WesWorld

1 January 1931

The Bharatiya Nau Sena’s annual estimates have been released, albeit somewhat later than usual.

“Our budget was subject to the same thorough review that other ministries have experienced since our change in national leadership”, commented Admiral Kashiram Paswan. “We preferred to wait until the budget was finalized before making any announcements.”

“Since 1929, our emphasis has been on construction of patrol and escort vessels, and 1931 will conclude this phase of activity. By the end of the year, we will have laid down eighteen vessels intended for these missions, with this year including four more charavaahii [~ASW sloops] and four new paratraatii [~destroyer escorts].

“Our offensive assets will be bolstered by two additional destroyers of the Bhubaneshwar class, three new ocean-going submarines, and a single coastal submarine. We will also introduce the prototype of a new class of coastal gunboat for evaluation.

“Our development of amphibious capabilities is expanding with the construction of three landing craft designed to transport vehicles to beaches or other areas where port facilities are not available. A small monitor will be constructed and deployed in support of our troop deployments. However, the proposed refit into service of a passenger ship as a landing ship has been deferred to 1932 on account of limited financial resources.

“Vessels due for refit this year include two minesweepers of the Penner class and the cruiser Male. We will also be commencing a refit into service for a training aircraft carrier. Our Filipino friends will be contributing a quarter of the cost of this project, in return for which the ship will be made available to the Philippines for three months out of each year.”

Admiral Paswan also updated the media on foreign vessels under construction: “The Turkish battleship Osmanieh is currently about 50% complete, and will continue fitting out. The Filipino seaplane carrier Lagonoy will complete in the third quarter of the year and be handed over to a Filipino crew at that time. We are at this time negotiating with a foreign buyer for the construction of one large warship and will release more details at a subsequent date.”

17 January 1931

The Samraja has announced the date of India’s second set of civic elections: April 27, 1931. Precisely four years after the unprecedented first set of elections generated modest interest amongst the population, voters will again have the opportunity to select those who will hold the position of mayor or reeve in their cities and municipalities.

Somewhat unexpected was the Samraja’s follow-up to the announcement:

“For administrative reasons, my forefathers delegated responsibility for social issues such as housing and health care to the individual states within the empire. I believe that the people of India are interested in such affairs, and I trust that they will select honest, intelligent leaders to govern the states once given the opportunity. Therefore, I wish to convey my gratitude to the governors of the thirty-three states and three territories for their service to myself, my father, and Bharat. I will be asking each of these gentlemen to step down from their positions on the eighth day of November, at which time the people of India shall elect their governors through a popular vote. It is my hope that the esteemed gentlemen currently holding these positions will grace us with their candidacies in the coming election.”

28 January 1931

While official comment has been muted, sources within the Imperial Palace have told AWNR that the governors of at least sixteen states have agreed to step down from their offices at this time. Although the “request” from the Samraja has been interpreted as little more than a well-phrased termination, approximately sixty percent of the incumbent governors have indicated their intention to stand in the elections.

There is some concern that ten months will not be adequate to prepare for state-level elections, given that states such as Uttar Pradesh, with a population of almost sixty million, is larger than many democratic nations elsewhere in the world. Nonetheless, officials with the Ministry of Internal Affairs say that the elections will come off smoothly.

5 February 1931

AWNR recently had an opportunity to visit the remote atoll of Diego Garcia, where the Bharatiya Nau Sena and the Royal South African Navy have been collaborating on a new naval base in the midst of the Indian Ocean.

Captain Wasim Mahajan, the base commander, told AWNR, “Diego Garcia occupies a strategic location in the Indian Ocean, in terms of protecting our trade routes to and from South Africa. It also straddles trade routes between South Asia and the Suez Canal. It’s logical that we would establish an installation to support Indian sovereignty over the atoll and the Chagos archipelago.”

Initially, the installation consisted of a seaplane base, but grew to add a weather station, airstrip, and fuel cache. The decision to create a full-sized base resulted in a considerable bolstering of the island’s defences, including 21 cm, 15 cm and 10.5 cm guns, and a battalion of troops. The decision to construct a full port was made in 1928, at which time the concept was presented to the SAE. The South Africans agreed to fund 50% of the port’s cost in return for use of its facilities.

“There was a very detailed hydrometric survey, and then a considerable amount of blasting and dredging in the Main Pass and Barton Pass”, Captain Mahajan commented, “and also in lagoon in the designated anchorage areas and around the causeways. The port could be very busy and we don’t want a repeat of what happened to the France.”

Two causeways, both in excess of a kilometre long, were constructed into the lagoon from the shore between Eclipse Bay and Marianne Point. Both are capable of supporting freight and fuel transfer to docked vessels. “In a pinch, we could bring in two smallish ships to each causeway, but more likely each would be service one vessel at a time.”

Now a drydock is being established on the west side of the northwestern causeway. “You can see that we’re finishing a dyke around the drydock site. In a few weeks, we’ll begin pumping it out, and when it’s dry, we’ll start fabricating the drydock itself. Once the drydock is complete, we’ll dredge out the front of the dyke.” When AWNR noted that the drydock would not be accessible while the causeway was in use, Mahajan replied, “Agreed - but it’s not like we’ll be moving ships in and out of the drydock all the time.”

The drydock itself will accommodate vessels up to 120 metres long. “Large enough to handle destroyers and escort vessels one might expect to see along the route to South Africa”, Mahajan explained. “We don’t expect to get a lot of refit work here, it’ll be more of an emergency stop for damaged vessels that can’t make it to Male or the Seychelles.”

Meanwhile, approximately five hundred residents of the island continue to make a living from fishing, sugarcane harvesting, and coconut plantations on the eastern half of the atoll. “The Chagossians prefer to maintain their traditional lifestyle, and we’re doing what we can to minimize our impact on them, for example, by prohibiting our personnel from leaving the base itself. A few of the men do work here on the base, and the folks do make use of facilities such as the hospital. But by and large, they prefer to keep to themselves.”

Mahajan shrugged off the notion that base security might be compromised by the Chagossians’ remaining on the atoll. “They remember the Iberians; they’re happy that we’re not forcing some alien religion and lifestyle down their throats. We have a good relationship.”

I assume that you mean "mole" when you say "causeway". A causeway is covered at high tide and is unsuitable for unloading. A mole is a more substanial breakwater, usually made of rocks with concrete top on the leaward side.

I would indeed mean mole, then.