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Appendix No. 4.
SINGAPORE.
Fort Canning.
4 64-pr. M.L.R. guns. 4 40-pr. B.L.R. guns.
Batteries Armament
Mount Faber.
4 64-pr. M.L.R. guns.
Battery
Armament
•
Mount Farquhar.
2 40-pr. B.L.R. guns.
Battery
Armament
Pearl's Hill.
2 20-pr. B.L.R. guns.
Battery
Armament
Fort Canning. Mount Faber.
Pearl's Hill.
Mount Farquhar.
£
of this position is that it is very little in advance of the city; but it commands the country in its front, and should be capable of being held by a small force against greatly superior numbers.
Fort Canning, an old work which commands the city, should be partially remodelled, its glacis should be cleared and levelled, its ditch defended, and its interior retrenched; four 64-pounder muzzle-loading rifled guns should be allotted to its land front, and half a 9,680 battery of position guns to the south battery overlooking the town and shore line. This 3,600 battery should be separated and retrenched from the main work. The smooth-bore guns which form its present armament may be weeded out, and the best retained for close defence.
Upon the highest point of Mount Faber, an inclosed work to hold 200 men, and four 64-pounder muzzle-loading rifled guns should be constructed; it would secure the left of £ the land line and support Berlayer battery.
19,613 2,000
The intermediate heights of Mount Farquhar and Pearl's Hill might be occupied with field redoubts to contain fifty men each, and a half battery of 20-pounder breach-loading 1,000 rifled position guns.
£
800
£
1,000 600
Captain Mayne thinks a landing to the east of Singapore, on the sea side, near Siglap, the most feasible, while Colonel Lovell says that, if landed, an enemy would find the greatest difficulty in marching upon the town, which he could not reach except by gaining the Changhie Road; but as Sir W. Jervois, with these statements before him, does not propose any defences for this side of the town, it is probable that no works are necessary, and that the defence may be left to field operations undertaken at the time of attack.
It is to be observed that Sir W. Jervois, after a considerable experience as Governor of Singapore, gives it as his opinion that low freeboard vessels, carrying great thickness of armour, would be useless for service in these waters, if for no other reason than that the conditions of climate are such as to render it impossible to live in them. If this be so the armament herein provided will suffice for many years to come.
The same officer states that the Malacca Strait might be closed by a work constructed on St. John's Island, armed with sufficiently powerful artillery, in conjunction with a suitable vessel of war. But such a work would be extremely costly, it would stand in a very isolated position, would need to be of considerable size, and to be protected by very powerful armour, and may well be left until the increased prosperity and importance of the place induces an extension of the defences, especially as it will not enable us to dispense with any of the works advocated above.
The question of garrison still remains; for the service of the sea batteries 300 men are required, of whom one-third might be infantry, and for the garrisons of the land works, 120 artillery and 700 infantry; besides these there should be a movable force of 600 men, with a proportion of mounted men, say 400, and a half company of Royal Engineers for submarine mining and other purposes.
At present the garrison consists of one battalion of infantry, 900 strong, one battery, Royal Artillery, a detachment of Royal Engineers, and 400 native police, who are mounted.
One battery of Royal Artillery and a half company of Royal Engineers should be added, and if a third battery of gun lascars and four companies of native rifles and 200 volunteers, all of which Lieutenant McCallum thinks may be raised without difficulty, were also added, there would probably be sufficient force for defensive purposes, viz. :——
Mounted
Infantry. Artillery. Engineers. Volunteers. Police.
Infantry, Regular
Rifles, native
•
900 300
•
Royal Artillery
Gun Lascars
Royal Engineers
White Volunteers
Mounted Police
Total
Infantry, Artillery and Engineers Cavalry
Total of all ranks
·
There is barrack accommodation at—
Tanglin for one regiment
Fort Canning
Mount Faber
Sepoy lines
Tanjong Katong Berlayer Fort
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240
80
::::::
..
50
200
400
1,200
320
50
200
400
1,770
400
2,170
:::::
::::::
:::
1,022 219
5
669
Nil Nil
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