Imperial fortress

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.[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]

  1. ^ 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.