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1821 map of the heavily fortified city of Valletta, Malta and its two harbours (Grand Harbour and Marsamxett), an important Royal Navy base in the 19th and 20th centuries

Lord Salisbury described Malta, Gibraltar, Bermuda, and Halifax as Imperial fortresses at the 1887 Colonial Conference,[1] though by that point they had been so designated for decades.[2][3][4][5][6][7] Later historians have also given the title "imperial fortress" to St. Helena and Mauritius, despite their lacking naval dockyards and not serving as home bases for station naval squadrons.[8]

The fortresses provided safe harbours; coal stores; and dockyards to protect and supply Royal Navy warships.[9][10] They had numbers of soldiers sufficient not only for local defence, but also to provide expeditionary forces to work with the Royal Navy, as well as stockpiles of military supplies.[11]

History

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Although the War Office took over from local officials the funding and operational control of auxiliary forces in the British Isles from 1871 onwards, the trend of Imperial defence policy during the course of the 19th century was to remove regular units of the British Army from colonial garrison duty wherever strategic concerns did not require their retention (this included disbanding colonial regular units of the British Army, other than the West India Regiment and the local-service sub-unit of the Royal Artillery that would ultimately be titled the Royal Malta Artillery, though others would later be raised),[12] with local governments expected to organise and fund auxiliary forces for local defence (although these forces would ultimately be controlled by the Imperial government via colonial Governors, most of whom were civilians, acting as military commanders-in-chief). The main exceptions were the four Imperial fortresses, which the regular army continued to garrison, and within which the part-time militia and volunteer units were funded as parts of the British Army and brigaded with regular units.[13] The 1887 Colonial Conference sat in London from April 4 until May 9, 1887. At the conference, it was asserted that:[1]

In order that the Royal Navy might in practice be ubiquitous, it was essential that certain bases and coaling stations should be provided with shore defences. "In addition to the Imperial fortresses Malta, Gibraltar, Bermuda, and Halifax, it would seem necessary to defend on an adequate scale, Cape Town and Simon's Bay, St. Helena, Sierra Leone, Port Louis (Mauritius), Aden, Colombo (Ceylon), Singapore, Hong Kong, Port Royal (Jamaica), Port Castries (St. Lucia), and Esquimalt, in addition to minor coaling stations . . ." The imperial fortresses would remain a responsibility of the United Kingdom; but in the case of certain colonies in which local as well as imperial interests seemed to require that naval bases be maintained, the government of the United Kingdom thought that the cost should be shared..

Map of the cruises of the Bermuda-based HMS York on the America & West Indies Station, 1936-1939

Halifax and Bermuda controlled the transatlantic sea lanes between North America and Europe, and were placed to dominate the Atlantic seaboard of the United States (as demonstrated during the American War of 1812,[14][15] when the squadron of the Royal Navy's North America Station maintained a blockade of the Atlantic coast of the United States and launched the Chesapeake Campaign from Bermuda, defeating American forces at Bladensburg, burning Washington, DC, and raiding Alexandria, Virginia, before ultimately being defeated at Baltimore and forced to withdrawn back to Bermuda),[16][17][18][19][20] as well as to control the western Atlantic Ocean from the Arctic to the West Indies. In 1828,[21] Royal Navy Purser Richard Cotter wrote of Bermuda:

The possession of Bermuda, as the key of all our Western Colonies, is of the first importance to England, for if a foe of any maritime strength had possession of it, our trade would be exposed to much annoyance, if not total destruction.

Gibraltar controlled passage between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, and Malta, aside from supporting operations in the Mediterranean and Black Sea, served as a base for naval and military forces that would be able to deploy relatively quickly to the Indian and Pacific Oceans once the Suez Canal was completed in 1869.

