INDIA'S MOST PRESSING NEED; A NAVY. [To TRH EDITOR OP
Via " SPROTATOR..1 SIR,—I have received certain inquiries regarding my letter to you on the above question, to which, with your kind permis- sion, I will endeavour to make a reply. The new Indian Navy might at first consist, in addition to a squadron of the present strength, of three super-Dreadnought cruisers and strong divisions of submarines and destroyers, and for headquarters there is Bombay, with one of the finest harbours in the world, which for two centuries was the home of the old Indian Navy, with Butcher's Island for the gunnery establishment, as in my time. In Bombay Dockyard the teak-built ships of the old service were constructed since 1736, and many historic ships also for the Royal Navy, including the frigates ' Pitt, Trincomalee," Andromeda,' and 'Saleette '—from which Byron made his famous swim across the Hellespont—and the line-of-battle ships ' Cornwallis '—flag-ship of Sir William
Parker in the China War of 18404'2, of which a splendid model in full sail, made in the dockyard, is in the Royal
United Service Institution in Whitehall—'Mel vine," Welles- ley," Malabar,' Meanee,' and' Asia,' Sir Edward Codrington'e flag-ship at Navarino. It is a curious circumstance that Ote only steam frigates built in England for the Indian Navy, the ' Akbar ' and ' Ajdaha,' were inefficient, leaky, and constantly breaking down, and were relegated to harbour duty, and that Ad- mire's Parker and Codrington wrote in eulogistic terms of their flag-ships; Admiral Lord Alcester (better known as Sir
Beauchamp Seymour and " the Swell of the Ocean ") also spoke admiringly of the Indian Navy ships built in Bombay and of the officers whom he knew on service. He wrote to me in the following terms in a letter dated April 14th. 1877
"No person regretted more than I did the abolition of that gallant service. In my opinion no greater mistake was ever made. It was a service which ranked among its officers some of the finest and best follows I have ever met during a career of over forty- three years, and during its existence I ever endeavoured to show to the officers my appreciation of its merits wherever we met. Campbell, Rennie, Lynch, and many others will always be remembered by me. From many of them I have received groat hospitality and kindness, while their knowledge of Eastern languages and of the countries in which they served so con- tinuously, countries rarely or never visited at that time bay my brother officers, was of the greatest possible service to us all.'
Bombay Dockyard could, I believe, be enlarged and fitted for
the repair of the Dreadnought cruisers, and Trincomalee, the old headquarters of the Royal Navy, might also be utilized.
Surely ten or twenty millions, raised by a special loan, as for the Indian Railways and Public Works, would not be grudged to safeguard the ports and commerce of the country, and the annual upkeep would not be heavy. The Indian Army cannot protect India from attack by sea, and the British Navy may be hard put to it by a hostile coalition in Europe to defend
our shores and world-wide commerce.—I am, Sir, keg
C. R. Low,
Commander (late) IX.,
Stanpit House, Christchurch.
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