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5.5  Surveys and Ships

In 1818 Captain Robert Taylor surveyed Khasab and the surrounding area.^[1] In 1820, on the conclusion of the expedition against the pirates, a systematic survey of the Persian Gulf was ordered by the Bombay Government. Lieutenant McCluer of the Bombay Marine had begun to correct, with limited resources, the then extant charts in 1785 including the south-eastern coast from the entrance to the Persian Gulf for a distance of 300 miles. From his surveys and those of other officers of the Marine, a chart was complied and published by the Admiralty in 1820 though it was superseded by the surveys taken in that year.^[2] Between March and November 1811, the Benares and The Prince of Wales were cruising in the Gulf and an officer was placed on the former to survey such places as it were possible. In November 1817, Lieutenant Tanner visited the port of Bahrain and carried out a survey there. The Court of Directors had issued instructions in the latter part of 1815 for a comprehensive survey but the disturbed state of the Gulf at that time had made it impossible.

In 1820 Captain Maughan proceeded to the Gulf in command of the Discovery with Lieutenant J. M. Guy as assistant surveyor in the Psyche. Work commenced at Cape Mussendom, the intention being to examine the western, Arabian, shore. In November 1821 Maughan through ill-health was succeeded by Guy. In 1822 Guy forwarded a report of the of the so-called pirate coast to the Government. On the 11 February 1823 Guy also succumbed to ill-health and was succeeded by Lieutenant G. B. Brucks. Guy’s part of the survey was drawn up by Lieutenant Houghton.

By April 1825, Brucks had completed the whole of the western coast. Early in 1826, he resumed operations at the head of the Gulf and proceeded down the coast of Persia, completing this section in April 1828.

The survey was resumed in October 1828 at the entrance of the Gulf and Brucks got as far as Guadel before retiring to Muscat through ill-health. Here he handed over the Benares to Lieutenant Haines who then completed the detailed survey of the Guadel and Mekran coasts. (A previous survey of the Mekran had been undertaken by Lieutenant Maskal.)

In May 1829, Haines in the Benares returned to Bombay. The survey had taken nearly nine years.^[3] Details of the last 18 months of this work from the journal of one of the officers is given here:

 

The Discovery left Bassadore and commenced to survey the Channel called Clarence Strait, on the 6th of December, 1827; arrived at Bunder Abbas, on the 9th of January, 1828. Then surveyed Ormuz and Larrack, and on the 30th of January commenced the survey of the south coast of Kishm Island, at Kishm Point. Anchored in Angar Sound on the 3rd of February, 1828; arrived at Bassadore on the 17th of February, after which went to Kishm, where they obtained a pilot for the Arabian coast east of Mussendom. They then sailed across and commenced to survey at Ras Goberindee on the 25th of February, 1828. The Discovery was towed between Lima Island and the main by her boats, and here they experienced strong tides. On the 13th and 14th they were at anchor in the little cove of Dooal Huffar; the breeze was fresh from north-west to south-west, with hard puffs, and at eight a.m., on the 15th of March, they weighed and made sail across the cove, but, owing to a sudden shift of wind when in stays, she was nearly driven against the rocks, and dropped an anchor and laid out a long warp. The rocks at this time were seen covered with men, when before, as long as the ship was safe, no one was visible. That afternoon they anchored off the town of Dibbah, Fort S., 48º W., 11 fathoms sand; at night a fresh gale set in from south-west, water quite smooth. On the 20th of March, the Discovery anchored in Khore Fakaun in 6¼ fathoms. Here they filled up their water, and the crew washed their clothes on shore. On the 25th of March they were off Khore Culbah. The Inspector, schooner, had joined them at Dibbah, so that she assisted in the survey of this part. On the 6th of April anchored in Muttrah Bay, and surveyed that and Muscat Cove. On the 20th of April, 1828, left Muscat for Bombay.

