186 
COAST DEFENCE. 
those distinguished officers whose names I have quoted, it is not easy 
to make some otherwise good gunners believe in these important 
truths. This year the Garrison Artillery stationed at the principal 
coast fortresses will compete in their prize firing for a cup that has 
been generously given for the purpose by our Deputy Adjutant-General, 
who occupies the chair this evening. (Cheers.) 
Naturally, every endeavour will be made to secure the best advantage 
in this competition. 1 I fear that a general scuttle downhill will result, 
and with the best intentions the guns nearest to the level of the sea 
will be used where possible for the competition. The argument used 
in favour of low sites is, I believe, the following: It is admitted that 
when you have a ship for a target, then the high site has the 
advantage, because beam is greater than freeboard, and as you ascend 
the target becomes larger. With practice targets that are freeboard, 
without beam, the case is reversed, and the low site presents undoubted 
advantages. I shall endeavour to prove to you that the low site does 
not possess this advantage claimed for it. 
To return to the advantages of a high site, there is the advantage of 
look-out. On p. 488 of the new “ Garrison Artillery Drill ” you will find 
it stated that ships coming in at 14 knots will be within range in less 
than half an hour after their having been first sighted. This means 
that the ships were not sighted until they were within about eight or 
nine miles of the coast, and consequently the supposition is that the 
fire commander’s station is on a low site. Let me recommend you 
to note in the margin of your books that water-line in miles 
= \/ § X altitude in feet. That is to say, the water-line of a ship can 
be seen so many miles distant from the eye of the observer when he is 
so many feet above sea-level. Smoke from a squadron under way 
would be noticed long before the water-line of the leading ship could 
be seen. Off the mouth of the Yalu the Chinese saw the smoke of the 
Japanese fleet an hour and a half before the Japanese made out the 
Chinese. 
From the top of a cliff 600 feet high the water-line of a vessel is 
observable up to 30 miles, and smoke, say, 10 miles further still. This 
may be, and is, an extreme case, and means clear weather and a good 
glass. But it is worth considering in connection with the Drill Book 
statement. In the case of an observing-station 600 feet high, you get 
over two hours’ notice in place of the Drill Book’s “ less than half an 
hour,” always supposing the same conditions and 14 knots speed. 
“ Less protection is needed on a height.” The flatter the trajectory of 
a gun the less will be the angle of arrival, and with modem guns at 
short ranges the angle of arrival of projectiles on the parapet of a high 
site fort will in many cases be one of ascent. Little or no harm to the 
fort will result. At the passage of the forts of Vicksburg and of Port 
Hudson, on the Mississippi, the moderate height of about 100 feet was 
sufficient protection for the guns, while the low-site water batteries 
1 The company which eventually carried off the Deputy Adjutant-General’s cup fired 
from a site ICO feet above sea-level, 
