Fire-ships.—These were ships filled with combustibles and explosives sent to drift among the shipping of the enemy. In the action off Gravelines, fire-ships were used with considerable moral effect against the remains of the Spanish Armada, and they materially assisted in breaking up the sea-power of the Spaniards. Seven vessels were charged with combustibles and primed with gunpowder. As they neared the Spanish ships their appearance created panic. The Spaniards, in order to avoid the danger of fire, cut their ships adrift, and serious damage was caused by the collisions which ensued.
In 1667, again, fire-ships were employed in the daring raid made by the Dutch in the Thames and Medway. This time they were used by the Dutch near the chain at Gillingham Reach.
Catamarans.—Another method of firing an enemy’s shipping was by means of a kind of raft charged with combustibles. The idea of the Catamaran, as regards both its name and construction, was borrowed from the coasts of India and Ceylon where a raft made of three long timbers lashed together, the middle timber being the longest, is used for fishing purpose. As adapted for destroying shipping the Catamaran may be described as a kind of floating mine. Catamarans were much favoured by Mr. Pitt, and in 1804 they were employed by the English against the French fleet, but they proved unsuccessful.
[THE COASTGUARD]
The coastguard force is of great antiquity, although it is not known at what period it was instituted. In 1403-4 (5 Henry IV, c. 3) it was enacted by statute
“That the Watch to be made upon the Sea Coast through the Realm shall be made by the Number of the People, in the Places, and in Manner and Form, as they were wont to be made in Times past and that in the same Case the Statute of Winchester[25] be observed and kept.”
There is every reason to believe that there was a properly organized coastguard force at a much earlier period, although precise information on the subject is not available. Certain manuscripts relating to the defence of the coast of Norfolk, however, indicate the existence of a coastguard in that county as, early as the thirteenth century.[26]
In more recent times the duties of the coastguards included the suppression of smuggling and the aiding of shipwrecked vessels. Another purpose was to serve as a reserve to the navy: but in earlier times the prevention and suppression of smuggling was the main work of the coastguards. Early in the nineteenth century a coast blockade was established on the coasts of Kent and Sussex, and detachments of men and boats were stationed at the Martello Towers on the sea-coast.