The Discovery was sold out of the service in May, 1828, and on the 11th of August following, the Benares sailed for the Persian Gulf with the following officers: Lieutenant S. R. Haines, in command; Lieutenants H. N. Pinching, F. D. W. Winn, Henry Ormsby; Master, Thacker and Midshipmen Charles Parbury, James Young, C. D. Campbell, and G. B. Kempthorne.^[4]

 

In 1830, Captain George Barnes Brucks issued a chart of the Gulf of Persia based on the surveys together with a Memoir Descriptive of the Navigation of the Gulf of Persia with brief noticesof the manners, customs, religion, commerce and resources of the people inhabiting its shores and islands.^[5]

The advent of steamships in the mid nineteenth century transformed the nature of the British presence in the Persian Gulf. Until then Britain, like Portugal centuries before, had exerted her influence in the area through a small number of individual officers backed up by her “presence”, the ability to call on much larger forces. With the introduction of a fast transit system between India and England, the number of officers prepared to serve in the area increased and living conditions improved. Steam had come to the Persian Gulf in 1836 when Colonel Chesney's Euphrates, which had sailed down the Iraqi river of the same name, continued to Bushire.^[6] At a private audience with King William IV in February 1835, Chesney^[7] had been told by the king:

 

Remember, Sir, that the success of England mainly depends upon commerce, and that yours is a peacable undertaking, provided with the means of opening trade. I do not desire war, but if you should be molested, due support shall not be wanting.^[8]

 

Although most trade continued to supported by sailing ships for a number of years, two British steamships, Semiramis^[9] and Hugh Lindsay^[10], participated in the British landing at Kharg Island in 1836 and the latter in 1839 anchored off Ras al Khaimah. However in 1834 the Hugh Lindsay had proceeded to Bassadore.^[11]

The first recorded steamship to sail in the Gulf was the INS Hugh Lindsay in 1838. Regular services were started in 1862 by the British India Company (BI as it was known) who also undertook the initiative in arranging for buoys and lights to be fixed. The lighthouse keepers on the Quoin island came from the Indian Government Service in Bombay which took over all the navigational aids in the Gulf in 1910 from BI. When India became independent a new body, the Persian Gulf Lighting Service took over until they were then replaced by the Middle East Navigation Aid Service (MENAS) in 1966.^[12]

Al-Mas?udi earlier in the book refers to the markers of wood erected by the sailors at the head of the Persian Gulf upon which fires are burnt at night as a guide to boats. At the beginning of the twentieth century buoys were maintained by the British India Company and were to become part of the Anglo-German dispute of 1906. Wönckhaus had urged the establishment of a regular service to the Gulf by the Hamburg-Amerika Line (HAPAG) and when the German government proposed to contribute to the maintenance of some of these buoys, the British government concerned that the Germans were trying to build a vested interest in the Gulf, reacted by purchasing the buoys in 1911.^[13]

The Quoin island lighthouse, otherwise known as As Salamah or Didamar, was established on the 1 February 1914 by the British Admiralty along with a lighthouse at Tunb and an unmanned light vessel at the mouth of the Shatt al Arab. The lights were serviced and crewed from Bombay. After World War 1 the lights were maintained by the Royal Indian Marine, subsequently to become the Royal Indian Navy, until 1948 when the Ministry of Transport in England took over although the actual maintenance was undertaken by the Basra Port Directorate. In 1949 the British government set up a company, The Persian Gulf Lighting Service, to take over responsibility for some 30 light stations. In 1966, the name of the company was changed to Middle East Navigation Aids Service (M.E.N.A.S.), a non-profit making company based in Bahrain.

The Quoin island lighthouse which is undoubtedly the most important light in the area is a white stell pile structure 79 feet high with a focal height of 196 feet and manned by a crew of five. It has been assumed that when established the British government recognised the Oman government as the owner of the island but M.E.N.A.S. has no records to confirm this nor to record any counter claim. However the Oman government does assume sovereignty and deploys naval boats to patrol the area.