CHAPTER VI
COAST DEFENCE—THE RAM
Coast Defence Vessels—Such Constructions of Modern Growth—Erroneous Ideas of Defence—The 'Glatton' and other Coast Service Vessels—Russian Circular Ironclads—Development of the Ram as a Weapon—The ’Rupert' and 'Polyphemus'—Disadvantages of a Vessel for ramming only—Examples of difficulty in ramming.
The term 'coast defence vessel,’ as applied to any craft larger than a gunboat, is, as far as this country is concerned, of modern growth. The principle of building special ships for operations confined to the coast found no favour with our ancestors, taught by the experience of long wars that a seagoing fleet is the best defence against any attempt on the part of an enemy to approach our shores. When, in 1804, Pitt brought forward a motion in the House of Commons condemnatory of the Government's naval policy,—a portion of his indictment was the inadequate provision of gun vessels to act in shallow water against an invading flotilla. Sir Edward Pellew—afterwards Lord Exmouth—then in Parliament, clearly formulated on this occasion the true policy to be pursued. He said: 'I do not really see in the arrangement of our naval defence anything to excite the apprehensions of even the most timid among
