Sea Fencibles

The Sea Fencibles were a British military reserve force raised in 1798 during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Comprising naval fencible units, the force was created to carry out coastal defence duties and obstruct enemy shipping. The Sea Fencibles were created on the initiative of Captain Sir Home Popham of the Royal Navy, who developed the concept while serving in the Flanders campaign; in 1793 Popham had organised local fishermen in Nieuwpoort into an ad hoc naval militia to attack French ships along the coast. In 1798, he suggested to the Admiralty that a similar force be raised in Britain to defend against a planned French invasion, which was approved.

Recruitment efforts for the Sea Fencibles were very successful, with 23,500 men volunteering for the force in its first four years of existence, many of whom were attempting to protect themselves from impressment. The Sea Fencibles were assigned a variety of duties, including manning defensive fortifications along the British coast, patrolling and surveying beaches were French invasion forces could land and manning a fleet of armed merchant vessels tasked with attacking enemy ships, including invasion barges. The force was divided into 36 companies, with each company responsible for patrolling and defending a section of the British coast. The Sea Fencibles were fully disbanded by the Admiralty in 1810 as the threat of French invasion faded.