While Fulton was working under Livingston’s direction, the British Government was not unmindful of what he had done in the matter of submarine experiments. They had a secret service at work in enemy lands as other governments have done before and since. In England there were some men in authority who appreciated the possibilities lying dormant in the scheme of under-water attack.
In the British naval archives there has recently been found the following letter with its enclosure, recording the information possessed by the government and sent confidentially to the naval commanders that they might be on their guard against attack, if, perchance, any of Fulton’s boats should have been made secretly and unknown to the British navy. The British authorities did not deceive themselves, nor were they oblivious of the latent merits and actual accomplishments of Fulton’s design.
SECRET
CIRCULAR
Adml. Lord Keith
Sheerness.
Admiral Montagu /20th/
Portsmouth.
Rear Adml. Montagu
Downs.