.
.
by Steve R. Dunn.
Hardback (6.4×9.4 inches). 352 pages. 2025.
Subtitle: The Royal Navy and the Defence of Britain’s Coast 1900-1918
What a fascinating examination of British coastal defenses prior to WWI, starting with a speedy recap through the ages and a survey of novels positing an invasion of Britain by a variety of foreign powers.
Quite interesting are post 1900 funding decisions between the Royal Navy and the Army. One premise is that a strong Navy would stop any invasion, so you only need a weak Army. The other premise is that the Navy can’t stop small raids or even a large invasion of 70,000, so you need a strong Army to repel the invaders.
The compromise was that enemy raids of 5,000 to 10,000 were an acceptable risk, but large invasions were not, so the majority of the funding went to the Navy. The Army would be minimal, but instead a voluntary militia force of 315,000, called Territorial Force, would be raised (p53). That number proved hard to raise via volunteers and conscription bills failed to pass even as late as 1913.
Still, WWI-era forts, coastal ships, and coastal batteries were proposed, approved, and built. They proved less than optimum at stopping a number of German Naval bombardments and air raids during the war, but the defenses expanded and tightened up as the war progressed.
A couple typos: missing periods (p225 and p237), but otherwise clean.
The book contains 110 black and white photos, 21 black and white illustrations, and three black and white maps.
I never thought much about coastal defense of Britain beyond the Navy that fought a few naval battles like Dogger Bank and Jutland and the odd shore bombardment. Yet there’s a whole layer of British defense behind the naval wall of ships and this book explains it well.
Enjoyed it.
— Reviewed by Russ Lockwood
