Queen of the Drones

We tend to think of drones as the ultimate early 21^st century technology, but they go back much further than that - the picture at the top of this post is from a set of late 1930s cigarette cards and shows the Queen Bee remote controlled plane.

In fact the Queen Bee was designed as a target, not as a weapon itself. After all, how do you train the crews of AA guns and fighters without a target? And how many volunteers are you going to get for that, even for towing a target? The plan was to shoot NEAR the drone, not AT it, but accidents happen.

So, the Queen Bee actually first flew in 1935. It could be flown manually, and this was the case for the first trials, but an unmanned version was flown at the 1935 Farnborough Airshow.

The basic design was based on the hugely successful two seater trainer, the Tiger Moth, with the same engine, wings and undercarriage, but with a wooden rather than metal fuselage. The radio control machinery sat in the rear “pilot” cockpit. Over 412 were built between 1935 and 1943, many for the Fleet Air Arm and supplied as float planes with catapulting points so that they could be launched from ships (the Queen Bee based on HMS Australia had a dummy pilot, named “Fearless Fred”!). One advantage of the wooden construction, apart from being much cheaper, was that they were more buoyant when it came to recovery at sea.

The Queen Bees were surprisingly capable, with a top speed of 104 mph and a range of 300 miles. Controllers could be in another aircraft, on a ship, or just on land. One consequence of the introduction of remote controlled drones, and therefore “realistic” targets, was to show how awful contempory AA defences really were. Reportedly, Queen Bees could be flown up and down in front of the Fleet without getting a scratch, and during a demonstration in front of the King the drone had to be, allegedly, deliberately crashed to spare the Navy’s blushes. Nonetheless, intensive training with Queen Bees in the Mediterranean fleet in 1936 reportedly improved confidence against the expected threat, Italian Savoia Marchetti 81 bombers conducting a “Pearl harbour” style pre-emptive attack on Alexandria. Queen Bees were also sent to Singapore, crated and by ship. Tragically, although they were used from at least 1939 onwards for target training, the Pacific Royal Navy was woefully under prepared for Japanese air attacks. Perhaps the relatively slow and steady Queen Bees generated a sense of over confidence.

Although never intended as weapons of war as such, it is tempting to imagine how they could have been used if Operation Banquet had been activated, the plan to throw everything that could fly, including Tiger Moth trainers, against a German invasion of Britain. A Queen Bee loaded with explosive would make an awfully big bang.

The CSS Alabama in Singapore

When the Confederate commerce raider the CSS Alabama called into Singapore in 1863 she drew quite a crowd. One of the visitors, John Cameron, left a record in his book, now available as a google free ebook.*

 The CSS Alabama in Singapore harbour

"She arrived at dusk on the evening of the 21st December. A few made her out as she came to anchor, but as the larger part of the residents had retired to their houses in the country, the news did not spread. Early next morning however, for it was the morning of the despatch of the Europe mail, around Commercial Square were clustered groups of eager and inquiring faces learning the particulars of the arrival of the renowned cruiser. The effect of these groups was heightened by the appearance, here and there, of the strange grey uniform of the Confederate Government. There was no longer any doubt about it, the Alabama was lying in the roads in full view of all the godowns facing the beach, and here, knocking about, talking in an unconcerned yet affable manner, were the men who had held the torch to many a stately merchantman, and who had taken not a few thousands out of the pockets of some of the very merchants with whom they were standing side by side.

From the beach, a considerable way out, the long low black hull, with its raking masts and stumpy funnel, could be seen. There was no doubting her identity; and how other vessels could so often have been mistaken for her by those who had once seen her, it is difficult to understand. At ten o'clock in the morning she proceeded from her anchorage of the night to one of the wharves at New Harbour to take in a supply of coals; she moved with great rapidity, and yet made but a ripple in the water. The promontories of the land soon shut her out from the view of the town, and Captain Semmes caused a notice to appear in the newspapers that visitors could not then be received, as his ship was coaling, but that all who chose to inspect her on the following day would be gladly welcomed on board.

