Norfolk day book. [volume] (Norfolk and Portsmouth Va.) 1868-1880, 1869-09-06
The Nayal Defenses of Great Britain
How Rowan IaIi American Eneiny Could
ODerate.s gng1 h ,. ,!'3l II l37t.- rs
4 oI letter from London, dated August
"a contains the following:

is, contains the foiloWinS'
Let. ia of or 4 4 moment imagine that, IN
tbesaepert of a war with hnglano,
AnistIca were to dispatch a large fleet
of iruonn--clads to Ireland. AS q mayer
Of course, our whole )iron-clad meet
woiild ID moved to the westward tor
The nnrnose of defending the coast OF
that island. In the meantime a por-'
tion of the American feet, consisting OF
a couple or SO Of large iron-clads and as
many gun boats and monitors as had
been Drought across the Atlantic, would
come, aas5 u lp tie English Channel, destroy
Portsmouth, and then pass on to the
eastward. | maintain that in twenty
tour houfss frcrs leaving Portsmouth,
T,eBlon weuld be at the mercy OF the
invaders. There is nothing whatever
to hinder or prevent bold men from
carrying out this plan. From Ports,
mouth all the way round to Ramsgate
and Margate, with the single exception
of Dover, the, defenses Of the coast are
such as would not turn back baby
that had any pluck. At Dover the
guns Of the fort can be avoided. At
Sheerness we have a dockyard and a
few imen-of-war, but no IRON clads.
From Sheerness right away to London
Bridge there is, nothing but forests Of
niasts, belonging TO merchantmen IN
dock, to be. seen right and light and
leftaof the river, inviting destruction, as
it were. from any hostile vessels that
got SO far into the bowels of the land. |
am quite sure. that half a dozen gun
boats could i'll one morning utterly
deslroy many millions of dollars worth,
oflshipping on their way from Wool-
wich ,lpH to London. And, as | said
before there are no defenses that could
really prevent even single gunboat
from making its way. up the Thames,
and. destroying in a few hours half the
shipping and three-fourths of the most
costly merchandise in England; for you
must remember that nearly all our
warehouses are built close to the river,
and in them are stored away millions
upon million worth of goods from
every part of the known world. tltI
England has never since she was a
nation contemplated such war as now
hangs over her head in connection with
the Alabama question. During the
long war we had with France our ene-
my had no navy that could be compared
to ours. Moreover, he was depending
entirely upon the winds of Heaven-or,
indeed, we all were-before he could
move his ships about or as he wanted
them. But now it is entirely different.
Steam has not only bridged over the
channel, it has also bridged over the
Atlantic. And remember that steam
helps an invader far more than it does
a defender. Iii the days of sailing
ships aninvader of the Thames might
have, q fair wind to start with, but be
ina terrible fix for coming back. Unless
fortune so far favored him that when
there was change of wind it should
take place exactly at the right moment
be would in all probability fall into the
hands of his enemy long before he could
return. But with steam it is far other.
wise. The same power that brings an
invader up the Thames could take him
down again. Il And remember that not
only could fleet of gunboats penetrate
to London Bridge at all hours Of the
tide, but that In doing so these vessels
could burn and destroy far more pro-
perty than the Alabama ever did.
~ The moral Of my story so far is this ;:
Whatever..faults Englishmen have,
want of Rehabilitation is not one of them.
When they hear ola fleet Of American
iron-clads being off the coast of Ireland,
then they learn that in every Irish port
on the west coast there are men of ours
mbarking- men who will frater-
nize with their Irish fellow-countrymen.
When they know that the English
feet has gone to protect Ireland and
that gunboats have found their way
up the. Thames, in such different cases,
l say, will not tho Alabama bill be paid
down to the very last cent ? I believe
indeed, ! am certain-that it will,
! and that it will be your fault-that is,
ethefau of your diplomatists-if it is
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