Defence of Otago Harbour.

Cromwell Argus, Volume II, Issue 97, 19 September 1871, Page 6

Defence of Otago Harbour.

—o— Hutton, F.R.G.S., whoso report on the Defence of the Harbours of New Zealand has been laid before the General Assembly, makes the following observations in regard to the protection of Dunedin and Port Chalmers from attack by hostile cruisers

“ Dunedin is the most important town in New Zealand, and at the same time it is the most expensive to defend from the attacjj of an enemy, for it could be attacked v3 ‘ way of Port Chalmers, or it could be ahrqA®' from the open sea, as it presents a large , A on the sides of the hills, at a distance ort a !ilj three or four miles.

“ The passage up the harbour could be best obstructed by guns on the half-way islands ; but these islands are too far up to protect Port Chalmers, as the projecting eastern head of the small bay entirely shuts oft' the view of a large part of the anchorage ; and as Port Chalmers possesses a dock and the terminus of the railway, it is quite as necessary to protect as Dunedin itself.

“I should therefore place one gun on the north-west point of Koputia Bay, and the other on the north-west point of Portobello Bay. In these positions the guns can see one another, and both will command the channel as far as their range extends. “ It may be thought that Portobello Bay is too far from Port Chalmers to be quickly supported ; but it must be remembered that the channel a ship would have to take is a circuitous one, and passes close to the other gun ; and also that Portobello itself is a populous district, and could easily support sufficient Volunteer artillerymen to man the gun. “ I do not think that a landing on the open beach near Dunedin is likely to be attempted ; but as the town could be bombarded from the sea, some precautionary measures should perhaps be taken in this direction. I therefore recommend that two heavy rifled guns be placed on the high land between Anderson’s Bay and Lawyer’s Head, near the Hon. Mr Holmes’s house. These guns should be placed in separate batteries, at not less than 100 yards distance from each other, so as to disperse the enemy’s fire, and render it loss likely that either would be dismounted. “Of course I must be understood to recommend that these, and all the other guns, be mounted on Moncrieff carriages [constructed on the hydro-pneumatic principle], and placed in sunken batteries.”