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13

Hong Kong.

The Defence Committee, in their Report of 1877, placed Hong Kong second in importance in the list of coaling stations of Her Majesty's fleet abroad. It is the extreme station possessed by Great Britain in the Chinese Seas, and is the centre of a very large trade, involving 3,500,000 of tonnage, native and foreign, which arrive and depart in each year. It also possesses naval and military establishments, and is well provided with docks, of which there are five, besides three slips in private hands, well supplied with shears, engineers' and carpenters' shops, foundries, and every requirement for making extensive repairs to ships of war and merchant vessels. From its position as an advanced post, having the ports of Russia, China, and Japan to the north, and Singapore, from which it is 1,440 miles distant, to the south, its importance, both as a coaling and refitting station for the ships of Her Majesty's fleet employed in protecting the extensive British interests in these seas, and as a safe port of refuge for commercial ships, cannot be exaggerated.

The dockyard and residences of the Governor and of the principal inhabitants, as well as the public offices, banks, and warehouses, are for the most part on the Island of Hong Kong, on the shores of the strait separating that island from the mainland. But the Admiralty coal depôt and the Commercial Docks are all on the opposite side of the straits at Kowloon; with the exception of the Aberdeen Docks, which have been built on an inlet of the sea at the back of the island.

Looking to the importance of this harbour, in which there are generally to be seen some fifty ocean-going commercial steamers, and to its strategical value, it ought without doubt to be placed in such a state of security that the naval squadron may be free to act beyond its limits, without leaving it to the mercy of an enemy's cruizers.

It is to be observed also that the China squadron depends entirely upon Hong Kong as a base of operations from which to obtain supplies and to refit, and that any disaster which might happen during its absence might be productive of very great embarrassment, and cripple its operations most seriously.

Unfortunately the only defence at present provided for this harbour is in fact no defence at all. It consists of two small works named Wellington and Murray Batteries, both of which have since their construction been surrounded by the buildings of the town, and cannot therefore be now used for defensive purposes. The former moreover is not armed, while the latter contains only a smooth-bored armament.

Armament-

24-pounder guns 10-inch mortars

8 ""

""

No. 4

The Committee are informed that there are six 7-inch breach-loading rifled guns, besides numerous smooth-bored guns of various calibres in store at the station; and that instructions have been given, in compliance with the suggestion in their letter to the Colonial Office of the 14th March, that seven additional 7-inch 63-ton. guns should be sent out from England.

The extent of the harbour, and its conformation, with its double entrance, are such that extensive works would be required to afford a good defence of the nature which should, in the opinion of the Committee, be given to a place of the importance of Hong Kong, in the very advanced position in which it is placed. The conditions requisite for its defence are that the Lymoon Pass, at the east end of the island, should be closed against an enemy's ships, as well as the three channels at the west end, viz., the Sulphur Channel, the channel between Green and Stonecutters Islands, and that between the latter and the mainland. To do this thoroughly would require a considerable number of guns in permanent works, and a large supply of submarine mines. As, however, the supply of a heavy armament, and the construction of suitable works for mounting it, would require a longer time than is consistent with the objects contemplated in their instructions, the Committee have considered in what way its temporary defence might be

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