REFUGE, HARBOURS OF. In the year 1840 a commission was appointed " to visit the coast between the mouth of the Thames and Selsea Bill ; to examine the porta on that coast with reference to their being rendered available as places of shelter for vessels passing through the Channel in cases of distress from weather, and also as places of refuge for merchant vessels from enemies' cruisers in time of war, and more especially as to their being made stations for armed steamers employed for the protection of our trade in the narrow parts of the Channel.:' The commission made a report, but no measures appear to have been taken in consequence.
A select committee of the House of Commons on shipwrecks, in a report presented in 1843, recommended the formation of harbours of refuge in the British Channel, at the same time stating that they refrained from pointing out any particular situations for such harbours, from a conviction that such situations would be beat decided by a body of scientific and experienced persons whose attention should be specially and exclusively directed to the subject.
On the 2nd of April, 1844, the Lords of the Treasury, on the suggestion of Sir Robert Peel, then First Lord of the Treasury, appointed a commission consisting of twelve experienced naval and military officers and civil engineers to inquire into the most eligible situations for a harbour or harbours of refuge in the Channel.
The report of the commissioners is dated August 7, 1844, and was presented to the House of Commons pursuant to an address dated March 6, 1845. The treasury minute under which the commissioners acted assigned three principal objects of investigation the selection or formation of harbours of refuge for the safety and convenience of vessels navigating the Channel ; 2, that in times of war, such harbours might become stations for ships of war ; 3, the expense of constructing new works, as compared with the public advantages likely to result from such works. The commissioners express their uuani mous conviction that additional means of protection for the south eastern coast of England are absolutely necessary. The harbours between Portsmouth and the Thames are only tidal harbours, and none of them are at present accessible to large steamers. The report recommends certain ports and positions as harbours of refuge and roadsteads, and certain breakwaters and military defences in con nection with them, so as not only to afford shelter to merchant ships, but also to provide means by which, with the advantages of steam by sea, and railroads and telegraphic communication by land, the naval and military force of the country may be thrown on any point of the south-eastern coast in a few hours.
The following harbours and positions were especially examined :— Foreness, near the North Foreland ; Rimsgate; the Brake, or Small Downs ; Dover ; Dungeness ; Beachy Head, Eastbourne, and Sea ford ; Newhaven ; Portland and Weymouth ; Harwich Harbour. Of these places four are selected, Dover. Seaford, Portland, and Harwich, of which the commissioners estimated tho expense required for the construction of the works which they recommended as follows:— Dover, 2,500,000/. ; Seaford, 1,250,000/. ; Portland, 500,000/. ; Harwich, 50,000/. It was recommended that Dover Bay should be converted into a large harbour by means of breakwaters, with an area of 520 acres up to low-water mark, and an entrauce 700 feet wide on the south front and another 150 feet wide at the east end. Its situation, four miles and a half from the Goodwin Sands, and standing out favourably to protect the navigation of the narrow seas, is peculiarly suitable as a station for a squadron of ships of war. It was recom mended to construct a breakwater in Seaford Road, for the protection of trade and as a station for armed vessels. Portland, as the boundary of the narrow part of the Channel, and with reference to the Channel Islands. was recommended as another station for a squadron. The construction of a breakwater there, it was stated, would be easy, cheap, and expeditious, as a large part of the island facing the bay is crown property, and contains abundance of stone : the holding-ground is exceedingly good, and the island has abundance of water for the supply of ships. The island has great natural advantages for defence, and for the formation of a naval and military depot during war to any extent that may be required. Harwich Harbour, formed by the junction of the rivers Stour and Orwell, was stated to have sufficient depth of water and good holding•ground over an extent capable of containing many hundred ships. By the construction of a breakwater and dredging to get rid of certain shoals, the commissioners considered that it might be converted into one of the finest and most useful harbours in the kingdom.