Coaling Stations.

Coaling Stations. The question of coaling stations has of late engaged a large share of public attention in Britain. The necessity for maintaining a sufficient number of fortified outposts on the great lines of British trade has been recognised by successive governments, and the work of defence has, after a regrettable delay, at length been vigorously taken in hand. The inquiry by a Royal Commission resulted in the publication in 1881-82 of an exhaustive report, from which the present article has been compiled.

The Commissioners estimated the value of British ships and the freights which they carried annually at £900,000,000, British property to the value of £144,000,000 being at all times afloat, the greater part on distant voyages. Broadly, the foreign trade of the United Kingdom may be divided into two great divisions—the trade with the Americas, and that with the Mediterranean, the East, and Australia, by the Suez Canal and the Cape. It is chiefly with the latter that we are here concerned.

On the great trade-route by the Suez Canal to India and to Australia, steamships have entirely superseded sailing-ships. It is along this route that the possession of a continuous chain of coaling stations gives Britain an advantage which it is imperatively necessary to maintain. The Cape route, again, is essential to the retention by Great Britain of her possessions in India, Ceylon, Mauritius, Singapore, China, and Australia. It is by this route that reinforcements of troops and necessary supplies could, in the contingency of war, be despatched to the East with the least exposure to capture.

It must be accepted as a leading principle that the defence of harbours should be secured by forts and not by ships. The Royal Navy is not maintained for the purpose of affording direct local protection to seaports and harbours, but for the purpose of blockading the ports of an enemy, of destroying his trade, attacking his possessions, dealing with his ships at sea, and preventing an attack in force upon any special place. It is by the efficient performance of these duties that British commerce and colonies will be best protected.

The great fortresses of Gibraltar and Malta are maintained wholly from resources provided by the imperial exchequer. Improvements in their defences have been going forward ever since they came into the possession of Britain; and it may be assumed that Gibraltar and Malta are well prepared to resist attack. For the manning of the works strong garrisons of 5500 and 10,500 men respectively are permanently maintained.

Pursuing our way through the Suez Canal, which, in consequence of recent political changes, has practically passed under British control, we find at Aden another commanding position. The distance from Suez is 1300 miles, from Mauritius 1970, from Bombay 1637, and from Ceylon 2130. Aden is not only an important coaling station in peace-time for ships using the Suez Canal, but, in the event of war with any of the Mediterranean powers, it would be the only place in possession of Britain from which a fleet could prevent foreign ships of war, that had passed through the canal into the Red Sea, from gaining access to the Indian Ocean. The Royal Commission urge strongly that Aden should be made secure against the attack of a small naval squadron.

Bombay is much more than a mere coaling station. It is the greatest port of India, and one of the busiest entrepôts of commerce in the world. The harbour, defended by batteries and by two armoured vessels, was declared by Sir Frederick Richards, when naval commander-in-chief on the East India station, to be sufficiently secured against any probable attack.

Kurrachee is a post of immense importance as the base for the military defence of the north-west frontier of India. As compared with Bombay, Kurrachee is nearer to England by two days' steaming. By skilful engineering, the entrance to the port, the anchorage, and the wharfage have been adapted to the requirements of steamships of large tonnage. The defences, both by batteries and torpedoes, are well advanced.

The distance from Ceylon to the Cape of Good Hope is 4400 miles, from Mauritius 2100, from Aden 2130, from Bombay 960, from Singapore 1510, and from King George's Sound 3400. If measures are taken to prevent an enemy's ships from coaling in the adjacent seas, Ceylon will be comparatively safe from heavy attacks. The possibility of attack by a hostile cruiser must, however, be admitted. The Commissioners carefully weighed the relative advantages of Galle, Colombo, and Trincomalee. Galle, for many years the port of call for mail-steamers, has gradually been abandoned in favour of Colombo. The latter port has a commodious harbour, already sufficiently advanced to afford well-sheltered anchorage during the south-west monsoon. For local reasons, no less than for imperial considerations, the Royal Commission held it necessary that Colombo should be adequately protected, both by floating defences and by batteries on shore. Trincomalee is the safest and most commodious harbour in the Indian Ocean, and very capable of defence. But it is out of the course of trade, and has no facilities for the repair of ships; so the Commissioners did not recommend a large expenditure on fortifications at Trincomalee.

Singapore is the next important position in the possession of Great Britain. The annual value of the imports and exports of the Straits Settlements (of which it is by far the most important) is about £100,000,000. At Singapore the quantity of coal supplied to passing steamers varies from 15,000 to 20,000 tons a month. Extensive wharves, three graving-docks, and all the appliances for repairing ships have been provided by private enterprise. The colonial government has carried out a scheme of defence, planned by officers of the Royal Engineers. The torpedo defences are complete.

