Abstract: The file comprises copies of official notices and correspondence relating to prize jurisdiction in the Persian Gulf (the capture of enemy vessels and cargo) during the Second World War, based on the understanding, as described in a letter from the Political Resident to his Agents, dated 16 November 1939, that, ‘as Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and the Trucial States are on the side of Great Britain the Crown has the right to exercise prize jurisdiction in these States’ (ff 2-3).The file includes:two printed copies of a booklet entitled
Provisional Rules and Orders, 1939: Prize Courts: Order in Council dated September 2, 1939. Made under Section 3 of the Prize Courts Act, 1894 (57 & 58 Vict. C. 39)(ff 6-59, ff 61-114);a printed copy of an Order in Council entitled
Reprisals for restricting German Commerce, dated 27 November 1939 (ff 117-118), and a press statement, issued by the Press Section of the Ministry of Economic Warfare, dated 28 November 1939, relating to the issue of the Order in Council (f 120);correspondence relating to a Danish tanker, the
Eleonora Maersk(also spelt
Elonora Maerskand
Eleanora Mearsk) which arrived in Bahrain from Iran, in April 1940. In a letter to the Political Resident (Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Geoffrey Prior) the Political Agent at Bahrain (Hugh Weightman) stated that the Senior Naval Officer in the Persian Gulf has received instructions from the East Indies Commander-in-Chief that the vessel should be sent to Karachi, presumably as prize (ff 121-124);a Department of Commerce notification, dated 31 August 1940, stating that measures taken against German shipping can now be applied to Italian shipping (f 131);communications relating to prize procedure in respect of Finland, Hungary, Rumania [Romania] and Japan (ff 139-142).Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover with 146; 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 also present in parallel between ff 2-6, f 60, and ff 119-143, the intermediate folios being skipped; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.Pagination: two printed booklets are present in the file (see ff 6-59 and ff 61-114); these booklets each have their own original printed pagination sequence. The file notes at the back of the file (144-145) have also been paginated using pencil.
Abstract: The file comprises communications and correspondence relating to the restrictions and orders imposed by the British Government on foreign vessels, and in particular those regarded as neutral or ‘enemy’ during wartime. The papers chiefly relate to Danish and Norwegian vessels, prompted by the German invasion of Norway and the surrender of Denmark to Germany in April 1940, and French vessels in the wake of the signing of the Franco-German Armistice on 22 June 1940, and Britain’s destruction of the French fleet at El Marsa el Kebir, Algeria, on 3 July 1940. Bahrain’s designation as an Allied port meant that the movement and detention of ships at Bahrain was closely monitored by naval authorities in the region.The file includes:orders and instructions sent by the Political Agent at Bahrain, Hugh Weightman, to Bahrain’s shipping agents and Passport Office, dated 13 April 1940, concerning checks on Danish and Norwegian vessels at Bahrain, and additional orders prohibiting the use of wireless signals by vessels in Bahrain harbour (ff 3-11, ff 200-203);naval orders sent by telegram by senior naval officials, including the Commander-in-Chief of the East Indies Station, Admiral Sir Ralph Leatham, and the Senior Naval Officer in the Persian Gulf (SNOPG), Admiral Cosmo Moray Graham, between April and May 1940, chiefly relating to: orders for Norwegian and Danish shipping; the use of Bahrain and Basra as Allied ports for the detention of Norwegian and Danish vessels; the tracking of movements of Norwegian vessels; armed guards for Norwegian vessels; the Norwegian tanker
Eleonora Maersk, a Norwegian-registered vessel which sailed to Bahrain to place itself under British protection, against the orders of its New York-based owners (ff 16-115);a series of telegrams (ciphered and deciphered) sent by the Ambassador at the British Legation in Tehran, Sir Reader Bullard, to the British Consul at Bushire, dated late April 1940, relating to: telegraphic communications; orders for Norwegian vessels; treatment of Danish vessels flying under the Danish flag (ff 128-148);correspondence dated June 1940, relating to restrictions on vessels bound for France or French possessions (ff 157-165), and on 3 July 1940, the detention of all French vessels in British ports (ff 170-171);an undated memorandum from the Government of India, with an enclosed schedule outlining the extent to which communication of shipping information has been authorised by the Government of India, including: dates of sailing and arrival; Lloyds shipping lists; ships’ documents and bills of lading; details of loading; transportation of troops, military stores (ff 195-199).Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover with 214; 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 also present in parallel between ff 3-203; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence.Pagination: the file notes at the back (ff 204-213) have been paginated in pencil.
