Monitors formed one part of the Dover Patrol's coastal force. The patrol also included an old battleship, light cruisers, torpedo gunboats, destroyers, trawlers, minesweepers, drifters, submarines, aircraft carriers, and airships. The inventory places the bombardment ships within a broader patrol that combined surface combatants, auxiliaries, submarines, and aviation. It also explains how awkward specialist ships could contribute to the campaign off the Belgian coast as part of a mixed force.
Notable Point · 19:48-20:23
The Dover Patrol combines monitors with a diverse coastal force
A compact inventory shows that coastal bombardment depended on a system of battleships, monitors, destroyers, minesweepers, submarines, aircraft, and auxiliary craft.