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A LIST of the principal Places where (there being no local Agreements) Purchases have been

made.

35

Appendix No. 1.

Places.

Coast Guard

Home Station

Mediterranean

West Coast of Africa..

East Indies

China

*

North America and West Indies

South-East Coast of America

Pacific

Australia

·

Miscellaneous

Total purchases under contracts.

:

Total for steam-vessel coals under sub-head F.

Amount provided under

Vote 10, sect. 1, sub-head F, Coals.

£

41,000

62,000

106,000

When Her Majesty's squadrons or ships are employed abroad, or they are proceeding from or returning to England during a period of war, the following places, as given in the various routes, are the only localities where coal could be obtained :—

COALING-STATIONS in War. The route from England to Ceylon-(1) viâ the Suez Canal; (2) viâ

the Cape of Good Hope.

Geographical

Stations.

Miles.

About

1.

England (Plymouth) to Gibraltar

1,050

Gibraltar to Malta

Malta to Aden*..

Aden to Bombay

Aden to Ceylon (Galle)

Aden to Seychelles

2.

980

2,248

1,637

2,134

1,400

The stations which would be closed to our ships of war would be Lisbon, Port Said, Alexandria, Jeddahı, Massowah, and Souakin in the Red Sea. The Seychelles might be of use after our ships leave or are bound to Aden.

England to Gibraltar

Gibraltar to Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone to Ascension

Ascension to St. Helena

1,050 2,010 1,000 680

In this route via the Cape the stations which would be closed in war are Lisbon, Madeira, St. Vincent, the two last being the most important coaling positions in the Atlantic.

As

St. Helena to Cape of Good Hope

1,700

Cape of Good Hope to Mauritius

2,340

Mauritius to Ceylon (Galle)

2,100

it would be impossible for our ships to steam from England to Sierra Leone without some intermediate station, hence Gibraltar, although out of the direct route, would have to

be used.

Trincomalee

2,350

COALING-STATIONS in War. The route from Ceylon to Hong Kong, Corea, and Japan, and from Ceylon or Singapore to Australia and Fiji.

Statute

Stations.

Miles.

About

Ceylon (Galle) to Singapore

1,510

Singapore to Labuan

660

Labuan to Hong Kong

1,080

Hong Kong to Corea..

1,100

Hong Kong to Japan.

1,100

Ceylon to Sydney

5,120

Ceylon to Adelaide

4,400

Ceylon to Torres Straits

4,000

Sydney to Fiji Islands

Sydney to New Zealand

1,665 1,200

In this steam route we lose all stations to the north of Hong Kong, Japan being closed during war, and we have no position on the coast of Corea, unless the H. Islands could be obtained.

From Ceylon to Torres Straits is about 4,000 miles, and thence to Sydney about 1,800 miles; and from Singapore to Torres Straits about 3,000 miles. It is, therefore, obvious none of our cruizing ships can steam to Sydney from Ceylon or Singapore unless there is a coal depôt in Torres Straits.

As our ships are employed at Fiji, and among the Hebrides and other South Sea Islands, coal becomes an absolute neces- sity at Fiji.

* If a coal depôt was established at Cyprus, the distance from Malta to Aden would be reduced about 900 miles.

[1103]

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Appendix No. 1.