THE TASMANIAN DEFENCES.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5291, 11 March 1878, Page 3

THE TASMANIAN DEFENCES.

(From tKe Zmmcestdn Examiner, , Feb. 21.) 4 In this morning’s Exaviiner, we publi h the report of Sir William F. D. Jcrvois. on the defences of Tasmania,.or, as he more modestly terms it, the “memorandum.’’ The subject of the defences of Hobarton, is,, very, fully treated, arid the recommendations appear to be based on principles of common sense and sound judgment, added to tary experience. And we dre!disposed to ac-. cept those recommendations the more readilly because it is a matter of fact that' the,greater part of the : somewhat hurried' visit , of Sir William Jeryois was devoted to the, consideration of the.'defences of the 1 capital,/At.present'the city boasts of three .batteries-rthe. Queen’s Battery ,■ the'Pririce of Wales Battery,, and \ the Albert Battery ;, but 'Sir. William is of 'opinion that the last ' two” should be. : dispensed with, as they would . only , serve to' draw an enemy’s 'fire on to the town. He recommends the .retention'’of,'' the Queen’s Battery, the coriipletion of a battery commenced some years ago at .One Tree Point, the; erection of another at Kangaroo' Bluff, and the placing of two lines of electro-contact torpedoes between Macquarie' Point and Montague Point. These works' properly manned; would: be sufficient to protect' the_capltall ■against' an ' nnarmofed cruiser or privateer. But Sir William does not overlook the possibility that an enemy might choose to avoid encountering these laud batteries and, torpedoes. A small force might be' landed, say at Brown’s River, with the view of attacking the city in the rear; or a force might march up from Frederick Henry Bay or Ralph’s Bay to a position near Kangaroo Point, from which if provided with rifled field guns they could shell Hobarton at their leisure. To meet such' a contingency, and also to defend the batteries against assault, ■he advises the formation of a' small body of volunteers, partly infantry and partly artillery, organised as a field force; also that obstacles to any advance at any of the' places named should be erected beforehand by ; throwing up earthworks for field guns and infantry, cutting down trees, forming entanglements of branches of wire, &c.The strength of the volunteer force to be 130 artillery and: 300 infantry, 80 of the artillery' being reserved at Hobarton for the service; of.' the sea batteries, and the remaining 50 to work the 12-pounder guns with the field force. Launceston is the only other town in the colony, besides Hobarton, which .Sir William Jervois considers liable to attack 'with a view to levying a contribution. He thinks the beat plan of defence for the River Tamar would be ■to establish a small strong work at its mouth, near the lighthouse, and to place some torpedoes in connection with it across the entrance passage. The prevalent opinion, however, amongst those who have given the subject any consideration, has always been that the best defence would be the erec : tion of a battery on Garden Island, which would command the entrence,;of the river,and also the narrow channel, between . the, island and the mainland ; and that this channel might be blocked with torpedoes and’ other impediments to navigation. But wri suppose we must bow to the superior military science of Sir William Jervois. Moreover, it is not likely that the merits of the two sugges-, ; tions are likely to be seriously discussed at present, for Sir William declares the project'of a battery at the Heads is beyond the present resources of the colony, and also points out that there is no population near the mouth of tbe river from which a force could be drawn to man a fort there. ; He is'of opinion that any provision for the defrince of Launceston must be near the town itself.; A battery for two 64-pounders, on Pig Island, together with a few electro-contact torpedoes placed under their fire, would effectually bar the passage of any war vessel that could come up the Tames. To work these guns, 1 30 artillerymen would be sufficient, and 100 infantry would suffice for any other service. <’■ 1 ‘