344 
COMMENDED ESSAY, 1897 . 
Necessity for 
rapidity. 
How rapidity 
can be 
improved. 
to place, and torpedo boats are constantly being exercised, and there 
seems no reason from the landsman’s point of view why they should 
not be able in the course of their ordinary routine to give immense 
assistance in the training of the Coast Artillery. 
Again, when the Naval manoeuvres are going on, it would give very 
good practice to the Coast Artillery if a fortress commandant were 
warned that a hostile squadron had put to sea from some given port, 
and were told to take all measures possible, with the means at his com¬ 
mand, to make ready for an attack by the squadron. 
Such practice as this is just as essential for Coast Artillery as Field 
days and Field manoeuvres are for Infantry, and blank ammunition 
should be used in the one case just as it is in the other, a certain annual 
allowance being authorized in addition to other practice ammunition. 
We have two classes of forts in our Coast defences, those manned by 
Regular Artillery and those manned by the Militia or Volunteers. The 
former should be kept in a constant state of readiness, and every oppor¬ 
tunity should be taken of testing that readiness all the year round ; the 
latter must be put in a state of preparation by the process known as 
“ Mobilization ” as often as possible, though this will hardly ever occur 
more than once a year, and in most cases not so often. When mobili¬ 
zation has taken place the readiness of these forts must also be carefully 
tested by practice. 
It may be objected that, though this readiness may be of the greatest 
importance, it does not properly speaking come under the heading of 
“ practice.” But in answer to such an objection it is contended that 
just as changes of position, methods of coming into action, supply of 
ammunition, and transmission of orders are part of the course at 
Okehampton and form subjects for criticism by lieut.-colonels and the 
camp commandant, and depend upon the training that has gone before, 
so everything that leads up to the firing of a Coast defence gun at the 
proper time, at the proper target, and with the greatest amount of 
rapidity and accuracy possible, should form part of the practice of the 
Coast Artillery. 
An article by Major-General Richardson, in the “Proceedings of the 
R.A. Institution,” March, 1897, has brought home to all who have read 
it the great importance of speed in firing with Garrison Artillery guns, 
and our shortcomings in that respect. 
These shortcomings he attributes to a variety of causes, but there is 
one cause which, at home at any rate, is perhaps of more importance 
than any which he mentions, and that is not merely the unsuitability 
of our methods of drill but our actual lack of drill. 
It is the custom to tell off companies to certain forts which they 
should man in time of war, but it rarely happens that drill at those forts 
is the principal work of the companies throughout the year. Such drill 
as they get is spread over a great variety of forts and guns, and when 
the annual course comes round they naturally turn their attention 
principally to the guns from which the competitive firing will take 
place, instead of making themselves as perfect as they can be with the 
guns which they would have to fight in war. 
Improvement in material will never be made unless it is urged by 
those who have to fight the guns, and company officers will never urge 
improvements unless they realise that they are responsible for main¬ 
taining certain guns in the very best condition possible for war, and 
can see by constant drill and practice from those guns in what ways 
they can be improved. 
