This one-day conference will examine the role and scope of naval bases and naval support facilities in and around the Indian Ocean.

Were bases built to defend colonies, control colonies, or to attack the enemy? Were they to suppress local forces, engage companies threatening the British East India Company or as adjuncts to European struggles? How useful were they to their founding countries in the 17th–20th centuries? How has their heritage developed?

It is a great privilege to welcome such a high calibre panel of experts from around the world.

Conference Programme

10:30 : Welcome and introduction by Naval Dockyards Society's Chair Ann Coats

10.30–11.05: Commanding ‘the passage to and from India’: The Royal Navy at the Cape of Good Hope, 1795–1803

Presented by Thean Potgeiter

11.05–11.40 The Contribution of Simon’s Town to Diplomatic & Naval Affairs, 1795–1957

Presented by David Erickson

-11.40–11.50: Break-

11.50–12.25: The Hooghly River and the limits of colonial power: European dockyards and naval bases in Bengal

Presented by Robert Ivermee

12.25–1.00 Out of the Shadows - the Police Force of Hong Kong’s Royal Naval Dockyard

Presented by Patricia O’Sullivan

- 1.00-1.30: Break-

1.30-2.05: French and British planners and Trincomalee naval dockyard

Presented by Erik Odegard Dutch

2.05-2.40 : Trincomalee in the twentieth century: The use of floating docks in the Indian Ocean

Presented by Richard Holme

- 2.40–2.50: Break-

2.50-3.25 In Support of Napoleon’s Great Adventure - the navy of Tipu Sultan. Its design, construction and purpose

Presented by Philip MacDougall

3.25-4.00 The Anglo-Egyptian Naval Encounter: A new history of Egypt and Britain

Presented by Karim Malak

4.00 : END