by Rosen, Sue;
Control of Exempted Craft:
Essential (commercial &c.) craft have been exempted from immobilisation.
These craft consist of the following types;
(a) Fishing boats including Seine-net trawlers.
(b) Lighters and punts (sugar cane and timber &c.)
(c) Motor ferries and launches for passengers and cargo.
(d) Oyster boats.
In addition to the fishing boats engaged in river or estuary fishing, or which fish in outside waters adjacent to their home ports, there are about 70 deep sea Seine net trawlers employed on the coast of N.S.W., valued at £300,000. The majority operate south of Port Jackson, often following the fish and entering any available port or shelter as circumstances require. Some were or are owned by aliens, although now operated by British subjects. They are thoroughly seaworthy, well-powered with diesel engines, and capable of remaining at sea in bad weather.
On the Tweed, Richmond and Clarence there are about 150 sugar cane lighters, about 60 ft. long and 18 ft. beam, together with about 15 steam or motor tugs.
At Port Stephens there are about 14 lighters of similar dimensions.
On various waters there are a number of motor boats 20-50 ft. in length, used as ferry boats. These vessels are often unattended, mainly during hours of darkness: the owners and crews reside a considerable distance from the vessels.
The oyster boats are 20-30 ft. long and of good beam.
A considerable number of small motor launches and rowing boats have been granted exemptions, and by direction of the Minister for the Navy, consideration is to be given, subject to security, to the possibility of extending exemptions in cases of hardship, subject to local immobilisation in owner’s care.
At the same time there is reason to believe that non-essential craft in some cases are evading immobilisation by subterfuge.
Only such ferries, punts and commercial launches as are absolutely essential for the maintenance of communications should be exempted from immobilisation. It should be particularly noted that certain types such as log or sugar-cane punts would make ideal pontoons for bridge construction and could transport heavy equipment.
Where each or many of the members of a community own a boat for use as a ferry, the number should be reduced to one or two, even to the inconvenience of the community, and the others immobilised as in the case of Pleasure Craft. Competing passenger ferries should be rationalised, and the attention of the authorities drawn thereto.
The grant of exemption from immobilisation carries with it the obligation to prevent the acquisition or removal of such craft by unauthorised persons.
Those in charge of craft of whatever kind must take full cognisance of the need to guard, or if left unattended, remove essential parts from, their boats.
Immobilisation should be the penalty for failure to guard or remove essential parts, from craft.
It is assumed that any deterioration in the military position will not be of such a rapid nature as to preclude the possibility of some action to deny the use of exempted craft to the enemy, but it appears essential that the means to be adopted in such an emergency should be formulated now so as to ensure and expedite the removal of the vessels to a pre-determined position, or arrange for their control and denial.
Safeguarding unattended boats:
“Immobilisation of vessels order” of 10/3/42 applying to land, streams and territorial waters affords power to the Navy to immobilise boats and provides precautions for unattended boats, by temporary removal of vital parts as follows:-
Steam vessels: Main throttle valve cover plate and spindle.
Motor Craft: Distributor arm of the ignition or a fuel injection valve of a diesel engine.
Sailing vessels with fixed masts &c.: Wheel or tiller, or part of the rudder chains or screw gear.
Other sailing vessels: Masts, oars, rowlocks, rudders; tillers and sails.
Rowing boats: Oars, rowlocks, rudders, painters, masts and sails.
Means of scuttling must be available and be applied by the owner at Navy direction.
It was agreed that these specifications needed revision for Australian types and practice, and details are to be worked out by Messrs. Westhorp and Bennett in consultation with Captain Livesay, keeping in mind the removal of identical parts from power units of the same type.
The order promulgated by the Chief of Naval Staff provides that all vessels shall be continually under the care or supervision of some responsible person, and this condition should be enforced. For instance, during the sugar season it is the practice for the cane lighters to be distributed throughout the length of the respective rivers by tugs, and collected for towing to the mills when loading has been completed. During the period of loading the punts generally are not under personal control of any responsible person - it is possible for a lighter to be unattended for some appreciable time.
It was considered that:
(1) During such periods as the lighters are moored at the Company’s mills, they should be under the care of squads of the Company’s employees in watches to maintain 24-hour guards. The squads so engaged should be men who are employed close to the vessels; during working hours and at night, the guards should be housed close to the moored vessels. The squads should be instructed as to their duties in case of emergency, and drills should be held to ensure efficiency.
(2) Ferry boats and vehicular punts across rivers controlled by the Department of Main Roads or various Councils, should be attended continuously.
(3) Wherever possible, small motor end rowing boats should be hauled up well clear of the water during hours of darkness, or when not employed on service. Boats which cannot be removed from the water should be moored as near as practicable to some habitation occupied by a physically fit person, who would be charged with the duty of ensuring their destruction when ordered to do so.
An air raid shelter being constructed by residents of Parsley Bay, Sydney.
Controlling Movements of Exempted Boats:
It was agreed that the movements of exempted craft should be controlled, particularly in the case of fishing craft that proceed to sea for days at a time and do not always return to their home port; i.e.
