SILVER MEDAL PRIZE ESSAY, 1895. 329 
An attack on a Coast Fortress may be made by :— 
(1.) Naval forces alone. 
(2.) Miltary forces covered and supported by ships. 
The object of the attack may be any of the following :— 
(1.) Conquest and occupation. 
(2.) Passage to some objective beyond. 
(3.) Destruction of the forts, or the ships, stores, and other 
material that they protect. 
(4.) To cover other operations, for moral effect, or without any 
very definite object but in hopes of obtaining some ad- 
vantage. 
The first two may be considered as attacks proper. 
The last two rather in the light of raids made with a more or less 
definite object. 
The raids naval, or military, onterritory adjacent to Coast Fortresses, 
but outside the range of their guns, which were so common during the 
wars of the 17th and 18th centuries, and which are undertaken 
purely for ravage, and destruction need not be considered, as they do 
not properly come within the meaning of an attack on a Coast Fortress. 
Navat ATTACKS. 
(1.) With a view to conquest and occupation. 
These may be undertaken :— 
(a.) By bombardment. 
(b.) By regular attack. 
(a.) Bombardment. The ships employed would probably be at long 
range and under weigh: if after a bombardment landing parties are 
sent in, the ships would of course have to stand into closer ranges. 
There are but few historical instances of this method of attack, and it 
can only be successful against a weak or demoralized garrison. 
(b.) Regular Attack. By this term is meant engagements between 
individual ships, and forts when the object is to silence the fire of the 
forts, by bringing a superior fire to bear against them previous to the 
landing of parties to capture them. The term cannonade would seem 
to be preferable to that of bombardment, to denote the ship’s fire 
action under these circumstances. The engagement would be begun 
at long, and medium ranges with the ships under weigh, but the final 
cannonade to be effective must take place at close ranges, and with the 
ships anchored in the most suitable positions close to the forts ; landing 
parties would probably be employed at thisstage. This form of attack 
is very rare in history, the most notable instance being the capture of 
Gibraltar by Sir G. Rooke’s Fleet in 1704. It is possible that the 
gallantry displayed in, and the success of this operation has tended to 
make us over estimate the value of this method of attack. 
(2.) To force a passage. This isa very feasible operation for ships, 
provided that the water-way is clear, for it is an axiom that guns alone 
Attacks on 
0as 
Fortresses, 
Naval 
Attacks. 
For Capture. 
To force a 
Passage, 
