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Notes on the reported New German Naval Bas at Simpson's Harbour, New Britain.
On the homeward trip of my recent cruise aboard the S.S. "Induna" through the Marshall & Caroline Islands,having occasion to call at Matupi for coal & water, I made a point of visiting the new wharf & projected township at Simpson's Harbour (now rendered Simpsonhafen) where it had been rumoured a German Naval Base was being established.
Geographically Simpson's Harbour forms an ideal spot for a naval base: lying within a sheltered bay, of which it is the inner basin, within and elbow of a narrow peninsula & protected from the outer ocean by a ridge of volcanic hills varying in height from about 500 to 2000 feet, the pinnacles of which command either the harbour or the ocean on either side, the peninsula being from 2 to 3 miles in width.
The inner harbour (inside of all obstructions) is about 2 miles long by about 1½ miles wide carrying a depth of 25 to 30 fathoms almost up to the shore.
The projected township lies on the eastern side at the head of the harbour & from a commercial point is badly placed, the land being flat and swampy, & the wharf running out from the shore in absolutely the shallowest part of the harbour. I had been previously puzzled to know why it should be necessary to build such a long wharf. It is reported to be 700 feet long by 50 feet wide, but on actual inspection I found that at the jetty landing, two-thirds of its length from the shore, there was only a depth of 10 feet,although the water then deepened rapidly to several fathoms so that the largest vessels afloat could lay on either side at the end of the jetty. The structure as will be seen from the accompanying photograph is of a most substantial character, & on the end are being erected storage sheds for the reception of cargo from and to the N. D. Lloyd Steamers. This wharf, as will be seen from the Government plan of the projected township attached,will run straight out from the centre of the settlement in continuation of the