GOLD MEDAL PRIZE ESSAY, 1893 . 
319 
The argument can now be carried a step further. 
In the British Naval Manoeuvres of 1890, a hostile torpedo boat 
flotilla was established at the Island of Alderney, 100 miles from Ply- Annual,” 
mouth. It was determined to attack the British Fleet at Flymonth as soon 1891, 
as possible after receiving an intimation that hostilities had commenced. 
Fearing that Alderney might be watched by British cruisers, the flotilla ^se with 
shifted to Guernsey (90 miles from Plymouth). The boats were divided ' lC can s 
into two divisions, according to their speeds : one division lay in Peter 
port, the other in a convenient bay at the south-east end of the island. asaTpf 
Information that hostilities were to commence reached Guernsey at 
6 p.m. on August 8th, 1890. 
The boats immediately put to sea, each division travelling inde¬ 
pendently, so that the faster division , at any rate, might strike a blow , 
even should the speed of the others be insufficient to get them up in 
time. 
By 2 a.m. that same night the faster division of boats rounded the east Sp ^ c 'J ith 
end of Plymouth Breakwater, and surprised the ships lying there, distance can 
Doubtless several of them would have been sunk or disabled. Further- betra ' ersed - 
more, the confusion caused by their attack enabled the second division of 
boats to come up unobserved —the parallelism between this incident and 
the real attack of the “ Oondell ” and “Lynch” on the “Blanco 
Encalada,” just described, is worth remarking—and rounding the 
western end of the Breakwater, to make a second effective attack. 
The Plymouth forts appear, on this occasion, to have taken no part 
in covering the ships. Possibly they had not been warned to take part 
in the operations. But they would have been hampered by the ships 
beiug in the way of their fire. 
It is proper to remark that, up to this point, nothing has been quoted 
that has not actually been accomplished, while the power of all warlike 
appliances, and the speeds obtainable from boats, are still rapidly 
increasing. In the above operations the speed of the fastest division 
of boats never exceeded 19 knots. The new French torpedo boats 
have a displacement of 150 tons, and a sea speed of no less than 25 
knots, while it was stated in the Times of 24th January last that one 
French boat had actually attained a speed of over 27 knots. 
The number of torpedo boats belonging to France is 229, the greater 
number of which are of good size and speed. 
This torpedo boat attack on Plymouth illustrates another great fact. 
Modern speeds have narrowed the channel , but so silently that it is doubtful 
whether, as a nation, we have yet realised the fact. If, by some great 
convulsion of Nature, the coast of France, with all its fortresses and 
ports, its bays, harbours, and inlets, still uninjured, had suddenly been 
thrust forward, until Cherbourg was visible from the Isle of Wight, 
and all the possible bases of action for French ships and boats stood 
visibly close to our shores, what a popular outcry there would have 
been, and what examinations into the preparedness of our defensive 
system—yet this change has virtually taken place. 
The following table shows the distance in hours between certain 
English and French ports under modern conditions, for (A) the fastest 
torpedo flotilla capable of doing 24 knots, (B) an ordinary torpedo 
