Page:The Next Naval War - Eardley-Wilmot - 1894.djvu/38



the various plans discussed by the great Council at Paris was the sudden attack by flotillas of torpedo boats at different points. Originally adopted as a weapon of coast defence and to keep off a blockading squadron, later developments of this craft had proved that within a radius of 100 miles they could assume the offensive—given sufficient hours of darkness to cover the distance, and they had every chance of making their appearance without warning. This view had led France to acquire a great number of these boats. In the north alone there were sixty capable of such service, and harbours of refuge had been arranged along the coast to which they could return if pressed in pursuit. These refuges were up small rivers or estuaries, of which the defence was their inaccessibility to larger craft. Their existence was well known in England, and a number of swift catchers had been built to watch these places and destroy the enemy's torpedo boats on coming in or going out of them. Only a few, however, were now ready.

Cherbourg, the headquarters of the northern flotilla, is 110 miles from Plymouth and 70 from Portsmouth. It was determined to despatch a squadron of ten boats to each of these ports and