Hong-kong is the chief centre of British trade with China, and the only dependency from which that trade can be defended. The entries of shipping in 1890-95 included about 30,000 vessels and junks annually, of over 7,000,000 tons, and manned by 500,000 hands. Graving-docks exist in the hands of commercial companies, capable of receiving ironclads of the largest class which will be seen in the China Sea. The defence of the harbour is now being made good at the cost of the local and imperial governments. A small ironclad is stationed at Hong-kong for the defence of the harbour.

To the Cape of Good Hope, the distance from

England is 6000 miles. The intermediate coaling stations now used are Lisbon, Gibraltar, Madeira, St Vincent, and Sierra Leone. Lisbon, Madeira, and St Vincent being in foreign territory, Sierra Leone is the first British coaling station. The harbour is capacious and secure, and the works for its defence are nearly completed. Ascension, distant from Sierra Leone 1000 miles, from St Helena 680 miles, and from the Cape of Good Hope 2380 miles, has a roadstead, or landing-place, on its west or leeward side; there is no harbour. Ascension has been used as a depôt for stores and the supply of coals. By a wise decision of the Admiralty (1887) the stores were to be removed from Ascension, which was henceforth to be used only as a sanatorium for the benefit of ships whose crews have suffered from fever.

St Helena, in the opinion of the Royal Commission, has many advantages over Ascension. It is larger, has a cooler temperature, more vegetation, and a better roadstead. Within a recent period £30,000 has been expended on fortifications; and it has been decided to further strengthen the defences, and to supply a modern armament.

The Royal Commission showed that the value of British trade either with the Cape of Good Hope, or passing round it, amounted to £91,352,000 annually, the whole, with the exception of about £4,000,000, being carried on directly with the United Kingdom. Enormous, however, as is the value of this trade, it by no means represents that which, in the event of war with one or more of the great naval powers, might pass round the Cape. The annual value of British trade with India, Ceylon, China, and the East, conveyed through the Suez Canal, falls little short of the trade by the Cape route. If the long sea-route became alone available, the annual value of the traffic by the Cape would amount to £150,000,000, exclusive of that of the shipping employed. The Cape peninsula, about 32 miles in length, is a rugged mountainous district, connected with the continent by a low isthmus, 13 miles in length (see map of CAPE COLONY). Simon's Bay affords a secure anchorage, and naval establishments have been formed on its shores. The anchorage in Table Bay, the scene of many disasters in former days, has been rendered secure by a noble breakwater. Docks have been formed. The graving-dock is capable of receiving large ironclads. To make the Cape thoroughly secure, it is necessary to fortify both Table Bay and Simon's Bay. The defences at Simon's Bay have been completed at the sole cost of the imperial government. At Table Bay the works are being executed by the colony, while the armaments are provided by the imperial government.

Mauritius lies nearly midway between the Cape and India, 4440 miles apart. The colony has a trade of the annual value of £6,000,000. Port Louis is a safe and commodious harbour. The Royal Commission recommended additions to and improvements of existing defences. Mombasa was made a naval coaling-station in 1890.

Having dealt with British trade with the East, we turn to the West. The trade of the United Kingdom with the United States and Canada exceeded, at the close of the nineteenth century, £123,000,000 in annual value. The largest proportion is food and raw material supplied to the United Kingdom. War with the United States cannot be contemplated by practical British politicians. In the event of war with any other power, merchant-steamers would require protection only near the coast at either end of their voyage, trusting to their own speed for the intermediate portion.

British trade with the West Indies amounts annually to over £3,000,000. The defences of Jamaica have been modernised and greatly improved in recent years. St Lucia is the coaling station for the fleet in the Windward Islands.

The Commonwealth Act of 1900 gives Australia the power of arranging for its own naval and military defence, guaranteed by a suitable volunteer force. On account of its great distance and the enormous value of its trade and commerce, the importance of its coaling stations is obvious. New Zealand is secured by its geographical position from an attack in force.

The foreign possessions and dependencies of the United States, France, and Germany are many of them valuable as coaling stations; Guam in the Ladrones and Pago Pago in Samoa being specially destined as stations for coaling the U.S. navy. So the French holdings on the Somali coast are useful to France. Kiao-Chow is specially valuable to the German navy on account of the rich coal-fields within the protectorate. But the British coaling stations—of which the following are the principal—are the most numerous and well equipped: