404 
ARTILLERY IN COAST DEFENCE. 
of supplying fhat army with the necessaries of war would be very pre¬ 
carious. 
Again, a fortress may be attacked with a view to destroying a dock¬ 
yard or shipping sheltered behind its guns, and also for the purpose 
of seizing stores of coal, &c. 
Lastly, the attack may be made simply with a view to the moral 
effect produced on the defenders, or to distract their attention from 
some other point ‘of the coast line. 
The method of attack will vary somewhat according as the fortress 
defends a roadstead open to the sea, or a channel giving access to a 
harbour or the mouth of a river. 
If the object of the attack is to occupy defended waters, it is ob¬ 
viously necessary that the guns bearing on those waters should first 
be silenced; and, if the occupation is intended to be permanent, the 
forts must be rendered untenable by the defenders; this may be accom¬ 
plished either by bombardment from the ships alone, or, more usually, 
by a combined attack from land and sea. 
Where the defended water is an open roadstead, whatever the object 
with which it is attacked, that attack must take the form of a bombard¬ 
ment ; since the object will have to be accomplished in water covered 
by the fire of the forts. 
In the case of a channel leading into a harbour, or the mouth of a 
river, if the object is to seize or destroy material or shipping beyond 
the forts, it would not always be necessary to bombard these forts. 
Armoured vessels, if able to pass the forts at speed, might well afford 
to neglect their fire; and it is to prevent this action on their part that 
channels are protected by submarine mines, booms, and other obstruc¬ 
tions ; so that ships may be delayed under the close fire of the shore 
guns. These obstructions would therefore have to be first dealt with 
by the enemy; and, when a channel through them was cleared, the 
ships would probably attempt to run past without returning the fire of 
the forts more than would be necessary to render that fire less accu¬ 
rate ; and when conditions were favourable, to cover themselves with 
their own smoke. 
It seems probable, however, that these tactics would only be at¬ 
tempted when, having passed the forts, ships could reach safe positions 
out of the fire of the guns on shore ; for should a ship run past forts 
at the entrance of a harbour, only to find herself engaged by inner 
defences; she would run the risk, should that engagement go against 
her, of having to repass the entrance forts with her fighting efficiency 
seriously impaired, and so perhaps be hopelessly crippled in getting 
out. But if she is able to get to safe waters beyond the forts, she could 
probably rely on getting out again with as little damage as she sus¬ 
tained in getting in. 
There are thus two forms of attack by ships to be guarded against, 
“ bombardment 99 and “ running past,” and these might be used in 
combination. 
Some authorities hold that no bombardment of forts by ships is ever 
likely to be again attempted. This opinion seems to be arrived at 
from a consideration of the difficulty of the task of silencing shore 
