'History of the Indian Navy. (1613-1863).' [‎571] (590/622)

HISTORY OF THE INDIAN NAVY.
571
the livaliy and active hostility of the Portuguese and Dutch^
Were the early victories at Surat and Onnuz of no account, or
did the lapse of centuries bring oblivion with it ? Were the
desperate struggles waged with the fleets of the great Mogul,
and their successors, the Peishwa of the Mahrattas, forgotten ^
Was no account taken of the actions with the ships of the
piratical fleets which, under Kidd and his compeers, swept the
Eastern seas fiom Madagascar to the Straits of Singapore 5 of
the capture of Surat, when the gallant Commodore Watson fell;
of the brilliant achievements of Sir W. James against Angria's
fleets and strongholds; of the assistance afforded to Sir Edward
Hughes and other British admirals in their struggles with
England's traditional foe, and, at a later period, during the
Revolutionary War, when the Company's small cruisers vic
toriously upheld the national honour, and never lowered the
British flag save to overwhelming odds ? Was it not deemed
worthy of record that the ships and officers of the Indian Navy
had served with credit at Mauritius, in Java, and the subse
quent protracted occupation of the Eastern Islands; and that
they had fought afloat and ashore at Ras-ul-Khymah, Beni-Boo-
Ali, in Scinde, at the capture of Aden, of Mocha, and Dwarka,
in New Zealand, at Mooltan, and during the Indian Mutiny 1
It was customary whenever a distinguished regiment embarked
for England, to embody in a General Order a record of its
services; but here an old and honourable Service was finally
broken up, and there was no notice whatever of its war services
by the Supreme Government under whose immediate eye a large
portion of it had been employed in warlike operations since the
beginning of this century, while the Government of Bombay From c. 1668-1858, the East India Company’s administration in the city of Bombay [Mumbai] and western India. From 1858-1947, a subdivision of the British Raj. It was responsible for British relations with the Gulf and Red Sea regions. con
sidered it had exhausted the record by a reference to " Burmah,
China, and Persia." Perhaps we ought not to wonder at such
indifference, for had not the now moribund Service from time
immemorial experienced similar treatment, and so probably the
officers thought, for now, (as ever, with the exception of Sir
John Hayes, who had been eager in defence of the honour and
interests of the Service he adorned), no voice was raised in
protest against such unworthy treatment of an ancient and
meritorious Service. And so the Indian Navy, so far as public
acknowledgment went, was suffered to pass into oblivion,
" unwept, unhonoured, and unsung."
In accordance with the Government General Order, on the
30th of April, 1863, the Indian Navy ceased to exist. At noon
on that day, all the officers and seamen of the ships yet in
commission, were assembled on board the flagship 4 Ajdaha,' and
Commodore Frushard read the following Order:—"On this the
last day of his authority, the Commodore Commanding desires
the officers and men, each and all, of the Indian Navy, to
receive his hearty thanks for the manner in which their several