XIII 



The Persian Gulf 



ACENTURY ago Great Britain signed truces with a number 

 of Sheikhs who ruled territory stretching from Muscat at 

 the entrance to the Persian Gulf westward along the south- 

 ern shores of the Gulf as far as and including the Sheikhdom of 

 Qatar, which covers an extensile peninsula running northwards 

 from the Arabian shore. To the west of the northern tip of Qatar 

 lies the island Sheikhdom of Bahrein, and it is on this island that 

 Great Britain, by arrangement with the Sheikh of Bahrein, main- 

 tains a small naval establishment housing the shore headquarters 

 of the Senior Naval Officer in the Persian Gulf. The British 

 Political Resident for the Gulf area has his residency within the 

 naval base . 



Our agreement with the so-called Trucial Coast Sheikhdoms 

 bind us to protect them from outside interference, and a small 

 naval force is stationed in the Gulf for this purpose. Under the 

 Political Resident there are a number of Political Agents who are 

 stationed in the various Sheikhdoms and who keep in touch with 

 political matters in those states. The Royal Navy and the Political 

 Resident thus find themselves working very closely together in 

 this interesting area. 



The great bay which lies between the Qatar peninsula and the 

 entrance to the Persian Gulf, and which is bounded on its 

 southern side by the Trucial Coast, was, in 1946, little surveyed. 

 It is studded with a mass of shoals and coral reefs interspersed 

 with a labyrinth of deep navigable channels. Sand suspended in 

 the water after the storms which are frequent in the winter 

 months gives the appearance, when the sun is shining, of shoal 

 water, which adds to the general difficulties of navigation in this 

 area, where it is desirable that our naval ships should be able to 

 move swiftly and safely when the occasion arises. 



The area was already on the post-war survey programme when 

 urgency was further added to the task by the decision of the 



