481 
“FLOATING- DEFENCE . 55 
BY 
LIEUT.-COLONEL SIR G. S. CLARKE, K.C.M.G., R.E. 
Nothing is more injurious to progress than a taking phrase. The 
theological development of a mind to which the mere name “ Mesopo¬ 
tamia ” brings comfort and satisfaction can scarcely be either rapid or 
well directed, and among the many “ blessed words ” which have 
retarded the solution of naval and military questions, none have proved 
more efficacious than “ Floating Defence.” Delightfully vague, poeti¬ 
cally suggestive of gliding movement over calm waters, the term is 
exactly calculated by its soothing appeal to the imagination to hypnotise 
the reasoning faculty. While, therefore, we tacitly agree to avoid 
discussing its meaning or seeking to lay down the scope and the method 
of its application, the phrase runs through our writings, appearing and 
re-appearing like an alluring refrain to which we wag our heads in 
mechanical appreciation. Thus the whole subject has escaped critical 
study; its principles remain undefined; and in the rare cases where a 
partial practical experiment has been carried out, failure has generally 
resulted. 
In a short paper written many years ago, Sir J. Burgoyne justly 
complained that “ while floating batteries of some kind always form an 
ingredient in the demands and projects for the defence of every estuary, 
no well-defined practical mode by which they are to be provided has ever 
yet been prescribed.” And with that thoughtful common sense which 
was his marked characteristic, he proceeded to consider the question 
from the point of view then attainable. Block-ships, “the only distinct 
means hitherto prepared or decided upon,” are objected to on unim¬ 
peachable grounds. They are too costly and too difficult to maintain, 
except in position where “they would be least wanted;” they have 
“little, if any, advantage over the enemy's ships of war;” finally, and 
most conclusively, “ very few or none would be forthcoming in time of 
need.” As a substitute for the largely non-existent block-ship, Sir J. 
Burgoyne refers to “ steam gun-boats, or, still better, the floating bat¬ 
teries with their sides coated with thick iron plates,” which, however, 
are open to the grave objection that they “ would necessarily abstract, 
m some degree, from the many resources in men, &c. that are peculi¬ 
arly required at the breaking out of war.” The arming and manning 
of local private steamers would “also have many inconveniences.” 
10. VOL. XXI. 64 