 Singapore harbour 1865

New Harbour is three miles distant from the town by the road, and next day carriages were at a premium, for natives of all classes, as well as the European residents, had determined to avail themselves of the opportunity to inspect a ship that will possess some place in the history of the present age. The excitement among the natives was the more remarkable; for they generally display no interest in events which do not purely relate to themselves. Seven years ago, at the time of the Chinese war, the town batteries were constantly saluting the arrivals of important plenipotentiaries in the finest ships of the British Navy, and yet seldom was even an inquiry ventured by the natives as to the cause of these unusual proceedings. All however, from the smallest boy to the greyheaded old patriarchs, could tell that the Alabama was in. They had learned her name, and flocked in crowds to see her. What their conjectures were concerning her, or what they could see about her more attractive than about the war-ships of three times her size and armament, which arrive in the roadstead at all seasons of the year, it is somewhat difficult to say. Some had doubtless learned her story, but the great mass must have been ignorant of it. Perhaps a clue to the interest they displayed might be found in the often repeated exclamations,—" Hantu, Kappal Hantu— « Ghost—ghost ship.'"

The Alabama under sail

The Alabama is in appearance a small vessel, I should say barely of 1,000 tons register; she looks trim and compact, however, and likely to prove a match for a much larger enemy. She is very long and very narrow: I paced her length as she lay along the wharf, and made it 210 feet, her breadth is barely 27 feet; and she is extremely low in the water. She is bark, but not full bark rigged, with long raking spars; and has the greatest spread of canvas in her fore and aft sails, which are of enormous size. I was assured that with canvas alone, under favourable circumstances, she has gone thirteen knots per hour; whether this be exaggerated or not, she must have great sailing powers, for one of the officers on board told me that she had only coaled three times since she had been in commission, before coming to Singapore. Her deck appeared to me slightly crowded for a fighting ship, but while she was taking in stores was not the best time to judge of this. Her engine-room is large, and her engines kept in beautiful order. She has made, they said, as much as fourteen knots under steam, but her ordinary speed was ten to eleven knots.

Her mounted armament consists of six 32-pounder broadside guns, and two large pivots, one 100-pounder rifled Blakely, placed forward, and the other a smooth bore 68-pounder. She is not a slimly built vessel as has been frequently represented, but is of thorough man-of-war build. The only action in which she had yet been engaged was off Galveston, when she was chased by the Hatteras. The action was a longer one than is generally believed, for it took eight broadsides of the Alabama to sink her enemy, and not one, as was reported. Her officers pointed me out several places where she had been damaged by the fire of the Hatteras; one was just under the main chains where the shot had gone right through her side and lodged in the opposite timbers; one ball had hulled her a little before the foremast—low down —one struck her on the deck, close to her middle starboard broadside gun, nearly killing a number of the crew who were working it, and another shot went clean through her funnel. These are small scars for a ship eighteen months in commission during war time; but I could see that they were carefully cherished. Round the wheel, inlaid in large brass letters, I noticed the rather remarkable motto, "Aide toi, et Dieu t' aidera."

I was anxious to ascertain the loyalty of the crew, of which, according to late accounts, there were good reasons to doubt. When I went on board they were washing decks and cleaning up after coaling, by no means an occupation calculated to foster the most agreeable spirit in a sailor; and yet I must say I could remark no sign of impatience, much less of insubordination. Nor could I attribute this contented behaviour to fear of the officers, who were far from rough or domineering in their manners; so that I conclude whatever may be their hardships or the precarious nature of their pay and emoluments, the crew of the Alabama would stand by her in case of danger. The officers were all Americans, except two, an Englishman and a German. They were all fine men, and seem enthusiastic in the service on which they had adventured. Some of them admitted to me, however, that the capture and destruction of merchantmen had begun to lose its excitement, and I should not be surprised, were the officers left to themselves, to learn that the Alabama had risked an encounter with the armed ships of her enemy; her commander however I should say was a man slow to move on a rash enterprise.

 Captain Semmes and First Lieutenant Kell on the Alabama, 1863

Captain Semmes is in appearance as well as in character a remarkable man. He is not tall, is thin and rather bilious-looking, and would consort much more readily to the picture of a Georgia cottonplanter than to that of a sailor. He speaks very little, but when he does allude to the Confederate States it is with a bold confidence as to their future fate, somewhat surprising in these latter days of Southern reverses. When the somewhat disheartening news for the Confederate cause just received by the previous mail was handed to him on his quarter-deck at New Harbour, he simply replied, pointing to the Confederate ensign above him,—" It is no matter; that flag never comes down." Time will tell whether or not his boast be a true one.

