!['Lighting and Buoying of the Persian Gulf, 1908-1928' [‎49r] (1/6)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000833.0x0003cb/IOR_L_PS_18_B401_0001.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "'Lighting and Buoying of the Persian Gulf, 1908-1928' [‎49r] (1/6)")
'Lighting and Buoying of the Persian Gulf, 1908-1928' [49r] (1/6)
The record is made up of 1 file (3 folios). It was created in 29 Aug 1928. 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.
CONFIDENTIAL.
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.
B. 401.
JF. 4(H5D/28.
Lighting and Buoying of the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
, 1908-1928.
I.—First Reconstruction : 1909-14.
1. For many years before 1904 the lighting and buoying of the Persian
Gulf had been left almost entirely to private enterprise. The British India
Steam Navigation Company were principally concerned with such
arrangements as existed, and in 1909 were maintaining 15 buoys and one
beacon (at Bahrein) in the Gulf. The Government of India had erected one
beacon at Has al Araz, Koweit, and the Belgian Customs Administration
one at Ras al Marg, Bushire ; some sporadic buoying had also been carried
out. Turkish lights and buoys were maintained at the head of the Gulf.
The question of regulating the service was, however, brought into prominence
by the increase of German and Turkish activities in the Gulf early in the
century. In 1907, for instance, the Hamburg-Amerika Company proposed
to contribute to the upkeep of the British India Steam Navigation Company’s
buoys, and as this seemed to be the beginning of a political move it was
suo-crested that the British Government should take ovei the whole seiviee.
oo
2. The Sub-Committee of the Committee of Imperial Defence in their
Report of the 20th January 1909, having learned from evidence given that
the lighting, &c.. in the Gulf was unsatisfactory, supported a recommendation
already made by the Government of India that a Commission should be sent
to the" Gulf to" collect information with a view to improving conditions at
small cost. A Committee of Enquiry was appointed and reported on the
29th April 1909 ; they recommended a large reorganisation, detailed in a
supplementary report.
o. It was decided that Government should undertake responsibility for
the service, and long correspondence ensued between the Home Departments
concerned and with the Government of India. By 1912 the following
programme of reconstruction had been worked out and sanctioned ;
3 lighthouses at Musandim (Little Quoin), Tamb, and Sheikh Shuaib.
1 lightvessel outside the Shatt-el-Arab.
6 lighted buoys (Bushire 2, Bahrein 2, Bander Abbas and Shatt-el- Arab).
3 unlit buoys (together with certain buoys taken over from the British
India Steam Navigation Company).
1 lighthouse tender.
1 lighthouse depot.
4. Meanwhile the obstructive activities of the Turkish authorities
continued and counterbuoying was carried on by them, especially in the
Shatt-el-Arab. It is unnecessary, however, to consider these activities in
detail, since by the Anglo-Turkish Convention of 29th July 1913, which was
awaiting ratification on the outbreak of war, the Ottoman Government
undertook, while reserving Turkish territorial rights, not to oppose measures
which His Majesty’s Government might carry out in respect of surveys,
lighting, buoying or pilotage.
5. The main features of the programme of reconstruction were carried
out in 1912-14. Lighted buoys for Bushire, Bahrein and Bander Abbas
were sent out from this country in June and September 1912. A lighted
buoy had already in 1911 been placed at the outer bar of the Shatt. Unlit
buoys were manufactured in India. The Tamb light was exhibited in
July 1913, the Little Quoin light in January 1914. The Shatt-el-Arab light-
vessel was despatched to the Gulf and established in April 1914 ; a protest
was made by the Turkish Government against its establishment, but it was
pointed out that the ship was 10 miles outside the bar, and not in Turkish
territorial waters. The lighthouse tender, named Ncarchus, was built and
sailed for India in December 1914. (The despatch vessel R.I.M.S. Lawrence
3074 75 10.28 A
P. 2680/07.
Letter from Trinity
House to I.O.,
June 1 1909,
P. 3503/09, 3620/09
Memo. B. IBM,
169 from I.O.
Letter from I.O. to
Trinity House,
Mar. 2 1912.
P.642/12; Memo.
B. 187 from I O.,
P. 4898/11 ; Memo.
B. 187a from I.O.,
P. 4378/12.
P. 2232/12. 2908/12.
P. 3436/13.
Tel. from Viceroy,
April 14 1914.
P. 1472/14.
Desp. from
Constantinople,
Sept. 5 1914.
P. 4248/14.
About this item
- Content
Document providing a history of lighting and buoying of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .
Covering:
- first reconstruction: 1909-14 – assessment, programme of reconstruction; obstructive activities of the Turkish authorities, detail of buoys and lighthouses placed, and parts of the programme not completed;
- expansion: 1914-25 – including extensions to the original programme, and an overhaul of beacons;
- administration and finance – including light dues, responsibility for the cost of the service, the Government of India's role in administration and maintenance, and the creation of a Lighting and Buoying Fund;
- relations with Persia – listing occasions during the British management of the Lighting and Buoying Service when His Majesty's Government came into collision with the Persian Government;
- conclusions.
It also includes an appendix listing lights, buoys, and beacons present at the time of writing (1928).
Written by M J Clauson 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. .
- Extent and format
- 1 file (3 folios)
- Arrangement
This file consists of a single document.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at f 49, and terminates at f 51, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, 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. Pagination: the file also contains an original printed pagination sequence.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
Use and share this item
- Share this item
'Lighting and Buoying of the Persian Gulf, 1908-1928' [49r] (1/6), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/18/B401, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100029521392.0x000002> [accessed 19 April 2024]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100029521392.0x000002
Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.
<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100029521392.0x000002">'Lighting and Buoying of the Persian Gulf, 1908-1928' [‎49r] (1/6)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100029521392.0x000002"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000833.0x0003cb/IOR_L_PS_18_B401_0001.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" /> </a>
This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000000833.0x0003cb/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images
Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/18/B401
- Title
- 'Lighting and Buoying of the Persian Gulf, 1908-1928'
- Pages
- 49r:51v
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence