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‘File 28/15 Submarine Menace’ [32r] (63/116)
The record is made up of 1 file (56 folios). It was created in 25 Jun 1940-24 Aug 1944. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
- 2 -
which exists that U-boats have been in this area, but since
September 1942 there have been persistent rumours from aircraft,
patrol ships and Intelligence sources of U-boats being sighted
near the land. Some of these reports are circumstantial, and
are probably reliable.
8• There is very little doubt that at one time or another,
U-boats have made contact with the shore since last Septembero
This period coincides with the cessation of the monsoon swell on
the Baluchistan and Mekran coasts.
9. The most circumstantial reports which have been received
of U-boats having been actually seen are as followss-
April 24th 1942 - Off Ormara. U-boats questioned a
dhow
A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean.
.
January 3rd 1943- Off Porbandar. Two U-boats sighted. This report
Jan/Feb 1943 - 50 miles S.W. of Jask, combined with a spate of
reports off Has al hadd and Charbar.
which individually are somewhat unreliable, indicate that U-boats
have, for some reason not yet known, communicated with someone on
the dnore or have landed agents, or possibly arranged for
future supplies either on shore or in dhows.
11© The other factor to be borne in mind is that, ex cept on one
occasion, shipping has not been molested, although at seme time during
these months there must have been favourable opportunities to attack.
12. It is not thought that U-boats would derive any special
value from W/T. messages concerning shipping. They must know
that there is a constant stream of ships and convoys in the Gulf of
Oman. If W/T messages are being transmitted to U.boats this is
more likely to be for the purpose of arranging rendezvous with
agents on shore.
13. The object of these U-boats visits remains at present a
matter of speculation. When the monsoon breaks in May,
communication with the shore along this coast will become very
difficult, if not impossible, due ta the heavy swell which extends
as far west as Jask.
control but steps are now being taken to place them under British
control. There is also the possibility of private W/T sets being
used by Persians, who, before the War, were agents of Japanese and
German shipping firms. For example, the foxmer Japanese shipping
agent Abdul Hamid Khonji and his secretary Kamel, visited Japan in
1941. They left Kobe in April 1942 and arrived in Tehran in May.
Abdul Hamid announced that it was hie intention to go and live in
Bahrain, and Kamel in Xingeh© For three months, however, they
stayed in Tehran with Abdul Razzaq, Abdul Hanid f B brother, whose
father-in-law Mahmoud Mahmoud is employed in the Ministry of Posts
and Telegraphs and is married to a German. They are all said to
be very pro-German. Abdul Hamid stated that he had met many
Japanese officials in Japan. In October 1943 he was reported to
be in Sharjah. The whereabouts of Kamel is not known.
15. During November 1942 verey lights were seen on the coast
near Jask. Investigations suggested that these lights had been
made by the R.A.F. station in the vicinity. By coincidence, on
three occasions convoys left Bandar Abbas the day following the
sighting of these verey lights.
CONCLUSION.
is borne out by others within a few days in areas
from which U-boats might have come.
.
10 .
The balance of evidence of these, and a mass of reports
14.
There are W/T stations at Jask and Lingeh under Persian
/
16
It is
About this item
- Content
The file comprises correspondence and other papers relating to enemy submarine activity in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. and Gulf of Oman throughout the War. The principal correspondents in the file are: the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. at Bahrain (Major Reginald George Evelin William Alban; Edward Birkbeck Wakefield; Major Tom Hickinbotham); the Political Officer on the Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. (POTC: Captain Roy Douglas Metcalfe; Captain Maurice O’Connor Tandy); and the Senior Naval Officer in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. (SNOPG: Commodore Cosmo Moray Graham; Commodore Charles Ford Hammill).
The file includes:
- various reports of sightings of enemy submarines (f 4, f 14, ff 48-52);
- the ramming and sinking of the Italian submarine Galvani by HMS Falmouth , off the Oman coast in June 1940 (f 2);
- correspondence and memoranda relating to the import from India into Bahrain and the Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. of distilled water, which might indicate the possible presence in the area of an enemy submarine (distilled water being required for repairs to submarine batteries) (ff 5-10). Government of India correspondence raises concerns over distilled water imports into Bahrain by Khalil bin Ebrahim Kanoo [Khalīl Ibrāhīm Kānū], though the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. writes that Kanoo imports his water for car servicing and is above suspicion (ff 16-17). Further imports of distilled water into Bahrain and the Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. are closely monitored (ff 19-24, f 30);
- reports of a heavy explosion off the coast of Kalba in January 1941, with fresh oil seen on the sea shortly thereafter (ff 25-26);
- a note on enemy submarine activity off the Mekran [Makran] coast, prepared by H K Dawson Shepherd of the Combined Intelligence Centre Iraq (CICI), dated 14 February 1943, with details on: German and Japanese interests in Persia; German agents in Persia; reports of a German submarine landing arms at Jask; the possibility of U-Boats making contact with the Persian coast (ff 33-34);
- investigation into the background of a resident of Khor Fakkan [Khawr Fakkān] in November 1943, believed to have pro-Axis sympathies, and whose presence at Khor Fakkan is considered suspicious in light of the sinking of a submarine off the coast of Khor Fakkan (f 37). A report by the POTC reveals that no pro-Axis connections or suspicious activities have been discovered (ff 35-36, f 43);
- a request by the SNOPG, 17 November 1943, to investigate the Danish employees of a fish canning factory An East India Company trading post. at Bandar Abbas [Bandar-e ʻAbbās], some of whom may hold pro-German sympathies (f 39).
- Extent and format
- 1 file (56 folios)
- Arrangement
The file’s contents are arranged in approximate chronological order, from the earliest item at the front to the latest at the end. The file notes at the end of the file (ff 54-57) mirror the chronological arrangement.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover with 58; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is also present in parallel between ff 2-53; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence. Paginated: the file notes at the back (ff 54-57) have been paginated using pencil.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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‘File 28/15 Submarine Menace’ [32r] (63/116), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/2/702, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100025656192.0x000040> [accessed 2 April 2025]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/R/15/2/702
- Title
- ‘File 28/15 Submarine Menace’
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:20v, 22r:57v, back-i, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence