Show IS LONDON MPRE6NBlE I The Possibility of a Hostile England Fleet Capturing the Capital 0 of BY LIEUTENANT R SCALLAN R AIn A-In view of the excitement caused by the recent resolutions adopted by the New York chamber of commerce regarding re-garding the improvements which that body deems advisable in the defenses and fortifications of New York harbor i is interesting to consider the means by uhch the war department of the British government proposes to repel any attempt on the part of a hostile fleet to take London by surprise I is not generally known in fact very few peopie outside the official pale are aware that a mobilization and manning of the Thames ports and batteries takes place annually and in a mimic war the efficiency of the defenses is tested The maneuvers for ISO are but lately concluded and the impression created on the mind of a casual spectator is that though more or less satisfactory as far as they go yet the means taken to defend the great capital leave much to be desired from one point of view namely an attack from the land side If ever an enemy should succeed in making an effective landing of troops by eluding the vigilance of Englands pride and glory her navy Ever since Napoleon cast terror throughout the length and breadth of Great Britain by his threats of invasion inva-sion the possibility of such a misfor I tune has been the nightmare of commercial I com-mercial England and accordingly following i fol-lowing the maxim of Wellington and i Nelson that Englands navy must be her first line of defense this arm has been improved and added to with an expenditure of money that the imagination imagin-ation recoils from until now the admiralty admi-ralty declares it capable of meeting any possible combination of the worlds navies na-vies Yet from time to time a still small voice has been heard putting the anxious query Supposing that not I withstanding every precaution an en em j should elude our shps and a landing land-ing in force be effected what is going to prevent the dt vastation of the country coun-try or even the sack of London itself There are four very strong forts which fTnmand the Thames river close rver to L nd > n They are called respectively Coalh use fort Coalhouse battery and the forts of Cliffe and Shornemead Like the harbor defenses of New York these frts are provided with a number num-ber of intricate appliances which are essential for the protection of the river approach to Woolwich and London The annual maneuvers are held mainly ilh the object of testing the working of these appliances as though each I fort is cupied b a special detachment detach-ment e f trained gunners whose particular partic-ular duty is the cleaning and testing I of the machinery yet the elaborate and costly instruments such a telephones I and range finders can only be practically 1 calls inspected by their employment I under service conditions so that mistakes mis-takes can be rectified and inaccuracies adjusted THAMES WAS DEFENDED This year two companies of garrison artllery were told off to man the batteries bat-teries that is a force of about 400 menThe men-The accommodation of troops is none cf the bet and some difficulty is attached at-tached to ootaining the necessary supplies sup-plies iut soldiers make light of these things and everybody soon makes himself at home for the time being The first couple of days are spent in drill and also in instructions as to instructons gun orl the ri pelting of torpedo boat attacks I The interesting part from an outsiders I point of view begins with the supposed declaration of war The programme of t operations this year included attempts opertons on of a fleet of torpedo destroyer de-stroyer and auxiliary vessels to surprise sur-prise the forts and run past them prise Hostilities began on the third night Hostuties and accordingly officers and men were al on the alert Reliefs were told off to and lookout squad a nan the guns hJkout squa na ccrsisting cf an officer and a few men vias posted on the top of each fort to th garrisons of tne approach of i am garisons any a suspiciouslooking craft About 7 in detach the evening the royal engineer ment began to put in their fine work and swept the whole river with the Eowerfuj electric searchlight belonging ru The hours were passing to Cliff for pasing Clf and toward 9 oclock one of the lookout officers thought he could discern dis-cern a torpedo destroyer coming up the river cer at 3 great paca he gave the for alarm and everybody was prepared action when suddenly one of those heavy dense impenetrable mists for which the Thames is famous fell over the river and promptly obscured everything every-thing The gunners were intensely ttsappointtd a of course nothing of the euld prevent the success hemys attempt unless the fog should fortunately prove too dense to allow the torpedo boat to proceed and risk 1 the encountering of submarine mines I and the danger of running ashore So F the event proved and In the morning vheii the fog lifted i was seen that no attemot to run past the forts had been made However at daybreak the fleet was sighted coming up the river and immediately imme-diately a heavy fire was opened on the beats from all the guns available The unanimous verdict was that no fleet of unarmorcd vessels such a those making mak-ing the attack could have survived the hal of shot and shell which was poured pour-ed n upon them After the failure of the first attempt no further attack was made until nightfall again though in consequence of the difficulty of distinguishing friends from foes several false alarms fiends aarms were made in the course of the day Operations were continued during that night and the succeeding two days and nights with the general result that the guns were masters of the situation I THE BRENNAN TORPEDO Toward the end of the week during which the operations lasted a trial was I made of the Brennan torpedo which is the exclusive property of the British r OF d government and a most valuable addition addi-tion to coast defense The continued success of its trials has convinced everyone every-one who has seen it in operation of the value of the weapon in harbors and narrow waterways in time of war The secret of its mechanism is most jealously jeal-ously guarded even the officers who manipulate it know very little of the principle on which the torpedos action depends and are bound not to reveal anything they do discover The popular I theory is that the torpedo works on the I principle of a reel of thread which rolls away from a person who pulls the loose I end of the thread Be that a i may it is certain that the torpedo can be directed di-rected from the shore and with an expert ex-pert at the helm the striking and blowing up of a ship on every run is a practical certainty the little engine of war doubling in and out and lashing lash-ing hither and thither at a speed of nearly 10 knots an hour and acting within a large radius The result of the defense of London Lon-don maneuvers shows that no hostile fleet could ever hope to force or even obtain by stratagem a passage beyond the defending batteries but in comparing com-paring the defenses of that city with those of New York it is advisable to consider that the waterway of this harbor is much more difficult to defend de-fend a the enormous area and open situation is greatly to the advantage of a powerful fleet of battleships which would make their attack at a great distance dis-tance The lilliputian maneuvers of London would have to be conducted here on a urobdignagian scale v L rf 2 ia 11T i J 2i i S t I rL Pti f 3 k 4Ja I v SS 1 k i V SSL yv j f I I s J RUNG THE GAIT OF T E THOMAS TOUTS |