Den Telegraaf 1907

[Korpen]

12th February 1907,
Today the cabinet made the following short statement:
"The Kingdom of the Netherlands will remain neutral in the war between the Middle Kingdom and the Republic of New Switzerland."

The newspaper has consulted with political analysts at the Tilburg University about the practical effects of this statment.
The effects of the statement of neutrality is:
- Any attempt by the belligerents to attack, search or size any ships in the territorial sea of the Netherlands is a violation of neutrality, if it occur the Netherlands will do its outmost to get the ship returned its proper crew and captain. If that is not possible, compensation is to be paid.
- Belligerents are forbidden to use Dutch ports or territorial sea as basing for operations.
- Belligerents will not be supplied with any kind of  warships, arms, ammunition or any other kind of war material.
- Warships of the belligerents may not remain more then 24h in any Dutch port or water (with some exception concerning transit in some areas), longer stay will result in the ship being interned.
However, any warships from the belligerents will no be allowed to leave port less then 24h after a warship or merchantman from the other belligerent power (a warships that stays longer then 24h in port due to this will not be interned).
- Any armed ships will be considered a warship when it comes to the matter of staying in port (and any ships claiming status as merchantman will have to undergo a search to confirm their status).
- Warships of the belligerent powers will only be allowed refuel once, after that a time period of at least three months must pass before they will be allowed to refuel in Dutch ports again.

[The Rock Doctor]

Interesting development.  If other powers with Pacific colonies take a similar position, it could really inhibit Swiss merchantile shipping in particular.

[Korpen]

Interesting development.  If other powers with Pacific colonies take a similar position, it could really inhibit Swiss merchantile shipping in particular.

Why? Merchants are not affected by this, they can continue as usual.

[The Rock Doctor]

Unarmed merchants are unaffected, but are Swiss merchies unarmed? 

[Desertfox]

All my merchants are armed and for a good reason. If they are not allowed into Dutch ports its going to cause some major problems.

[Korpen]

All my merchants are armed and for a good reason. If they are not allowed into Dutch ports its going to cause some major problems.

Why are you arming merchants (a ship having some small arms aboard does however not count as "armed")? if they encounter enemy warships, they are at a disadvantage unless they carry several guns.
And if they carry that sort of armament, they are most certainly to be considered AMCs (or, if they have no naval personal aboard, maybe pirates).
The main effect of arming all merchantmen is to put them and the crew at a greater risk, and increase the number of pirates around.
As the Netherlands now claim a 6nm limit to the territorial sea, it is not like it would be hard for a merchantman to keep within Dutch waters in any area within range if most MK ships.

[Ithekro]

Have teh Swiss defined 'armed" in relation to their merchantment?  Ans in what types or wepaons and in general how many per ship?

[Desertfox]

Why am I arming them? First I was only arming those merchants operating near China however there was the "Rustbucket' Affair which led to all my merchants being armed.

Armament is probably no more than a couple of 3" guns, a couple of pom poms (40mm), and small arms. Its not alot but its enough to detter most pirates, torpedo boats, and to cripple protected cruisers that get too close (Kormoran vs Sydney).

New Switzerland right now does not recognize the 6nm limit.

[Walter]

I doubt you have the technology to mount 1923 guns onto your ships. :D

[Desertfox]

Actually the original 'Pom Pom' made its apperance during the Boer War in 1899.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pom-Pom_(gun)

[Korpen]

Why am I arming them? First I was only arming those merchants operating near China however there was the "Rustbucket' Affair which led to all my merchants being armed.

Armament is probably no more than a couple of 3" guns, a couple of pom poms (40mm), and small arms. Its not alot but its enough to detter most pirates, torpedo boats, and to cripple protected cruisers that get too close (Kormoran vs Sydney).

New Switzerland right now does not recognize the 6nm limit.

There is no way i will consider a ship that heavily armed as anything other then a AMC.

If i understand the rustbucket business correctly, it was a NSwiss "merchantman" that refused to be stopped by a Spanish warship, and when warned by a shot over the bow, returned fire?

I know for certain, that if a Warship of the Netherlands find a ship on the high sea that is suspected of either running false colours or of being a pirate, it will make a stop and search. Returning fire is a good way for a ship to declare themselves of being pirates...

[Walter]

Actually the original 'Pom Pom' made its apperance during the Boer War in 1899.

... which is why I put the smiley there. :)
... still the first naval Pom Pom was the QF 1.5-pdr Mark I, which entered service in 1914 so I would guess that those Pom Poms you'll be using on those merchants would probably be a bunch of surplus or even obsolete Army guns.

Returning fire is a good way for a ship to declare themselves of being pirates...

.. and it gives your captain an excellent excuse to test the guns of his ship. Korpen. :)

[Desertfox]

Well it depends on your definition of heavily armed. For NS an AMC carries at least 4x4" or 2x6".

Yes Walter the merchants use sulprus Army guns, the Navy however...

The 'Rustbucket' was going from Korea to Japan (close to warzone) with a cargo of cattle. It was no more than a hundred miles from NS waters and more then 1,500 miles from the nearest Spanish land. It was clearly flying a Swiss flag and not carrying concealed weapons (it was armed with 1x3", 1x40mm, plus 2 MGs). There was no logical reason for a Spanish warship to stop a Swiss merchant in those waters unless it was trying to take it for a prize.

[Korpen]

Well it depends on your definition of heavily armed. For NS an AMC carries at least 4x4" or 2x6".

Yes Walter the merchants use sulprus Army guns, the Navy however...

The 'Rustbucket' was going from Korea to Japan (close to warzone) with a cargo of cattle. It was no more than a hundred miles from NS waters and more then 1,500 miles from the nearest Spanish land. It was clearly flying a Swiss flag and not carrying concealed weapons (it was armed with 1x3", 1x40mm, plus 2 MGs). There was no logical reason for a Spanish warship to stop a Swiss merchant in those waters unless it was trying to take it for a prize.

Still i can think of several reason for a ship to demand a stop and visit (were an officer is sent over to inspect the ships papers), piracy is just one.
And if the merchanman had not fired, would the crew have been worse of then they were now, or would you lost more cargo then you did?

[Desertfox]

However name one good reason for a lets say French warship to stop a British merchant traveling from Ireland to Great Britain.

Im pretty sure the crew would not have survived the encounter had they not fired. Deadmen tell no tales and the Spanish where after more than just an 'inspection'. The cows surprisingly survived the encounter (but a Spanish cruiser, a Swiss cruiser, and a Chinese TB did not!).