164 
SHOOTING OF COAST ARTILLERY. 
necessity for more rapid firing and touched upon many of the points 
where difficulties are met with. 
While laying special stress upon the absolute necessity for this in¬ 
creased rapidity, it is not intended, in any way, to assert that we have 
reached the degree of accuracy which we ought to obtain, this is 
certainly not the case as yet, nor should any pains be spared to im¬ 
prove that accuracy. 
When a defect is perceived and it is wished to make it good, evident¬ 
ly the first proceeding should be to diagnose it, to discover the causes 
which have led to the defect and then to establish a procedure which 
will nullify or counteract them. 
In this particular case the diagnosis is simple enough for an 
Artillerist, at all behind the scenes, but to exhibit all the causes in 
detail to one's readers, would be beyond the scope of this paper. 
Here it may briefly be said that amongst the principal causes which 
have led to the question of rapidity of fire from our Coast Artillery 
having been, until lately, comparatively neglected, are :— 
That the means necessary to enable our Coast Artillery to deliver 
aimed fire against rapidily moving targets, viz., instruments, adjuncts, 
etc.,—have only been supplied, except to a few places, within the last 
few years and that the tactical system established for best utilizing 
them for the desired end, i.e. accurate fire at rapidly moving targets,— 
has but recently been thoroughly imbibed by the whole of the officers 
and men,—if indeed we can accurately say that it is “thoroughly" 
imbibed even now. 
Until very recently therefore we have, with the means but gradual¬ 
ly placed at our disposal, been working up to an accuracy of fire at 
moving targets which has now been reached with so fair a measure of 
success that there are few, if any, of our coast works from which such 
can not be delivered, up even to the farthest ranges. 
Seeing that, as before stated, there were, ten years ago, practically 
no works for which this could be said, progress so far has been fairly 
satisfactory. 
3. Change of probable conditions of naval attack. 
Then the conditions of Naval attack, as supposed probable, against 
a coast work, have been revolutionized in the last few years. 
When our first system of service practice from coast works and the 
mode of prize firing to encourage advance in the same, were introduced, 
in 1891—(indentical with those now existing, save for minor modifi¬ 
cations and, as to the latter, a slight introduction of the element 
tc time ") what did we picture as the probable form of attack of coast 
works by a Naval force ? 
It was that of ships steaming slowing,—say at three or four knots,— 
opposite the work, and delivering a slow, deliberate and not very 
accurate fire, from a comparatively small number of heavy guns. 
Against such an attack, though rapidity of course was valuable, 
the factor “ accuracy," which by means of the instruments and adjuncts 
being supplied to coast works should then have been very much 
superior to that of the ship's fire, assumed the greatest importance. 
