AN INDIAN NAVY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 179, 16 December 1912, Page 4

AN INDIAN NAVY.

In view of India's alleged oll'er of :i Dieadnought sqjihdron to Britain, it is intorostin«r to recall that India once possessed a navy of her own. Tt was established in 1012 and was not disbanded until 1 H(>3. Perhaps it may be recalled that it was at the close of the sixteenth century that the "Company of Adventurous Trading to the East," as the East India Company was at first styled, set out for India. From the outset these! pioneers of British commerce and British power had to defend themselves and their trade with the aid of their small naval force, which consisted at the start of the Red Dragon and three other vessels. Tts ships were, indeed, seldom idle. Xow they were suppressing piracy in the Persian Clulf; now pursuing Arab slave dealers 011 the East Coast of Africa. They assisted in the British occupation of Java and in the capture of Kuraehee and Aden. Mauritius, .Madagascar and Zanzibar were some of the African places to which they sailed and the present territory known as British East Africa was more than once visited by tliem. The-ships of the Indian navy took part in the lirst China war. In 1845-6 the company's sloop of war. Elphinstone, with 18 guns, under commander J. A. Young, was actively engaged in military operations in Xew Zealand, and participated in the capture

of Ruapekapeka, the stronghold of the famous Maori chief Kawiti. The Elpliinstone sailed from Bombay on August 19, 1845, with Major (the late Sir) William Robe, who had been appointed Governor of South Australia. On her arrival at Adelaide she embarked Captain (afterwards Sir) George Grey, the. new Govarnor of New Zealand. She proceeded to Auckland, where the Governor was sworn in, and then sailed to the Bay of Islands, where a strong force, under the command of Colonel l)espanl, of the 99th Regiment, was collected to chastise the chiefs Heko and Kawiti, who had previously defeated all the attempts to reduce them. A party of seamen and two field pieces, under Lieutenant G. W. Leeds, rendered very valuable service to the force which was engaged in securing the downfall of these stubborn native notables. Then again the Indian navy took part in the siege of Mooltan, in the first and second Burmese wars, in the occupation of Pcrim and the Andaman Islands, and finally in the Indian mutiny. When the East India Company was taken over by the British Government the fleet became also an Imperial possession, and was a charge on the Indian revenues. Its cost in later years was about £400,000; it rose to a million during the Indian Mutiny, and fell to £"200,000 at the close of its career. Upon the sole ground that the Indian fleet was not considered to be further necessary its flag was hauled down in Bombay Harbor on April 30, ] 863. The navy then consisted of 20 war vessels, whose years of construction ranged from 1824 to 1857, and whose tonnage varied from 157 (a schooner with three guns) to 700 (a steam frigate with 10 guns); 11 transport ships and tenders; and the "Indus fleet," comprising 2G river steamers and other similar craft.