Halifax ceased to be an Imperial fortress in stages. With the 1867 confederation of the Dominion of Canada (under which all of the colonies of the British Empire's administrative region of British North America, except Bermuda and Newfoundland, were "federally united into One Dominion under the Crown of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, with a Constitution similar in Principle to that of the United Kingdom ..."),[22][23] military defence of Canada would be transferred to the militia of the dominion government, and the British Army withdrew most of its establishment from the continent, leaving small military garrisons to defend the Royal Naval Dockyard at Halifax, Nova Scotia and the Esquimalt Royal Navy Dockyard in British Columbia. These garrisons were withdrawn along with the Royal Navy establishments when the two Canadian dockyards were closed in 1905, then sold to the government of the dominion.

America and West Indies Station 1st Division (HMS Dragon, HMS Danae and HMS Despatch) off Admiralty House in 1931 as they depart their base at the Royal Naval Dockyard in Bermuda to exercise on the open North Atlantic

When the Panama Canal opened in 1914, Britain was able to rely on amity and common interests between herself and the United States during and after the First World War, to also use Bermuda, from which cruisers could patrol the Pacific coasts of North, Central, and South America (the first Bermuda-based ship to pass through the canal being HMS Chatham in 1920).[24][25] The perception that the only navies that could threaten British control of the sealanes or territory around the globe were all those of countries on the Atlantic or its connected seas had meant Imperial fortresses were only established in this region. This was despite the growth of the Pacific Ocean fleets of Russia and the United States of America during the 19th Century.[26][27]

Finally the rising power and increasing belligerence of the Japanese empire after the First World War (The Imperial Japanese Navy was the third largest navy in the world by 1920, behind the Royal Navy and the United States Navy) would result in the construction of the Singapore Naval Base, which was completed in 1938, less than four years before hostilities with Japan commenced during the Second World War.[28]

The need to protect these bases of operation, as well as to prevent, via their captures, their becoming bases of similar utility to an enemy (with ownership of land by foreigners, at least in Bermuda, barred in order to deny a pretext for invasion),[29] each was heavily defended, making fortress an apt designation. "Fortress" was often included when giving the names of these colonies, e.g. "Fortress Bermuda".[30] Bermuda, protected by an almost impassable barrier reef and unconnected to any continent, required the least defences, but was heavily garrisoned and armed with coastal artillery batteries.[31][32][33] Defence of Bermuda, and of the region, was greatly weakened by the economic austerity that followed the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars and the American War of 1812, which resulted in drastic reductions to the regular forces and to Reserve Forces in the British Isles (Militia, Volunteer Force, and Fencibles), and in Bermuda (Militia and volunteer artillery), being allowed to lapse. Bermuda's garrison would slowly increase, with the threat of invasion by the United States during and after the American Civil War resulting in further strengthening of the defences. Bermuda's importance to Imperial defence was only increasing, however.

Halifax was much more vulnerable to attack than Bermuda, which might come over land or water from the United States, Gibraltar was vulnerable to overland attack by Spain (which remains anxious to recover it) and by Napoleonic France, and both Gibraltar and Malta were much more vulnerable to the navies of the Mediterranean (notably those of Spain, France, Italy, and the Ottoman Empire),[34] and were even more heavily defended.

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Map
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Imperial fortresses of the British Empire