(i) No boat should be allowed to leave harbor without a clearance.
(ii) No boat should remain at sea for more than 48 hours, and
(iii) No boat should be permitted to operate from more than one base - under penalty of removal from the exempted list.
It was further suggested that skippers should have explicit instructions to scuttle their boats if necessary, and that they should understand that this must be done despite their own peril.
The Seine-net trawlers and other seagoing boats should be placed under control, through issuance of permits to vessels to leave port, during such hours as may be determined, the permit to state probable time of return, if return to the same port is contemplated, or in the event of a fishing boat proceeding to another port, the probable time of arrival at the nominated port: in which case advice would be forwarded to the authority at the port concerned, giving name of vessel and probable time of arrival. Otherwise reports of actual movements should be given to the authority to be established.
Seine-net trawlers, as far as possible, should only enter or leave port in daylight, but departure and arrival at other times might be permitted subject to provision for identification, the permit for moving having been previously obtained.
Consideration should be given to the desirability of preventing trawlers or other boats putting to sea at all, after a chance of their capture appears possible.
Conference recommended that power should be taken by the Rear Admiral-in-charge, Naval Establishment, Sydney, to implement control of movements of exempted vessels in the directions indicated above.
Denial Methods for Exempted Craft:
In the case of craft exempted from immobilisation there may be two stages -
(i) On the military command all such craft may be removed by the per
sons in charge to an immobilisation concentration point, as with pleasure craft.
(Note: Time may not allow of this being done. A very special duty therefore devolves on persons holding exemptions to prepare for complete denial at short notice.)
(ii) Complete denial will be required, upon military command, when it appears there is danger of any craft falling into enemy hands.
This may be done by firing or by scuttling, but the latter method must only be used in deep water where there is no danger of the salvage of the craft.
Prior preparations must be made if firing is to be used as the denial method, and the means of demolition must always be on board. No explosives must be carried by passenger ferries, however, whilst they are carrying passengers.
For boats on shore, inflammable materials, such as oil and waste or shavings, should be stored in a convenient place ready to be put in the craft and set alight at short notice.
For boats in use, similar stocks of inflammable material should be carried aboard at all times. Fuel in the craft’s tanks will add to the conflagration but should be an additional and not the only source of the fire - tanks might be empty at the crucial moment.
For lighters and tugs: in the case of wooden lighters and tugs, action should be taken to provide highly inflammable material stored in receptacles and placed in approved positions, sufficient to ensure the complete destruction by burning of the vessels located at the mill.
During the sugar season when such lighters and tugs are away from the mills, each vessel should be in charge of a responsible person and sufficient inflammable material should be provided and stowed on board, to ensure the destruction of the boat should emergency develop. Managers should always know where the vessel is. In view of the possibility of destruction in midstream, a dinghy should be carried.
For the case of steel lighters, or even for the case of other vessels, a suitable demolition bomb will be designed by the Army and provided.
For Vehicular Ferries: A register of those vehicular punts in the possession of the Department of Main Roads, Shire Council &c. is to be made, and the authorities concerned required to prepare the denial operation and to train their staffs therein.
For Public Works Department dredges: Chief Engineer, Harbors and Rivers, to be desired to draft denial technique and to make preparations for denial.
For Power Boats: In the case of power boats, denial by destruction of the power plant is of first importance, and complete denial should include scuttling in deep water, and burning.
Action Details:
These will be worked out by each agency or person responsible for the craft, care being taken to see that the denial squads fully understand their duties and are properly trained.
The person or persons in charge of lighters, tugs, ferry boats, vehicular punts &c. should be instructed during off-service periods as to the best method to be pursued to effectively deny the vessel, if so ordered by competent authority, and care should be taken that the person in charge in each case is impressed with his responsibility in the matter.
Denial Moment:
The action moment will be decided by the Military Command and will be transmitted to Denial Squads via Sub-Area Officers and Zone Control Officers.
Denia1 Squads for Watercraft:
It is proposed that special Denial Squads be formed at each centre for watercraft control, policing, and denial.
These Squads will be organised and supervised by the Watercraft Panel, and will be based on the available local staffs of the Maritime Services Board and of the Fisheries Branch of the Chief Secretary’s Department, with other co-opted voluntary personnel.
Their activities will be co-ordinated with the Denial Squads now being organised for country centres, using Fire Brigade Officers as nuclei.
Their activities will include:
(i) The instruction of owners in methods of denial.
(ii) The preparation of a plan of denial, including communication and signals, for each control to be prepared in consultation with the local Denial Squad (General) and submitted for the approval of the Watercraft Panel.
(iii) The control of movements of exempted craft, if such be delegated by the Navy.
Legal Necessities:
To implement Conference recommendations, authority in law is necessary in respect of:
Immobilisation of exempted craft:
An Order empowering immobilisation by authorised persons, of all watercraft failing to comply with paragraph 5 of National Security (General) Regulation - Immobilisation of Vessels Order of 10.3.42.
