MARITIME HISTORY 



protecting the Roads between east and south, the opinion of expert witnesses 

 in 1 845 being that a war fleet could not lie there in all weathers without such 

 shelter. The inner arm is 1,700 and the outer arm 6,400 ft. long, the 

 opening between them being 400 ft. wide ; there are forts at the extremi- 

 ties of both inner and outer arms. As well as these forts other defences 

 were planned in i860 ; the Verne Citadel, high up on the northern bluff of 

 Portland, in a position commanding a wide sweep of water towards the 

 Dorset coast and out to sea, and a new Nothe Fort on modern lines, were 

 added. Below the Verne, on the east side of the hill and some 200 ft. 

 above the sea level, are the East Weir batteries ; the position of the Verne, 

 the Nothe, and the Weir, gives them a plunging fire while necessitating a 

 high angle fire from the enemy's battleships, thus placing the latter under the 

 most unfavourable conditions possible. The inner Breakwater Fort is con- 

 sidered a weak one, but that at the extremity of the outer arm is strong. 

 From the Nothe at Weymouth to the extremity of the outer arm there were 

 two miles of open water, and as the Breakwater approached completion the 

 era of the torpedo began. As the torpedo and the torpedo boat improved 

 in offensive capacity year by year the value of Portland, open to a more 

 deadly form of attack than was possible in the old navy, decreased, but it 

 was not until 1895 that additional works were commenced. The dangerous 

 opening has been closed by the construction of two more breakwaters ; one, 

 1,550 yards long, from the mainland at Bincleaves, and another, 1,455 y^fds 

 long, called the New Breakwater. Between the Bincleaves and the New 

 Breakwater, and between the latter and the old outer breakwater, are two 

 openings, each 700 ft. wide. An area, of which 1,500 acres have not less 

 than thirty feet at low water, is now inclosed, forming, in the opinion of 

 naval men, one of the finest artificial harbours in the world. 



In 1855 Poole Harbour, as a retired spot, was the scene of an experi- 

 mental trial of a submarine boat intended for use against the boom at 

 Cronstadt. The six men who went down in her were nearly drowned and 

 the invention was not adopted by the Admiralty. 



APPENDIX 



List (Chronologically Arranged) of Men-of-War Built in Dorset with their 

 Services to the Close of the Napoleonic War 



[Abbreviations used : — Ch. = Channel Station ; Med. = Mediterranean ; W.I. = West Indies ; 

 N.S. = North Sea; N. A. = North America; C. and C. = Convoy and cruising duties; A.O. = 

 Admiralty Order ; P.O. = Paid out of Commission ; R.S. = Receiving ship.] 



Names of captains or of officers subsequently distinguished are within brackets (c. = captain). 

 It should be remembered that only the chief movements of vessels are given. A ship may have 

 been for some years in the Mediterranean, but have returned for short periods for repairs ; such 

 intervals are not noticed in the list of services, nor, if occupied in more than one employment in a 

 year, is any other than the principal one usually named. 



Viper (sloop), 270 tons, 14 guns ; built at Poole 1746. Services : C. and C. 1746-8 

 (c. Robt. Roddam) ; in June, 1747, silenced and dismantled a battery and took or burnt 33 coasters 

 at Cedeyra, near Cape Ortegal ; W.I. 1749-52 (c. Corn. Smelt) and P.O. Made fireship and 

 name changed to Lightning by A.O. 22 July, 1755. N.A. 1757-8 (c. H. M. Goostrey) ; 

 C. and C. 1759-61 (c. Jos. Norwood). Sold 1762. 



Attentive (gunbrig), 178 tons, 12 guns ; built at Bridport 1804. Services: W.I. 1805-10 

 (Lieuts. John Harris and Robt. Carr). Broken up 181 2. 



227 