Bermuda

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Halifax, Nova Scotia

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Gibraltar

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Malta

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Tucker 1952, pp. 69, 70.
  2. ^ "Imperial Parliament: Colonial Expenditure". The Express. London. 11 April 1851. p. 2. 3. That if it were deemed expedient to keep garrisons in certain imperial fortresses situated within the colonies, the expense of such garrisons should also be borne by the imperial government.
  3. ^ Whittingham (published anonymously, with the author identified only as A FIELD OFFICER), Ferdinand (1857). BERMUDA; A COLONY, A FORTRESS AND A PRISON; OR, Eighteen Months in the Somers Islands. London: LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, LONGMANS AND ROBERTS (Printed by Spottiswoode and Co,. New-street Square). {{cite book}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  4. ^ "Lord Stanley, M.P., and his constituents". The Morning Herald. London. 20 October 1864. p. 3. I say nothing as to Malta or Gibraltar; those are great Imperial fortresses, and must be held in strength. So again, such places as Hong-Kong, or Bermuda, or Aden, cannot be left without defence.
  5. ^ Zammit, Ray Cachia (26 March 2023). "The Victoria Lines, from conception to demise. What future?". Times of Malta. Malta. Retrieved 9 March 2024. in 1866, William F. D. Jervois (later Sir), who had served as secretary of the commission, visited Malta and produced a report entitled Memorandum with reference to the improvements to the defences of Malta and Gibraltar, rendered necessary by the introduction of iron plated ships and powerful rifled guns. In this report, Malta, along with Gibraltar, Halifax and Bermuda, was given the designation of an "imperial fortress"
  6. ^ "Royal Colonial Institute". The Colonies and India. London. 19 May 1877. p. 6. yet we might be in imminent danger of investment, and might possibly feel the stress of hunger. We keep Bermuda and Halifax as Imperial fortresses to provide for the contingencies of war with the States, and yet take no thought how, in that event, we are to feed our people at home.
  7. ^ "The Cost of the Colonies". The Colonies and India. 12 November 1881. p. 10. That charge may be said to be entirely incurred by our possession of Gibraltar, Malta, Bermuda, Hong Kong, and St. Helena, which are not Colonies in any right sense, but Imperial fortresses, military or naval stations, maintained in support of the British dominion
  8. ^ Gordon, Donald Craigie (1965). The Dominion Partnership in Imperial Defense, 1870-1914. Baltimore, Maryland, USA: Johns Hopkins Press. p. 14.
  9. ^ Stranack, Lieutenant-Commander Ian (1990). The Andrew And The Onions: The Story Of The Royal Navy In Bermuda, 1795 – 1975. Bermuda: The Bermuda Maritime Museum Press. ISBN 9780921560036.
  10. ^ Keith, Arthur Berriedale (1909). Responsible Government in The Dominions. London: Stevens and Sons Ltd. p. 5.; May, CMG, Royal Artillery, Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Edward Sinclair (1903). Principles and Problems of Imperial Defence. London: Swan Sonnenschein & Co. p. 145.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ Willock USMC, Lieutenant-Colonel Roger (1988). Bulwark Of Empire: Bermuda's Fortified Naval Base 1860–1920. Bermuda: The Bermuda Maritime Museum Press. ISBN 9780921560005.
  12. ^ Daniel, Colonel W.H. (1901). The Military Forces of the Crown. London, Paris, New York and Melbourne: Cassell & Company. p. 95.
  13. ^ Daniel, Colonel W.H. (1901). The Military Forces of the Crown. London, Paris, New York and Melbourne: Cassell & Company. p. 111.
  14. ^ Mercer, W. H.; Collins, A. E. (1898). The Colonial Office List for 1898. London: Harrison and Sons, 59, Pall Mall, Booksellers to Her Majesty and H.R.H. the Prince of Wales. p. 38.
  15. ^ Sir Henry Hardinge, MP for Launceston (22 March 1839). "SUPPLY—ARMY ESTIMATES". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Vol. 46. Parliament of the United Kingdom: House of Commons. col. 1141–1142.
  16. ^ Harris, Dr. Edward Cecil (21 January 2012). "Bermuda's role in the Sack of Washington". The Royal Gazette. City of Hamilton, Pembroke, Bermuda. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
