have at any period considered that the cost of the defence of these positions should be shared by the Imperial Government. The Intercolonial Conference, held at Sydney in 1881, adopted a resolution pledging its members "to procure the efficient fortification and land defence of the several ports of the Australian Colonies at the cost of the several Colonies interested;" and although they subsequently made one exception as regards King George's Sound, Her Majesty's Government consider that that harbour and Torres Straits fall distinctly within the scope of the above resolution. During the discussions which have taken place on this subject, it does not appear to have been sufficiently recognised that these two positions have, so far as the Imperial Government is con- cerned, no special claims to be considered on a different footing from other Australasian
* Includes carriages and platforms.
† Includes field carriages and limbers.
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ports. The representatives of Western Australia have generously offered to bear a large share of the cost of the defence of King George's Sound, and have intimated regret that the present financial position of the Colony did not permit it to undertake the whole burden. In the case of Torres Straits there can be little doubt that the Colony of Queensland will at a future date be able and willing to undertake the defence of Thursday Island at its own charge. Both Queensland and Western Australia have represented, however, that in the cases of Thursday Island and King George's Sound Australasian interests are involved. Neither is a great commercial port, or the capital of a Colony. Both have a strategic rather than a inercantile importance. In the view of the Imperial Government, these ports present no essential points of difference from any of the other Australasian harbours, the local defence of which has been recognised as a matter of Colonial responsibility. As regards King George's Sound certainly,
More-
and as regards Thursday Island probably, no question of an Imperial contribution in aid of defence would have arisen, if Western Australia and Queensland had attained the development which a few years will suffice to bring about. Lord Derby, in 1885, at a time when war appeared imminent, having in view the inability of Western Australia to undertake the defence of King George's Sound, offered to send out sub- marine mines, together with a certain armament which, temporarily mounted, would have conferred a measure of protection on the coal there stored. This armament was at the time the best at the disposal of the Imperial Government, and indeed the only one which could be sent out at a short notice. The danger having passed away, it became desirable to put before the Colonial Governments a more permanent scheme of defence, and accordingly estimates of the cost of protecting both King George's Sound and Thursday Island were laid before the Conference, together with general proposals in- tended to serve as a basis of discussion, and to give a just idea of the extent of the expenditure involved. Her Majesty's Government having thus offered to present certain guns with an effective mining equipment at a period of great emergency, they decided not to recede from that offer, but extend it as regards Thursday Island. over, as regards King George's Sound, the offered armament was slightly increased.
The schemes put forward were of a more moderate nature than some of those which had gone before; but, on the one hand, modern experience has to some extent modified previous opinions as to the power of naval attack, and, on the other hand, the con- siderable increase in the Australian squadron which will, it is hoped, result from the labours of the Conference, undoubtedly justifies a modification of the standard of local defence. There is nothing at either King George's Sound or Thursday Island to tempt attack, with the exception of coal, and not merely is it improbable that an enemy would risk serious injuries to his ships in the attempt to seize coal, but with a powerful fleet in Australasian waters his presence in those waters becomes necessarily hazardous. During the course of the discussion the uselessness of the armaments offered by the Imperial Government has been freely asserted. Her Majesty's Government are well aware that it is desirable to provide the best available ordnance were expense a matter of no account, but the demands of other and more important positions have to be first considered, and the armaments which have been offered would, if properly mounted, afford a measure of defence which two or three unarmoured cruizers would be little likely to defy. It appears desirable to point out further that these R.M.L. guns are considered sufficiently powerful to serve as auxiliary armaments at ports where a far heavier attack is probable. These guns have the further advantage that they are simple and easily kept in working order. On the other hand, the life of the 6-inch guns scarcely exceeds 300 rounds, after which they would require to be sent back to England to be retubed. On all these grounds, it was the opinion of the Imperial Government that the armaments offered in my Memorandum of the 20th April, though not the best that could be obtained, were, nevertheless, efficient as a first measure of defence. The works which it was proposed to create could subsequently have been converted at small cost to receive an armament of modern type. The charges which would have to be borne by the individual Colonies under the scheme laid before the Conference were extremely moderate. After full consideration, Her Majesty's Government are unable at present to go beyond the terms of their original offer. The Imperial Government is now incurring a charge of nearly 700,0001. for the armament of coaling stations alone, and in the further provision of new type guns, the requirements of the fortresses, both at home and abroad, must first be considered.
Had the proposals of Her Majesty's Government been accepted, it would have been possible to provide, without further delay, a fair measure of defence even although a portion of the armament might be regarded as provisional. The infantry and submarine mining arrangements would have been placed on a permanent footing. Moreover the
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