COMMENDED ESSAY, 1893 . 
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(4.) An armament afloat three or four times greater than that 
ashore. 
(5.) A base close at hand. 
(6.) Surprise and sudden assault. 
This form of attack will be best carried out: 
(a.) At close range. (£.) At anchor. 
The range will depend on : (1) nature and position of batteries ; (2) 
hydrography ; (3) number of ships ; (4) proficiency of garrison. The 
closer the range, probably the less room there will be for the ships, 
and the less guns can be brought to bear, also the less angle of descent 
will the ships* shell have. However, close range is a necessity to 
ensure good practice. 
Anchoring is a necessity, as at close range there would not be room 
to manoeuvre. Also, it has the following advantages :— 
(1.) The range, bearing, and appearance of the target does not 
alter. 
(2.) There is no fear of running against mines. 
(3.) The ships can be placed much closer together. 
(4.) The ships can, by means of springs on their cables, be 
warped in the most convenient angles for attacking. 
The mines and obstacles will, of course, have to be considered and a 
channel cleared through them to allow the ships to move in. The 
operation will be similar to that in the case of forcing a channel, except 
that the ships can, if necessary, come in and support the small craft. 
It will be best done at night, so that at daybreak the ships can com¬ 
mence to bombard. 
The station and objective of each ship must be settled beforehand. 
After the sweeping boats have cleared part of the channel, one of the 
ships can move up and anchor at the end of the clearance, and, if 
within range of the fortress, should have good bow fire. Then, as 
more of the channel is cleared, the ships can move up one by one, each 
anchoring in front of the last. After more of the channel has been 
cleared by creeping and countermining, the last ship can move up and 
anchor before the first, and so on; this saves the necessity of all the 
fleet weighing each time and moving up. 
Should any of the defender’s torpedo boats attack the ships in this 
position, they must trust to their nets, machine guns, and torpedo- 
catchers. 
It is, of course, impossible to lay down fixed rules for the conduct of 
an attack, as these will vary with the circumstances of the case, the 
position of the fortress, strength and quality of the garrison, strength 
of the armament, &c. But the foregoing may be taken as a standard 
and altered to suit any particular case. 
In case (3) the object will be to destroy the forts or that which they 
defend. Hence to effect anything the ships* fire must be accurate, and 
they should anchor if the fire of the fortress is not very formidable. 
