Suppressing pirates thanks to coal

If you go to the Hong Kong Cemetery, you can find two memorials, placed there from their original positions in Hong Kong’s streets, to British and American steam warships. One is to the men of a sailing brig, HMS Vestal, who died 1844-47, her battles against the pirates much assisted by the steam paddlers HM Ships Vixen and Vulture. The other, to the casualties of HMS Rattler and the USS Powhatan, both steamers, who died fighting a pirate base near Macau in 1855.

The steamships were just four of the many serving in Chinese waters between 1844 and the early 20th century that were engaged in suppressing the endemic piracy that plagued coastal waters and some major rivers. Their huge advantage over the pirates – apart from generally better weaponry – was their complete independence of the weather. When the navy had recourse only to sail it could be seriously handicapped, as might have been the case in 1849 in the action against Shap Ng-tsai in Mirs Bay, that was a success because HMS Columbine could be towed into action by the P&O paddle steamer Canton.

That use of steam power was possible, of course, because of the coal shipped out from Britain stored in British controlled locations like Singapore and Hong Kong. We can see Hong Kong’s first coal store – quite a big one – very clearly labelled on the detailed map of Central by Lt T.B. Collinson RE of 1845. My rough calculation has it storing around 3,000-5,000 tons of coal.