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Coll 30/111 'British Naval Stations in: Establishments at Khor Quwai and Bahrain. Evacuation of Henjam and Basidu.' [25r] (54/1154)
The record is made up of 1 volume (572 folios). It was created in 24 Oct 1934-4 May 1937. It was written in English and Arabic. 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.
SECRET.
*1
Marine Departme nt.
No. 4 of 1934.
To
The Right Honourable Sir SAMUEL HOARE, Bt., G.B.E., C M G
RG, MR.,
His Majesty s Secretary of State for India.
Simla, the 14th June 1934.
Subject.— Indian Naval Defence.
Sir,
We have recently had occasion to review the whole question of our policy
in relation to the naval defence of India and to consider whether our present dis
positions are in conformity with the general principles of Imperial Defence and
are calculated to secure the greatest possible return for the money that we are
able to devote towards the discharge of this portion of our responsibilities. The
immediate cause of this review has been the correspondence that has been pro
ceeding for some time between our Marine Department and the Military Depart
ment of 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.
on the subject of the relative responsibilities of ourselves
and the Admiralty in the matter of providing for the local defence of India’s ports
and harbours. The position that we have consistently maintained in the course
of this correspondence—and attention is invited particularly to our Marine
Department’s letter No. 1006-M., dated the 11th July 1932, is that so long as
India pays an annual contribution to His Majesty’s Government for the general
defence of its shores and the protection of trade in its waters, we are unable to
accept any financial liability for the execution of Admiralty _ schemes such as
nunesweeping and the Naval Control Service, and that we must in fact confine our
liability, until such time at any rate as financial conditions improve, to the en
deavour to maintain the Royal Indian Marine as a combatant force at its present
peace strength in the state of efficiency required to fit it for service in war.
2. From recent discussions that His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief has
had with His Excellency the Naval Commander-in-Chief, East Indies Station, it
has been made plain to us, on the other hand, that the Admiralty regard it as
axiomatic that the primary duty of all parts of the Empire, including India, in the
matter of naval defence is to make provision for the local defence m war time o
their ports and harbours. They have referred to the conclusions of the Imperial
Conference of 1926 on this subject (Extracts attached as Appendix I) and
have also quoted the orders issued in 1932 (Government of India, Marine Depart
ment letter No 1177 -M., dated the 17th August 1932, extracts from which are
About this item
- Content
The file concerns the evacuation of the British naval stations at Henjam [Jazīreh-ye Hengām] and Basidu [Bāsaʻīdū, Qeshm], in Iran (generally referred to in the papers as Persia), and the transfer of naval facilities to a new main station at Bahrain (also spelled Bahrein) and a subsidiary station at Khor Quwai (also spelled Khor Kuwai), Musandam, in the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman. The British Government had become aware that the legal basis for their occupation of Basidu was very weak, and that it would probably be impossible to oppose a determined effort by the Iranian Government to assert their claims to Basidu. In addition, between 1932 and 1934 there had been a change in the relative importance to the United Kingdom of the Arab and Iranian coasts of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ; the Arab side was now viewed as being more important, as a result of (a) the transfer of the air route to the Arab Coast in 1932, and (b) the discovery of oil at Bahrain, and its probable existence in other parts of the Arab coast. For these reasons, it was felt desirable to move the base of British naval operations in the area (Foreign Office memorandum, folios 221-225).
The main correspondents are the Foreign Office; the Admiralty; senior British naval officers; HM Minister, Tehran (Hughe Montgomery Knatchbull Hugesson); and the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. (Lieutenant-Colonel Trenchard Craven William Fowle).
The papers include: discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of establishing a naval station at Khor Quwai (folios 539-571); issues raised by Muscat's position as an independent state, and the Anglo-French Declaration of 1862 (folios 529-538); minutes of meetings at the Foreign Office and the Admiralty; the question of the reaction of the Iranian Government; discussion of the announcement of the withdrawal; negotiations with the Sultan of Muscat [Sa'īd bin Taymūr Āl Bū Sa'īd] over Khor Quwai; the removal of stores from Henjam; the question of the protection of British cemeteries at Henjam and Basidu (e.g. Iranian assurances, folio 126); descriptions of the evacuation of Henjam and Basidu in April 1935 in intelligence reports and correspondence; and the expression of gratitude by British Government to the Ruler of Bahrain (Shaikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifah [Shaikh Ḥamad bin ‘Īsá Āl Khalīfah]) over the assistance given by the Government of Bahrain in construction work for the new station at Bahrain (folios 39-54).
The Arabic language content of the file consists of a single item of correspondence on folio 40.
The file includes a divider, which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (572 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the file.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 574; 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.
- Written in
- English and Arabic in Latin and Arabic script View the complete information for this record
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Coll 30/111 'British Naval Stations in: Establishments at Khor Quwai and Bahrain. Evacuation of Henjam and Basidu.' [25r] (54/1154), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/3840, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100080227752.0x000037> [accessed 16 June 2026]
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- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/12/3840
- Title
- Coll 30/111 'British Naval Stations in: Establishments at Khor Quwai and Bahrain. Evacuation of Henjam and Basidu.'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:5v, 7r:21v, 23r:37v, 38v:51v, 55r:60v, 61v:64v, 65v:69v, 70v:72v, 73v:81v, 82v, 84r:102v, 103v:119v, 122r:125v, 126v:138v, 139v, 140v:149v, 151r:172v, 173v:452v, 452ar:452av, 453r:573v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence