Sea Fencibles

The original Sea Fencibles were a naval militia established to provide a close-in line of defense to protect the United Kingdom from invasion by France during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Britain's defense rested on two lines: a blockade of French ports provided the first, forward line of defense, and the Sea Fencibles and Martello towers provided the second, coastal, line of defense. The Sea Fencibles lasted from 1798 to its disbandment in 1810, with a break of a few years after the Treaty of Amiens. Later, other countries, including the United States, copied the idea.