512 MORE BRIEF CONSIDERATIONS ON COAST DEFANCE. 
of missiles is, he says, allwsory, and many perturbed spirits who have 
dared to think, but not to give expression to their thoughts, will thank 
him for that word. Common sense and common shell are the things 
to use, and the way to use them is to hit the ship as often as you can. 
From the foregoing it will be seen that, not only do I cordially agree 
with General Geary’s maxims, but that I rejoice in the freedom and in- 
cisiveness with which they are set forth, and this I think I may be per- 
mitted to do without suspicion of presumption or of unctuous flattery. 
But I would go a little further than he and try to deal with possible 
results. In no work, treatise, pamphlet or discussion have I seen or 
heard analysed the difference in the réle of a man-o’-war and of a Coast 
Defence battery when engaging a hostile vessel—but they are vastly 
different. ‘The man-o’-war fights his adversary with a view of sinking, 
disabling, or capturing her, the last being usually the corollary of the 
second, and the end most devoutedly sought. The fort, on the other 
-hand, fires at the ship in self defence or to prevent her forcing a narrow 
passage leading into waters where her fire may be productive of danger. 
The landsman would like to sink the ship-—would be glad to see her 
‘disabled—since this would cause inconvenience to the enemy; but his 
main object is, as an Irishman would express it, “to make her lave 
that ’’—he has no idea of effecting a capture. Given a disabled ship 
which, from want of knowiedge of the local resources, has struck her 
colours, what is the officer in command to do? He cannot tow her in 
with the garrison boat—the Sappers would probably find it incon- 
venient to lend one of their Submarine Miners, the A.S.C. boats 
would doubtless be under repair, and he would hesitate, for obvious 
reasons, before putting a prize crew on board under the command of 
a yachting subaltern. He wants to cripple and to send her away 
limping and innocuous, and it seems to me that if he keep on hitting 
her all over with common shell, she will not make a lengthened stay in 
the vicinity of that fort. 
Look at any battleship, or any so-called protected cruiser, and see 
-how exposed to the effects of bursting shells is a very large proportion 
of her crew. ‘The auxiliary armament, such as the 6-inch and 4:7- 
‘inch Q.F. guns is shielded by thin (about 44-inch) steel plates, while 
the smaller Q.F. and machine guns are practically unprotected. It 
may be urged that the crews may be withdrawn from this part of the 
-armament, but they cannot take their guns with them, and a ship, 
using her turret or barbette guns only, would not engage a modern, 
well armed fort with much prospect of success. The ship, therefore, 
should one ever attack such a fort (which is highly improbable), may 
be considered as all target, and common shell may be fired at all parts 
of her indiscriminately, with the full hope of inflicting the class of in- 
jury we most desire; while the armour piercers, should any properly 
so-called have been issued, may be reserved for the cowps de grice if 
her disabled condition prevent her from “ laving that.” 
A word next as to high angle fire. It is tacitly admitted that a ship 
can do no damage in the way of long range bombardment unless she 
anchor stem and stern—and very little then. But it is to prevent her 
doing this little that the system of high angle fire from heavy howitzers 
