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in the haste and confusion of the unexpected ending of the war against Japan, all sorts of complications entered into the planned programme. Craft planga for were found to be not necessary or not available, replacements were hastily found from the quickest source and of the nearest type to that required, craft earmarked for civil purposes were commandeered by the Navy and later replaced from Naval sources, military craft found surplus to requirements were handed over, in some cases to the B.M.A. and in some to the civil government, to make such use
of as they could; and so on.
4. Bearing all this in mind, we feel not merely that it would be impossible to arrive at any classification of the craft as between those for which Hong kong is for various reasons liable to pay, and those which come under the categories of supplies for which H.M.G. has agreed to raise no charge; but also that even if it were possible it would be irrelevant and in fact unfair, since in such peculiar circumstances the mere fact that particular vessel came from a particular source is virtually meaningless without further knowledge as to the reasons why it was necessary to use that source and not another. It has also to be borne in mind that many of the craft were not of types that Hong Kong would have selected and were very dubicus makeshifts, acceptable only at a time when the paramount concern was to get the port working with ut a day's unavoidable delay. Some of the craft, indeed, seem to have been handed over to the Hong Kong authorities by Service units purely as a simpler alternative to removing them or scrapping them, and it is probable that in these and other cases, only a fraction of their book value could have been realised had they been disposed of otherwise than to the Government. And behind the whole question must have been the consideration
/that
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