Printed papers on the political situation and military policy in Egypt [‎6v] (12/176)

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It is suggested to him that, during their next refits, work might be carried out
on stiffening for guns as armed escorts, and on fitting of hydrophones as a defence
against submarines, and for navigational purposes during fog, &c.
Information might be allowed to get about that, for the general safety of their
vessels and passengers, and owing to the prevalence of fog in Japanese and hnghsh
waters, these ships were going to be fitted with all the latest improvements, &c.
26. Actually, what would be done would be to provide for the placing of blowing
charges in, say, six different positions, arranged one or two in each main compartment
of the ship, so as to flood each compartment simultaneously on the firing of the
charges. The charges themselves would not be actually placed, but the space
necessary would be boxed off and circuits would be run to the bridge. To people not
in the know, the ship wx>uld merely have been fitted with six hydrophones, and
listeners provided on the bridge.
The Officers of these two ships w^ould be carefully chosen for their character,
patriotism, and public spirit, in order to avoid any compromising of the secrecy
of the scheme as the result of bribes, &c.
One, or perhaps tw'o, of them would be entrusted with the job of placing the
actual charges in place at the most convenient time, say, w^hen loading cargo at the
last port of call before Port Said on the way to the East.
These ships of the N.Y.K. are in constant passage through the Canal, and
would be quite well known; probably in time the pilots, or certain of them, would
get to know the Officers personally, and these latter would be to all appearances
straightforward and friendly.
27. It is suggested that the sequence of events might very possibly be as
follows :—
In the autumn of one year the Japanese General Staff come to the conclusion
that they cannot postpone offensive action any longer. It is decided that a pretext
for breaking off relations must be arranged for to be used in the summer of the
following year, so that hostilities may commence during the S.W. Monsoon, which
would make the passage of the Indian Ocean difficult for small vessels, and facilitate
disembarkation of a raiding force on the East Coast of Malaya. The Head of the
N.Y.K. Line is then approached, and asked to arrange the sailing of his line so
as to have both of his “ blockships ” in the Mediterranean area, on their passage
home, at the beginning of June. They should have a heavy cargo, such as railway
material, cement, ore, &c., and it would be arranged that one follows the other by
a fortnight or some such interval.
28. All being in readiness in Japan for an immediate outbreak of hostilities,
the captain of one of the “ blockships ’ ’ is instructed through his agents, by means
of a suitable code, to “ carry out his programme.”
He sails from Marseilles (or some such port) and arrives at Port Said. The
Examination Service- can find nothing wrong with his papers or his cargo, or, at any
rate, they have no reason to stop him passing through the Canal, however much they
may wish to do so.
The captain and officers are all familiar to the Canal authorities and officials.
The vessel is passed into the Canal in charge of the usual pilot, who has had
confidential instructions to be on his guard, and to keep his eyes open.
29. All goes well until a likely spot is reached, say the rocky portion just North
of Ismailia, or south of the Little Bitter Lake, when one of the officers on the bridge,
going into the charthouse, lifts the hydrophone headpiece off its hook.
Explosions follow and the ship commences to settle; in fifteen minutes she is
securely wedged across the channel on the floor of the Canal, with six large holes in
her sides.
Conclusion.
30. In the absence of adequate deterrents and intelligence system, the prepara
tion and scuttling of a suitable ship in the Canal does not present insuperable
difficulties.
IV.—Possible Courses of Action Open to Japan.
31. Japan’s object would be to block the Canal so effectively before the outbreak
of war that our Fleet would be unable to use it for at least a month. In order to
achieve this object she might arrange—