And amending the specification of vital parts in accordance with Australian types and practices.
Salvage of Marine Engines & Equipment:
An amendment of the National Security (General) Regulations to provide for:
(a) Removal of engines and equipment by “authorised persons” - (being the persons for the time being in charge of the maintenance of watercraft with the consent of the Chief of Naval Staff) - or the owner, subject to the approval of the Chief of Naval Staff or deputy.
(b) Storage of engines and equipment removed, in such places and for such periods as the Chief of Naval Staff directs.
Denial Squads (Watercraft):
An Order under National Security (General) Regulation 45D and the abovementioned Amendment to the same Regulation - to provide for:
(a) The formation of Denial Squads (Watercraft) - to function as auxiliaries to the guards of “authorised persons” in charge of maintenance of immobilised watercraft.
(b) Empowering of Denial Squads (Watercraft) to:
(i) Police and enforce all National Security Regulations relating to Watercraft, and Orders and Directions made thereunder - for which purpose they shall have the powers of Commonwealth Police and Constables.
(ii) Control, at Military or Naval direction, the movements of all watercraft, including sea-going craft.
(iii) Perform such other duties in relation to Watercraft as the Chief of Naval Staff may direct.
E.H.F. Swain,
Chairman,
Scorched Earth Sub-Committee,
State War Effort Co-ordination Committee.
23.11.42
When World War II began, virtually all of Australia’s oil was imported. In mid-1942, the Commonwealth ordered the oil companies to form a pool—named ‘Pool Petroleum’—to manage the shipping, storage and supply of oil for civilian use, which by then was strictly rationed. (The armed forces bought their fuel directly from the importers and stored it at Bulk Issue Petrol and Oil Depots, or BIPOD.) The pool’s operations were directed by a committee representing the largest oil importers and resellers.
The pool directly or indirectly controlled hundreds of storage facilities, ranging from large surface tanks to underground tanks at petrol stations and piles of drums at rural depots. In the event of an invasion, oil at the smaller depots was to be moved wherever possible to the larger (Class A) depots, which would be taken over by the Army. If troops were forced to withdraw from an area, all oil stocks were to be destroyed by trained members of the Army or VDC. (Dutch and British oil companies had done this on a large scale in Borneo and the East Indies, wrecking and torching oilfields as the Japanese advanced.) The main means of destruction would be to open valves and burn the spilled oil or insert explosives into tanks. Where neither was feasible, the oil would be contaminated. The importance of oil for domestic and Australian military needs, however, meant destruction would be a last resort.
DENIAL OF RESOURCES TO THE ENEMY. N.S.W. L. of C. Area.
POL SUPPLIES.
SURVEY:
1: The Existing Civil Organisation for Wholesale Supply:
Consists of a number of companies, dealing with motor spirits and oils, viz:
1. Atlantic Union.
2. Australian Motorists Petrol Co.
3. Caltex.
4. Shell Co.
5. H.C. Sleigh and Co.
6. Smyth Wylie (Aust.) Ltd.
7. Neptu
ne Oil Co.
8. Vacuum Oil Co.
9. Commonwealth Oil Refineries.
10. Australian Iron and Steel (Benzol).
11. Broken Hill Pty.
12. National Oil Co. (Glen Davis).
13. Independent Oil Industries.
14. Associated Petroleum Co. of Australia. and also the following, dealing only in lubricants, viz:
1. C.C. Wakefield & Co. Ltd.
2. Marrickville Margarine (Castor Oil).
3. Noyes Bros. Ltd.
4. O’Brien (Sydney) Ltd.
5. Wolverine Lubricants (Aust.)
6. Penn-wealth Oils Pty. Ltd.
7. Smith & Newbold (grease only).
8. Alfred Snashall.
9. Paykel Bros.
10. Regalin Aust. Pty. Ltd.
A cartoon playing on fears of Japanese invasion, from The Daily Telegraph, 1942.
11. Lycett Pty. Ltd. (Castor).
12. Elder Smith & Co. Ltd.
13. B.V.R. Greatrex.
14. Ramsey & Tregalownay.
15. W.B. Dick & Co. Ltd.
16. A. Vale & Co. Pty.Ltd.
17. A.D. Hunter.
Pool of Oil Companies -
To rationalise the use of storage, a pooling of the stocks of all companies has been arranged by the Commonwealth Government so as to release surplus storage at both bulk depots and resellers’ premises. The pool is a marketing and distributing organisation only and is not a channel for implementing denial of liquid fuel to the enemy.
State Petroleum Committee -
There is an Army Advisory Oil Committee and a State Petroleum Committee.
The latter consists of representatives of the following major Oil Companies for N.S.W.:
Shell, A.M.P. Caltex, C.O.R., H.C. Sleigh, Vacuum, Atlantic Union, Smyth Wylie.
There is no State Governmental or military representation on the Committee - the military authorities correspond directly with the Chairman.
THE POOL CONTROLS:
(a) Directly:
The capacity ranges from 25,000 to 50,000 gallons. They are now 88% full.