British Countermeasures
Though the fleet-test disaster made the idea of a mass invasion unrealistic, Britain continued to be on high alert with defences from invasion. With the flotilla and encampment at Boulogne visible from the south coast of England, Martello towers were built along the English coast to counter the invasion threat, and militias were raised. In the areas closest to France new fortifications were built and existing ones initiated against the 1779 invasion completed or improved – Dover Castle had underground tunnels added to garrison extra troops, the Dover Western Heights were constructed (with a Grand Shaft to deploy its troops from its hilltop site to sea level rapidly should a landing occur), and the Royal Military Canal cut to impede Napoleon's progress into England should he land on Romney Marsh. Unfounded rumours of a massive flat French invasion raft powered by windmills and paddle-wheels, a secretly-dug channel tunnel and an invasion fleet of balloons spread via the print media, as did caricatures ridiculing the prospect of invasion. A naval raid on Boulogne was also carried out in October 1804 and British fleets continued to blockade the French and Spanish fleets that would be needed to gain naval superiority long enough for a crossing.
Read more about this topic: Napoleon's Planned Invasion Of The United Kingdom
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