Whatever may be one's impressions when he sedately views the mission of the Alabama, it is impossible in the presence of the trim little ship herself not to be momentarily carried away by a sympathy for her cause; and perhaps some more tangible palliative than momentary enthusiasm may be urged in her favour. "You must remember, sir," said one of her officers to me, "that we but retaliate on our enemy that destruction of property which he has been the first to inaugurate in this war. His power at sea was by a simple chance too much for us to cope with from the first, or we should by this time have had a small navy of our own, built in our own dockyards; and as we have been content to fight him in the field with a disparity of numbers, so we should have attacked him at sea with a weaker force. Such," he continued, "has not been our fortune; but it has been our fortune to obtain this and some few other ships, and to bring them to bear on our enemies' most salient point. General Gilmore himself, when he uses the advantage which the Federal ships have placed in his hands to destroy from his batteries the warehouses and mansions of Charleston,(The news of the shelling of Charleston with Greek fire had reached Singapore by the previous mail from Europe) endorses our course as legitimate. It is true, Charleston has its forts and batteries which do their best to protect these defenceless buildings, but does this alter the parallel? Is it confessed that the merchant shipping of the Federal Government can find no protection in the Federal navy? and if it is so confessed, is it urged that we should therefore hold back from the advantage which our enemies' defencelessness gives us in one particular, while he advantages to the full by our insufficiently protected state in another? No! when the Northern hordes pause on their onward raid by the consideration of the inability of the Confederate Government to afford protection to its cities, then may we too pause on our course, for the reason that the Federal Government cannot or will not spare ships from the blockade of Southern ports to protect her foreign shipping." It was a strong argument—as strong probably as could be urged, and it did not lose its force from being put on the deck of the Alabama.

Photograph of the CSS Alabama in Singapore harbour

There the renowned ship lay, in calm unruffled water, making with a background of the beautiful green islands of New Harbour as pretty and as peaceful a picture as the eye could wish to gaze on.

On the morning of the 24th, at about ten o'clock, the Alabama proceeded out of New Harbour, to the westward, and her long low dark hull, raking spars, and short stumpy funnel, rapidly faded from the view of the green island of Singapore—probably for ever. But like Dundee and his blue-bonnets of old, if Singapore had seen the last of the Alabama, it certainly had not heard the last of her and Captain Semmes and his grey-coats. On the night of her departure from New Harbour, scarcely thirty miles off, she came up with and destroyed the British, or at least British registered, barque Martaban; two days later she burned the American ships Sonora and Highlander, as they lay at anchor in the Straits of Malacca. Captain Semmes found means, too, to send back to Singapore a justification of his destruction of the first ship which appeared in the newspapers there three days after the event.

In very few foreign ports could the proximity of the Alabama have created a more visible effect than it did at Singapore. At the beginning of the present year there were eighteen large American ships, aggregating over 12,000 tons' measurement, lying idle in the harbour, when there was a brisk demand for shipping. Fully one-half of that number changed owners shortly afterwards, and passed under another flag. I heard one of the officers of the Alabama remark:— "We don't care much whether or not we succeed in destroying any more of the enemy's merchantmen; we have done enough already, our presence alone in these waters will now suffice to ruin the eastern commerce of the Federal States." And truly the observation has come nearly to be realized. Besides these idle ships, there were no less than 120 men who had been cast adrift by the Alabama, maintained at Singapore at one time by the United States' consul. One crew had the singularly bad fortune to be burned out twice; they came up from Batavia after having been landed from on board the Contest, which was burned in the Java Sea, and shipped again at Singapore on board the Sonora—one of the vessels burned while at anchor in the Straits of Malacca. Certainly the Alabama will be remembered in Singapore."

* Our tropical possessions in Malayan India: being a descriptive account of Singapore, Penang, Province Wellesley, and Malacca : their peoples, products, commerce, and government (available as a free google ebook)

The Straits Settlements

Look at Malayisa on the map and it appears a single, if odd shaped, state, but the situation in the 1860s was very different. Like "Germany" and "Italy", "Malaysia" did not exist, it was a hotchpotch of small kingdoms and sultanates, and also three British enclaves, Penang, Malacca and Singapore, grouped together as the Straits Settlements. These had been part of the East India Company, but as with India, it was clear that the Company was not up to the task, and it was decided to group Penang, Malacca and Singapore as a Crown Colony in their own right, which was finally established in 1867.

In 1865 John Cameron published a thorough and illustrated description of the Straits Settlements prior to their transfer to Crown status (for details see at the end), most of the quotations and the information below comes from his book.

