20
COPY
No.1034
THE BRITISH NAVAL COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF
CHINA STATION.
H.M.S. "Kent" at Weihaiwei.
18th June, 1933.
Your Excellency,
I have the honour to refer to my telegram No.165,
despatched to you on the 14th April, 1933, after my visit
to the s.s "NANCHANG", in which I suggested that consideration
might have to be given to the desirability of fitting
certain suips trading anywhere on the China Coast with
grilles as a protection against internal or external
piracy.
2. I was fortunately able to discuss this question,
during my visit to Shanghai in May of this year, with
Mr.N.S.Brown, the Managing Director in China for Messrs.
Butterfield and Swire. To my contention that the piracy
of the s.s. "Nanchang" could never have occurred had the
vessel been fitted with a grille, Mr. Brown replied that
this was an isolated case which was unlikely to happen
again because merchant suip officers would now be on their
guard.
3.
Partly on this ground and partly on the ground
of the expense involved, Mr.Brown expressed himself as
decidedly averse to the princi pae of extending grilles
to suips navigating North China waters.
4.
A point worthy of note in this connection is
the fact that the erection of grilles in existing ships
interferes with the crew going about their various duties
His Excellency
The British Minister,
Peiping.
/though
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