'Mesopotamia Commission. Report of the Commission Appointed by Act of Parliament to Enquire into the Operations of War in Mesopotamia, together with a Special Report by Commander J Wedgwood, DSO, MP, and Appendices. London: HMSO, 1917.' [‎27v] (54/248)

52
PART TX.—TRANSPORT.
A. Shortage of River Transport.
vessels required, were emphasized by Commander Hamilton, General Kemball, General
Nixon, the Commander-in-Chief in India, and finally by the Viceroy and his whole Council.
Previous experience had demonstrated the defects of ready-made craft received from India,
and of any other boats not specially built to meet the exceptional conditions of the Tigris.
Success and possibly the safety of the Expedition depended upon ability to get transport
up and down the river at all times. After many years of experience, Messrs. Lynch Bros.,
who held a concession for a steamer line on the Tigris, had evolved a type of steamers,
of tugs (to tow large flat barges, one lashed on either side), and of barges, which were con
sidered by those with local knowledge to be the only types entirely suitable for the river.
32. It was a sine qua non of the order that these models only be sent, and the India
Office was requested to contract for the building of the craft with Messrs. Lynch Bros. ;
or to engage their assistance, obtain the loan of their plans, and the benefit of their expert
knowledge. Messrs. Lynch Bros, of London and Basra, not being shipbuilders themselves,
and all yards being at the time precluded from accepting orders for early delivery from
anyone but the Government, could not contract to supply the boats, but offered their
assistance, plans and expert knowledge, including bringing home their supervising engineer
from Basra, for a commission of 5 per cent, on the cost of the boats on this side, and to
erect them at Basra at cost without any addition of profit. Finally, the 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. offered
Messrs. Lynch 1,500 guineas, to which the latter replied that, while it was not on a commer
cial scale, on patriotic grounds they would give their services and plans for 2,000 guineas.
The value of the order to be placed and supervised was about £600,000. To this offer
no reply was sent for some weeks. Meantime, the 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. consulted Sir John Biles,
their expert naval architect (who was employed on a commission basis), to assist them.
With the power of a Government Department behind him, Sir John Biles was able to
go direct to the buiiders of the “ Medjidieh, 5 ' belonging to Lynch Bros., and get a copy
of the plan of their steamer. The transaction might perhaps be criticised from other
joints of view, but we are more concerned with the failure to make use of the unique
knowledge, and to engage the expert assistance which was available, in the face of the
strongly expressed wishes of the General in Command in Mesopotamia, and of the Viceroy, ^
and in view of what ensued therefrom.
33 . The six new paddle steamers asked for were to be duplicates of the “ Medjidieh,”
with certain interior improvements in the arrangements. The 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. , no doubt
acting on the advice of Sir John Biles, thought it well to give the boats more power.
Without consulting Mesopotamia, they ordered heavier machinery, and altered the
dimensions of the hulls. As a consequence, the new boats draw more wafer than the
“ Medjidieh,” burn considerably more fuel, and are more difficult to manoeuvre, particularly
when navigating with two barges abreast through the Narrows. Even if barges are not
required for cargo or troops, they are required for protection of steamers’ paddle-wheels,
which otheiwise would be stripped of their floats by collision with the banks. Above
Ezra’s Tomb the river is very narrow for a distance of 28 miles. In this portion its
maximum breadth does not exceed 200 ft., and in certain places is not more than 140 ft.
from bank to bank. The difficulty, from the navigation point of view, is enhanced by
the twistings and turnings of the river—which, in certain cases, amount to the sharpest
of bends—and by the rapid current.
34 . General Cowper informed us that—
It is impossible to adequately convey or describe the extraordinary difficulties of this portion of the river.
In short, they must be seen to be appreciated, especially the passage of them made both up and down in a
river steamer, towing two barges abreast, and bumping her way, when coming down stream, from side to side
as she rounds the various bends.
35. After these new vessels reached the Tigris, and were put into commission, a tele
gram dated August 26th, 1916, was sent from Mesopotamia to the Commander-in-Chief in
India, in which, referring to the suitability of the new river vessels, it was stated :—
“ ‘ Medjidieh ’ represents extreme in regard to limits for length, breadth, width. River vessels designed
constructed in England, of new ‘ Medjidieh ’ class, are unsuitable for river, particularly during the low-watei
leason ; cannot navigate without barges to protect their paddles, and their beam is then too great for manoeuv
sing either for Narrows or channels through all shoals up river.”
36. With regard to the barges, the 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. , ignoring instructions that they were
to be built 150 ft. long, and to be on Lynch’s model, which have pointed bows, ordered
them 170 ft. long and to have square or punt-shaped ends. While these square-ended r ‘
barges may be suitable for other parts of the world, they were fatally unsuitable for
the navigation of the Tigris, where, owing to the crashing of the barges into the