Page 291 - Gulf Precis(VIII)_Neat

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CHAPTER IX.
Movements of the British versus Foreign men-of-war, 1901-05.
(i) Movements of His Majesty's ships in connection with Maskat.
3a. In April 1901, when the French ships-of-war the Jean Dart and Infer-
• _ „ net visited Maskat and Sur, and before
S""‘ E. September .90.. No,. ^ Majesty.s Sh;p Cossaci was ordered
to Sur, grave inconvenience was experienced by the Political Agent at Maskat
in consequence of his inability to obtain the services of a man-of-war to proceed
to Sur. The Government of India therefore suggested to Rear-Admiral Bosan-
quet that instructions might issue to the effect that commanders of His Majesty’s
ships, when passing up or down the Persian Gulf, should if requested by the
Consul at Maskat, place their services at the disposal of that official if possible
and provided that their sailing orders were not of an urgent nature, and also that
the Consul at Maskat should be kept informed as far as possible of the move­
ments of the ships in the Gulf.
83. No special instructions were, however, issued to Commanding Officers
of His Majesty’s ships to place their services at the disposal of the Consul
at Maskat when possible, and if so requested, but it was pointed out that in
the printed Standing Orders issued for the guidance of the squadron in the
East Indies Command, it was laid down that “ it will be the duty of all
captains to pay prompt attention to every requisition from the Indian Govern­
ment, or their authorized agent,” and further that "as difficulties requiring prompt
action are apt to arise suddenly, the Commanders of His Majesty's ships on
this division (Persian Gulf) are to consider themselves at the disposal of the
British Resident, or such other local authority as the Government of India may
appoint, for the maintenance of the Maritime Police of these waters and for the
support of British authority.” * These would appear to meet the wishes of the
Government of India on the point.
The senior officer in the Persian Gulf was directed to keep the Political
Agent informed of the movements of ships on his division so far as it may be
possible to forecast them.
'lhe Naval Commander in-Chief pointed out that if the Consul had lately
been kept in ignorance of the whereabouts
Secret E., January 1902, Nos. 9-15.
and movements of vessels in the Gulf, it
was due to the concentration of ships in the north of the division, and that when
a vessel was stationed in the vicinity of Maskat, as is usually the case in normal
times, her Commanding Officer was always very ready to assist the local Consular
and Political authority in this or any other matter.
(ii) Cruise of large men-of-war in the Persian Gulf, zgoi-05.
(a) Cruise of the Highflyer, /go/.
84. In recent years a great deal of importance has been attached by foreign
. , L , . .. , ox* nations competing with the British in the
t As to cruise of the loreign ships see therremrm T5 ° ,
International Rivalry and British Policy, and alio * ersian VjrUlt tO making a QlSpIayj- of
the Majkat Prids, 1893-1905. iarge men-of-war on its shores. However
poorly off these nations might be at home in the number of such ships, their
display is calculated to make a deep impression upon the natives, who know
nothing of the naval strength of ths several powers in Europe except what they
see with their own eyes. Hence the British Government in order to counteract
the impression produced by the visits of foreign cruisers in the Gulf, have taken
opportunities to despatch some of their large vessels to the Gulf, in addition to
the vessels of the Indian Navy that are attached to the Persian Gulf squadron.
85. In 1901 His Majesty’s Ship Highflyer, with Rear-Admiral Bosanquet
on board, made a cruise in the Gulf. The
Secret E., July 1901, Nos. 91-92.
Rear-Admiral writing demi-officially on
20th April 1901 from Trincomali to Mr. VV. R. Lawrence (late Private Secretary
to His Excellency Lord Curzon) gave a short account of his cruise in the Persian
Gulf on the Highflyer in company with the Sphinx. The Highflyer was the
largest ship, with heaviest guns, that had visited the Gulf, and appears to have
made a great impression on the people at the ports it visited, namely at Sur,
Vide paragraphs 18, 19, 20 and aS above.