Forward blockade required a larger navy

Forward blockade worked as a layered system: close-in frigates watched harbours while heavier squadrons constrained any sortie. Julian Corbett's reservations about the method reflected a later technological setting rather than the disappearance of forward blockade. By Corbett's era, submarines could assume parts of the close-watch role once performed by sailing frigates. William Pitt the Younger's expansion of naval resources made the Napoleonic system practical: fifth rates rose from 78 to 134, smaller vessels from 10 to 24, and sloops from 76 to 360, while ships of the line also increased. Pitt's appointment as Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, though largely honorary by then, also gave him standing to support coastal fortification and defence. A blockade depended on procurement, maintenance, surveillance and manpower as much as on admirals at sea.