  17. ^ Grove, Tim (22 January 2021). "Fighting The Power". Chesapeake Bay Magazine. Annapolis: Chesapeake Bay Media, LLC. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
  18. ^ Kennedy, R.N., Captain W. R. (1 July 1885). "An Unknown Colony: Sport, Travel and Adventure in Newfoundland and the West Indies". Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine. William Blackwood & Sons. p. 111.
  19. ^ VERAX, (anonymous) (1 May 1889). "The Defense of Canada. (From Colburn's United Service Magazine)". The United Service: A Quarterly Review of Military and Naval Affairs. LR Hamersly & Co. p. 552.
  20. ^ Dawson, George M.; Sutherland, Alexander (1898). MacMillan's Geographical Series: Elementary Geography of the British Colonies. London: MacMillan and Co. p. 184.
  21. ^ Otter (or Cotter), Purser, R. N., Richard (1828). Sketches of Bermuda, or Somers' Islands. London: Effingham Wilson, Royal Exchange, and Sold by All Booksellers; Also by The Principal Map and Chart Sellers. 1828. Printed by Plummer and Brewis, Love Lane, Eastcheap.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  22. ^ "British North America Act 1867: Section Introduction", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1867, 1867 c. 3 (s. Introduction), retrieved 23 September 2023
  23. ^ "British North America Act 1867: Section Introduction", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1867, 1867 c. 3 (s. Introduction), retrieved 23 September 2023
  24. ^ "Rehabilitating Esquimalt". The Daily Colonist. Canada. 16 July 1919. p. 4. The North America and West Indies Squadron is to have a wide area to patrol, comprising the North Atlantic, the West Indies and the North Pacific-from the Galapagos Islands to the Bering Straits. While any of the vessels of this squadron are in the Pacific their headquarters will be at Esquimalt.
  25. ^ "Cruiser on The Coast". The Daily Colonist. Canada. 4 December 1920. p. 22. This is the first occasion on which a ship from the Bermuda station has come through the Canal.
  26. ^ Colomb, F.S.S., F.R.G.S., and Fellow Royal Colonial Institute, Captain J. C. R. (1880). Defence of Great and Greater Britain. 55, Charing Cross, London S.W.: Edward Stanford. Pages 60 to 63, Chapter III. Colonial Defence.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  27. ^ Colomb, F.S.S., F.R.G.S., and Fellow Royal Colonial Institute, Captain J. C. R. (1880). Defence of Great and Greater Britain. 55, Charing Cross, London S.W.: Edward Stanford. Pages 125 and 126, Chapter IV. Imperial and Colonial War Responsibilities.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  28. ^ Maurice-Jones, DSO, RA, Colonel KW (1959). History of The Coast Artillery in the British Army. UK: Royal Artillery Institution. p. 203.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  29. ^ "Abstract of proceedings of the Honourable House of Assembly Wednesday 9 July, 1890". The Royal Gazette. City of Hamilton, Pembroke, Bermuda. 15 July 1890. p. 1.
  30. ^ Meteorological Observations at The Foreign and Colonial Stations of The Royal Engineers and The Army Medical Department 1852—1886. London: Meteorological Council. HMSO. 1890.
  31. ^ "World Heritage List: Historic Town of St George and Related Fortifications, Bermuda". UNESCO. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  32. ^ Ingham-Hind, Jennifer M. (1992). Defence, Not Defiance: A History Of The Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps. Bermuda: The Island Press. ISBN 0969651716.
  33. ^ Harris, Edward C. (1997). Bermuda Forts 1612–1957. Bermuda: The Bermuda Maritime Museum Press. ISBN 9780921560111.
  34. ^ Holland, James (1 September 2003). Fortress Malta: An Island Under Siege 1940-1943. New York City: Miramax Books. ISBN 9781401351861.
  • Alan Lennox-Boyd, The Secretary of State for the Colonies (2 February 1959). "MALTA (LETTERS PATENT) BILL". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Parliament of the United Kingdom: House of Commons. col. 37. - Malta described as an imperial fortress in 1959.
  • MacFarlane, Thomas (1891). Within the Empire; An Essay on Imperial Federation. Ottawa: James Hope & Co. p. 29. - describes Malta, Gibraltar, Halifax and Bermuda as imperial fortresses.
  • Tucker, Gilbert (1952). The Naval Service of Canada: its Official History, Volume I: Origins and Early Years. Ottawa: King's Printer.
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