Penang

A road near Penang 1865

In 1786 Captain James Light leased Penang Island from the Sultan of Kedah on behalf of the East India Company, attracted by its commanding position at the head of the Malacca straits and fine natural harbour. He offered a lease of 6,000 Spanish dollars per year, and a promise to provide military aid against the Siamese and Burmese. Unfortunately it soon became clear that the EIC had no interest in wars against enemies it had no particular quarrel with, not even helping when Siam occupied Kedeh and Kedeh became effectively a Siamese vassal state. In fact, the status quo was confirmed by the Burney Treaty between Britain and Siam in 1826. It was only in 1909 that a further treaty transferred Kedah and three other states to the British sphere of influence.

Penang was set up as a free port in competition with the Dutch in Indonesia, and immigrants flooded in, though it already had thriving Chinese and Indian trading communities.  One of the first things the EIC had done was build Fort Cornwallis in the harbour, but this was just a small palm stockade. Then in 1800 Arthur Wellsesley, the future Duke of Wellington, was bought in to update the defences. He recommended leasing a stretch of land across on the mainland as the whole island was not very big, about 13.5 miles by 10 miles, and a new mainland site would add a wedge about 25 miles long, and 4-11 miles wide as a buffer against any attacks from Kedeh, or pirates based on Kedeh´s shores. This became Province Wellesley, and increased the rent paid to Kedeh to 10,000 dollars per year. Further more, between 1804 and 1810 a proper fort was built, anticipating attacks from the French, pirates, or from Kedeh itself. It was built of stone and brick with a moat 9m wide and 2m deep, although in fact it never once saw battle.

In 1805 Penang had been made a "Presidency" within the EIC, raising it to the level of Madras and Bombay, and then it was made the capital of the new Straits Settlements with Malacca and Singapore, though Singapore replaced it in 1837.Cameron remarks how the town was smaller, and the bustle considerably less, than Singapore and it suffered though having no wharf or jetty, everything had to be ferried to ships at anchor. However, whilst the wealth of Singapore came from trade, Penang and Wellesley Province was much more productive agriculturally., especially in rice and sugar, as well as the being the biggest export port of "penang" or bete nuts. The hills of Penag island had a reputation for their healthy and pleasant climate, though at sea level Penag had "a disagreeable heaviness or sultriness about the atmosphere".

 A paddy field in Wellesley Province 1865

In August 1867 Penang suffered 10 days of riots, basically a turf war between Chinese Triads. The Kean Teik Tong and Red Flag against the Ghee Hin Kongsi and the White Flags. With weak EIC policing the Triads had become extremely powerful, trading in opium and illegal immigration. The new crown Colony Governor Colonel Edward Anson was forced to call in sepoys from India to put down the riots.

Malacca

Malacca historically had a strong Chinese connection, the Sultan even marrying a Ming Chinese princess in the 1400s and it became the dominant force in the area. In 1511 the city was conquered by a Portuguese expedition from Goa with 1,200 men and 17 ships, but they struggled to keep control, and in 1641 it had been taken over by the Dutch. Malacca´s decline continued though as the Dutch were more interested in developing Bataiva (Jakatrta), and in 1824 they traded it to the British in exchange for Bencoolen in Sumatra, which made more sense for both parties. Malacca joined the Straits Settlements, and in 1867 became part of the same Crown Colony as Penang. Although trade was increasing by the 1860s and there was a sizable export of tin, it still wan´t breaking even.

Singapore

A view of Singapore 1865

In 1819 Thomas Stamford Raffles signed a treaty with the Sultan of Johor on behalf of the EIC to develop the south of Singapore island as a trading post. It was a perfect choice, with a deep water harbour, fresh water and abundant timber.  In 1824, the EIC settlement was expanded to the whole island, and in 1826 Singapore joined the EIC Straits Settlements. Before this the Dutch had more or less a monopoly in the area, and had imposed many taxes and restrictions, so when Raffles declared Singapore a free port, without port duties, trade flooded in. Even in 1825 it was turning over 22 million pounds per year. Singapore grew at a staggering rate, from about 1,000 in 1819 to 100,000 in 1869, mainly Chinese and Indian immigrants coming to work in the rubber plantations and tin mines. Unfortunately, administration, and especially policing, did not grow at the same rate. In 1850 there were only 12 policeman in the whole city, and as in Penang the Triads became very powerful. On the plus side, relations with the Sultan of Johor, inland from Singapore, were extremely good during this period. This was not least as the British had provided military support in disputes with his neighbours. The Sultan, or Temenggong, Abu Bakar was known for his diplomatic skills, as well as desire to modernise Johor, and he had toured both Britain and Turkey.

