GOLD MEDAL PRIZE ESSAY, 1893 . 
355 
boats, all the gun and mine defence is paralysed,, and the attack may¬ 
be able to get through the defended water unscathed. 
The following instance of a guard-boat action took place on May “United 
25th, 1880, during the war between Chili and Peru. At Callao, two Sfca inteiii- Val 
Chilian torpedo boats encountered a Peruvian launch which fled. One s euce /’ 1883 - 
of the boats succeeded in exploding a torpedo under the launch's 
counter, the latter simultaneously exploding one under the torpedo 
boat's bow. The latter was sunk, and the launch, in a sinking condition, 
surrendered to the other torpedo boat —another instance, if one were 
needed, of the importance of boats acting in couples, or larger numbers. 
Electric Lights. —Though not strictly obstacles, yet careful consider¬ 
ation must be given to the best manner of evading or baffling the beams 
of search-lights. To be as inconspicuous as possible is the first point, and 
it is worth noting that nothing shows up better in the beam of a light 
(or on a very hazy day) than a cloud of white steam or smoke, and 
some arrangement should be made, if possible, to enable boats to dis¬ 
charge their waste steam under water. To obscure the water-wag , by 
shrouding it in a screen of smoke, will be the next desideratum, and 
here the guns of the Defence may greatly aid the Attack by pouring 
forth volumes of smoke, unless prevented by good organisation. High 
speed and an erratic course will assist to baffle the lights, and chief of all 
will be the method, referred to above, of advancing in successive lines, 
some of which, while attracting attention to themselves, will entirely 
divert it from others. Should the force available admit of it, an actual 
subsidiary attack, real or feigned, on the lights themselves , will be a sure 
way of engaging their attention wfflile the channel is passed by the 
main attack. 
Strategem, and creeping in under the shadow of the shore, or under 
the shadow of a passing ship or barge, will also be made every use of, 
and, of course, favourable atmospheric conditions will be of the greatest 
assistance. 
The Gun Defence. —The weak points of the gun defence are its depend- 
ance upon good visual conditions, its slowness where large guns are 
concerned, the contracted arc of fire of guns mounted in closed works 
or behind shields, and the amount of smoke evolved. There is also the 
difficulty—not yet fully realised—of maintaining at all times, both of 
day and night, proper discipline, and instant vigilance in the garrisons, 
composed as they probably will be of reserve and auxiliary forces, and 
the want of high training consequent upon this composition—all the 
above points will militate against the effectiveness of the gun defences. 
Even where the P.F. system is relied on, a judicious choice of time and 
weather, a high speed, and an erratic course, will probably neutralise 
these instruments and the guns dependent upon them. Note that boats 
should never follow one another in the same course, otherwise if, as is 
highly probable, a prediction prepared for a leading boat be lost owing 
to her high speed, the following boat, if in the same track, might be 
made the recipient of the salvo. 
Where the guns are known to be fought by P.F., in all probability 
a determined subsidiary attack by small landing parties, covered by 
gun fire, upon the P.F. cells will be attempted. 
