Abstract: The volume contains a collection of miscellaneous East India Company (and India Office) papers on 'Marine' matters, including correspondence, memoranda, committee papers, minutes, lists, notes, and extracts.The papers cover: Indian Navy (IN) matters (including constitution and government of the IN, teaching of naval gunnery, recruitment, midshipmen, shipbuilding at Bombay, and the legality of ships of the IN carrying merchandise); batta [officers' allowances]; the need for more regular communications between Bombay and the Persian Gulf; Madras (duties of the office of Master Attendant, and the Marine Board); lascars and native seamen; the award of service medals for the Persian and Burmese wars; pilots; native servants; lists of Marine Department charges at Aden in 1850; appointment of Agents; remarks on the steam route via the Cape of Good Hope; the cost of machinery for a steam factory at Bombay; and miscellaneous matters.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 183; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. One additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 2-183; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled and are located in the bottom right corner of the recto side of each folio.The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the leading and ending flyleaves.Pagination: the file also contains an original printed pagination sequence.
Abstract: This part of the volume consists of copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of Bombay Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 91 of 1840, dated 31 October 1840. The enclosures are numbered 1-5 and are dated 28 August to 26 October 1840. They consist of correspondence relating to the Euphrates Flotilla and the Indus Flotilla.The enclosures concern matters including:The Government of India stating that Lieutenant Henry Blosse Lynch may be permitted to proceed to England on sick certificate, leaving Lieutenant Campbell in charge of his commandDeficiencies in the size of crews and number of engineers on the ExpeditionThe opinion of the Superintendent of the Indian Navy, Captain Robert Oliver, on the crew required for the vessels of the Euphrates FlotillaThe Ameers of Khyrpoor [Amīrs of Khairpur] not levying duty on merchandise while it is in transit on the Indus.The correspondents are the following: the Government of India; the Superintendent of the Indian Navy; the Chief Secretary to the Government of Bombay, Lestock Robert Reid; the Political Agent in Lower Sinde [Sindh], Major James Outram; and the Political Agent in Upper Sinde, Ross Bell.Physical description: 1 item (16 folios)
Abstract: This part of the volume consists of a copy of an enclosure to a despatch from the Government of Bombay Secret Department to the Secret Committee, Number 89 of 1840, dated 30 October 1840.The enclosure consists of a memorandum by John Pollard Willoughby, Secretary to the Government of Bombay, regarding the Euphrates Expedition, including: discussion of the advantages of Margeil [Al Ma‘qil] as a station for sea and river steam vessels; and matters related to the employment of boiler makers, engineers, artificers, and officers on the Euphrates Expedition.Physical description: 1 item (12 folios)
Abstract: This item comprises copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of India Secret Department to the East India Company Secret Committee, Number 2 of 1838, dated 7 February 1838. The enclosures are dated 17 July-29 November 1837.The item relates to Turkish Arabia [Ottoman Iraq] and covers the following matters:The arrival of Lieutenant Henry Blosse Lynch at Bagdad [Baghdad; this spelling is also used in the item] to take command of the steam vessels in the rivers of the Pachalic [Pashalik] (the Euphrates and Tigris) and to put them in condition for effective service. The correspondence chiefly discusses the officers, men and stores considered necessary to equip the
Euphratessteamer for service, including the indent (request) submitted by Lynch to the Superintendent of the Indian Navy (ff 15-18), and which Presidency (Bombay or Bengal) will be liable for the expenses incurred and the personnel requiredThe arrival of ‘Indian Agents’ deputed to supervise the restoration of the canal of Kerbela [Karbala], including a meeting of the Political Agent in Bagdad with the Pacha [Pāshā], and his expectation that complications will arise due to the involvement of various interested parties (f 8)The proposal of the Governor-General of India to send a Mr Eliot to provide assistance to Colonel Robert Taylor, the Political Agent at Bagdad, and the suggestion that since there is no actual need for an assistant, Eliot could be employed ‘collecting information on the political and commercial condition of the countries in the neighbourhood’ (f 26).The correspondents are: Lynch; the Government of Bombay; Government of India; the Controller of the Government Steam Vessels, Calcutta [Kolkata]; and Taylor.Physical description: 1 item (24 folios)
Abstract: The file relates to a request from the United States (US) Government in December 1940 for permission to appoint a Naval Observer to serve at Bahrain (generally referred to in the papers as Bahrein). The United States Government made their request to the Foreign Office in accordance with the terms of the Exclusion Agreement of 13 March 1892, which required the Ruler of Bahrain to obtain the consent of the British Government before permitting the agent of another government to reside within his territory. By 1944, the papers reflect a growing British feeling that US naval officers in the Persian Gulf were becoming involved in commercial, rather than purely naval matters.The papers include: the concerns of the Foreign Office and India Office over the proposed appointment (whether it would set a precedent for other governments, doubt over the precise nature of the Naval Observer's role at Bahrain, and anticipated objections from the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf), January 1941; British agreement to the appointment, and the consent of the Shaikh of Bahrain, February - March 1941; the death in an air accident of the first United States Naval Observer, Lieutenant Commander George W Grove, June-July 1941; the appointment of his replacement as Naval Observer, and the transfer of the post from Bahrain to Basra, July-November 1941; and papers dated 1944 (including a top secret memorandum from the Senior Naval Officer in the Persian Gulf) concerning the increased numbers of United States naval officers stationed in the Persian Gulf, and enquiries by them into commercial matters.There are no papers dated 1942-43.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.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 60; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 3-57; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
Abstract: This file contains correspondence between British officials concerning whether or not Major Ghulam 'Ali Bayandor, an officer in the Persian Navy, should have received an official gun salute when he visited Bushire in January 1933 and by what exact title he should be referred to by the British authorities.The correspondence in the file is largely between officials at the Political Residency in Bushire, the Admiralty and the British Legation in Tehran.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.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 35; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.