Abstract: The file concerns the application to the Persian Gulf of amended prize jurisdiction in the run-up to, and following the outbreak of, the Second World War. Prize law related to the capture of enemy ships and goods during wartime. The Prize Act, 1939 extended prize law to aircraft also.The papers include: a letter from Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Trenchard Craven William Fowle, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, concerning special measures in the Persian Gulf on the outbreak of war, April 1939, including comments on Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Muscat and Oman, and the states that would automatically be at war on the side of the United Kingdom (Kuwait, Bahrain, and the Trucial Coast); copies of the Prize Act, 1939, and the Prize Courts Order in Council, 1939; India Office correspondence and minutes; correspondence from the Government of India; the special position of Muscat and Oman in terms of prize jurisdiction (e.g. folio 16); and a copy of the Reprisals Restricting German Commerce Order in Council, 1939.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 109; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: Correspondence, reports and other papers relating to the case of the SS
Kara Deniz, a Turkish-owned steamship that was claimed as prize by the British Government at the moment of the Ottoman Empire’s entry into the First World War, while the vessel was moored at Bombay [Mumbai]. The papers focus on a financial claim made against the British Government by the vessel’s Greek owners, Socrates Atychides and Theodore Vahratoglou, based on the argument that the vessel had been sold to Persian owners before it was claimed as prize.The file includes: correspondence beginning in 1927 and exchanged between the Foreign Office, India Office and Government of India, responding to the Government of Persia’s desire to conclude the claim being pursued by Atychides against the British Government; discussion of whether the
Kara Denizwas detained prior to or after the Ottoman Empire’s entry into the War; accounts detailing the seizure of the
Kara Deniz, including a 1928 note entitled ‘A brief account of the circumstances attending the alleged detention at Bombay of the S. S. “Kara Deniz” prior to her capture as a prize vessel in 1914’ (ff 323-330), and another note entitled ‘Diary of certain events relating to the detention of the S. S. “Kara Deniz” at Bombay in 1914” (ff 151-152); copies of correspondence (some in French) from Atychides; a printed copy of the court proceedings at the High Court of Judicature at Bombay, Admiralty and Vice-Admiralty Jurisdiction, entitled ‘Case No. 3 of 1914. In Prize. Steamship “Kara Deniz.”’ (ff 189-246); discussion of the claim in relation to other outstanding claims and disputes to be settled between the British and Persian Governments; a report prepared by HM Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at Tehran, Reginald Hervey Hoare, dated 1935, entitled ‘British claims against Persia’ (ff 84-109).Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 345; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: The volume, which bears the alternative title ‘Turco-Italian War: Italian action in the Red Sea’ on its first page (f 3), contains correspondence relating to the blockade by the Italian navy of ports on the Red Sea, including Hodeida [Al-Ḥudaydah], from 25 January 1912. This action was part of the broader Italo-Turkish War of 1911/1912.The seizures specifically dealt with in the volume include:SS
Tuna, seized by the Italian destroyer
Artigliereon 26 January 1912;the SS
Woodcock,seized by the Italian warship
Calabriaon 2 February 1912, and again by the Italian warship
Elba, on 27 March 1912;numerous native dhows and sambuks, including the
Fath-el-Khair,the
Atiat-el-Ramanand the
Muft-el-Khair.Correspondents in the file include: the British Ambassador to Rome (James Rennell Rodd); the Italian Foreign Minister (Antonio di San Guiliano); the Secretary to the Government of Bombay (Charles Augustus Kincaid); representatives of the merchants Cowasjee [also spelt Cowasji] Dinshaw & Brothers of Aden, owners of the vessel SS
Woodcock; Foreign Office officials (primarily Sir Eyre Alexander Barby Wichart Crowe); India Office officials (Thomas William Holderness; Arthur Hirtzel).Papers include:British Government correspondence relating to the state of affairs in Yemen and Hejaz, namely Italian support for Sayyid Muhammad ibn Ali Al-Idrisi, and Turkish action against Ali Al-Idrisi;copies of resolutions and correspondence from representatives of the All-India Muslim League and Anjuman-i-Islam, raising concerns that the Italian blockade of Jeddah would prevent Muslims travelling to Mecca on Hajj;correspondence between British Indian traders and vessel owners operating on the Yemen coast, and Government representatives at Aden, relating to blockade actions, including the boarding of vessels by Italian naval officers, and confiscation of goods;correspondence between British officials and British and Italian Government officials (with some letters in Italian), relating to the seizure of vessels, confiscation of goods by the Italian naval officials, the subsequent referral of seizures to the Italian Prize Court [Commissione Delle Prede], and the settlement of individual cases.The file contains copies (in Italian, in addition to English translations) of the Commissione Delle Prede’s orders and regulations (f 17, ff 99-100, f 139, ff 145-146, ff 186-187), and a translation of the Commission’s hearing over the case of SS
Tuna(spelt
Thuna) (ff 69-70).Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 315; 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 3-313; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.