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No. 52

War Office Memorandum on the Defence of Aden.

IT seems to be generally agreed that Aden is so important as a link in the chain of coaling-stations between England and India that it must be retained.

If it be retained it must be protected.

Before dealing with the question of protection, we should consider whether it is necessary to retain possession of Aden under all contingencies.

As a coaling-station on the route, viâ the Suez Canal to India and the East, there can be no doubt of the value of Aden; but in the event of any great European war, it would almost inevitably happen that the Canal would be closed to Great Britain, as to other nations. Our lines of military communication would then be transferred to the Cape route, and it may naturally be asked, What would then be the use to us of Aden, and why should we retain it?

The use of Aden would then be to command the entrance to the Red Sea, and, through this sea, the Suez Canal; and it would then be more than ever necessary to retain this command, as the neutrality of Egypt and of the Canal would pass to the predominant European Power.

If that Power were not Great Britain, the possession of Aden would maintain our commerce in the Indian Seas in security for at least as long as our communications by the Cape were safe.

But beyond all this Great Britain could under no circumstances allow Aden to fall into the hands of any other Power.

Appendix No. 4.

ADEN.

The Bay of Aden is a partially inclosed anchorage of some extent upon the southern Bay of Aden. shore of Arabia Felix, between the two peninsulas of Jebel Shumshum and Jebel Hasen, which are about 7,400 yards apart; it comprises a considerable area of water over

4 fathoms in depth, and is exposed only from south-east round to south-west

The larger of the two peninsulas-Jebel Shumshum- on the east side of the bay, is Aden. the Aden with which we are dealing, and to the north of it is the Harbour of Aden, an inlet of the bay 3 miles in extent, absolutely secure in nearly all weathers, but not available Harbour. for vessels of greater draught of water than 19 feet; though it may be deepened by dredging at no inordinate expense.

Aden is a rocky peninsula of about 14 miles in perimeter, rising at one point, the Signal Station, to a height of 1,767 feet above the sea, and is connected with the main land by a low sandy isthmus, from the inner extremity of which the country for many miles inland is low and sandy.

Upon the harbour side, the shore of the peninsula is almost everywhere accessible by boats, but of the 10 miles of southern coast, from the Mole to the isthmus, only about 12 miles are accessible, viz., between Ras Morbut and Ras Tarshayne, Telegraph Bay, Fisherman's Bay and Hollcut and Front Bays, and one intervening bay of 1,000 yards front to the south-west, which may be disregarded.

Aden is very strong in itself, and may be easily defended; the existing defences are mainly collected at the neck of the isthmus, around the town, and on the small exposed bays in its front, to which indeed the features of the ground invite them, while the defences of Aden Bay, the harbour, and the accessible shore to the southward, are subsidiary.

But it is scarcely possible to anticipate an attack from the land by any Power strong enough to excite our apprehension, unless, indeed, as an accessory to a determined attack upon the harbour from the sea; the land attack would then be the less serious operation, and should be resisted with ease, as the enemy would have to land upon an open shelving beach, upon which a great surf breaks, and where there is no fresh water. Moreover, if he succeeded in forcing the lines, he could not advance to co-operate with the attack on the harbour until he had overcome the positions on the high and difficult ground encircling the town, and had obtained possession of the Main Pass, from which again he could not advance as long as our gun-boats kept the inner harbour, and in face of guns mounted at Little Pass.

Nor could he in a land attack hope to make any use of Front and Holleut Bays; they are small, and easily defended; while a landing in Fisherman's Bay would be of no avail, except as a diversion, as it is absolutely commanded by the southern range, and by the spurs running from this range to the shore.

For these reasons it would seem that the system of defence originally pursued should be reversed, and that the main defence should be concentrated at the harbour's mouth ; while the subsidiary defence should be at the isthmus and about the town, where it be

may rendered strong enough by a small expenditure.

Aden is in a position not very convenient for attack, and under ordinary circumstances of war it would seem to be liable only to the assault of a small squadron of fast sailing vessels; but its position is in some respects so exceptionally advantageous that it might be worth the while of some great Power to collect a considerable force and to make a determined attack upon it.

Perhaps looking to the remoteness of this contingency, and to the fact that we should have some notice thereof, and should be able to take steps to supplement the defence, the 10-4-inch breech-loading rifled gun of 26 tons may be considered powerful enough for all purposes, commanding as it does 15.5 inches of iron at 2,000 yards.

The positions which should be occupied in order to command the bay, and to defend

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