Defence of the Straits

 Singapore harbour 1865

The EIC traditionally relied on fortresses rather than manpower. Singapore, the capital and the most naturally defensive of the enclaves, had four forts, all built since 1857, except Fullerton which had been remodelled. Why 1857?  - because that was the time of the Indian Mutiny, and everybody was nervous. The primary function of the forts was to provide a safe refuge for European residents, defence against an invading power was a secondary priority.

a) Fort Canning
On a hill near the city and about half a mile from the beach, with 7x 68 pounders, 8x 8 inch shell guns, and 2x 13 inch mortars. Withing the ramparts were accommodations for 150 European gunners. Unfortunately though, its distance from the sea meant that it's guns did not protect all of the harbour.
b) Fort Fullerton
Built on a promontory at the entrance to Singapore river, with 9x 68 pounders, and one 13 inch mortar.
c) Fort Palmer
An earthwork overlooking the entrance to the New Harbour, with 5x 56 pounders, and
d) Fort Faber
Also overlooking the New Harbour, with 2x 56 pounders.

This sounds impressive until you consider that until 1864 there were only 50 gunners to man them, and even after that only 120. Consequently, the guns were poorly maintained. Cameron recalls a 7 gun salute attempted in the early 1860s at Fort Canning, in which the first three cannons failed to fire.  A similar situation applied to the infantry. New barracks had been built in Singapore to house 1,200 men, but in 1865 the entire infantry contingent in the Settlements consisted of 2 battalions of Madras Native infantry, split between 400 hundred sepoys  in Penang, 100 in Malacca, 100 in Labuan (in Brunai) and 400 in Singapore. Cameron also makes the point that not a single gun points inland, and so landing a few regiments in that direction would render many of Singapore's defences useless - given what was to happen 80 years later this is very prescient. As for Penang and Malacca, Cameron assumes them indefensible against any European power that could get past the Royal Navy.

Post 1867 the situation did not change very much, partly as there was no obvious external threat, partly because the Settlements themselves were expected to pay 90% of defence costs. It was more economic, and probably better strategy, to rely on the Royal Navy to deter any foreign power. Of course the rise of Japan changed everything, but that is another story.

Piracy

It was often remarked that for the English at home, "Malay" meant "pirate". In the 1830s and 40s there were whole fleets of Malay pirates, even entering the harbours at Penang and Singapore. Gradually though it was reduced by aggressive British and Dutch patrolling and, especially, the use of steam ships. Sailing ships had generally been ineffective against the pirate galleys, apart from anything else their tall masts had given warning of their approach. Steamships however frequently overhauled and then destroyed the pirates,  as well as bombarding their bases, so that generally piracy became uneconomic. On the other hand, as John Murray reported in The Quarterly Review of 1862 (Vol.3 p487).

 A Malay village near Singapore 1865

"Although the piratical system has received a severe check, and may be considered as destroyed in some of its former haunts, it is still in full operation elsewhere. ; On the north-west coast of Borneo, the Dayaks have been reduced to order, but the Malays in other parts of the archipelago still carry on their depredations. Piracy is not merely a habit; it is a passion. The organisation of a community for this purpose is as formidable as it is complete. 
High up the stream of some beautiful river, presenting the most enchanting scenery, the banks exhibiting pictures of Arcadian simplicity and primitive innocence, are moored fleets of boats, waiting for the well-known signal to put to sea. The vessels are built to subserve the exact purpose for which they are intended: the largest are 100 feet in length, with a proportionate beam, carry a gun in the bow, swivels on each broadside, and are propelled by sixty or eighty slaves; others, drawing only a few inches of water, are designed to approach as swiftly as the swoop of a hawk, and to board some unsuspecting ship before her crew can make any preparation. 

 Malay pirates (Illustrated London News 1857)

The platforms of the larger prahus are crowded with men who, at the prospect of a fight, generally deck themselves in scarlet; and the spectacle is said then to be eminently military and imposing: the brass guns glitter on the bows, spears and double-handed swords gleam in the sun; the fighting men often appear resplendent in steel armour, and their courage is animated by the beating of drums and gongs. A defenceless trader has little hope of escape from such formidable enemies.
The Quarterly Review Vol.3 p487 1862. John Murray


* Our tropical possessions in Malayan India: being a descriptive account of Singapore, Penang, Province Wellesley, and Malacca : their peoples, products, commerce, and government (available as a free google ebook)