The artillery employed by the navy in the defense of the lower Piave and
of Venice may be divided into three groups: Floating batteries on
pontoons, batteries set up on the ground, and armed ships. Most of the
floating pontoons came from Monfalcone on the lower Isonzo and from the
marine defense of Grado. The crews working these guns had given
magnificent proof of their valor during all the battles of the Carso,
fighting in the open in almost impossible positions. The sailors
suffered great fatigue and difficulties during the retreat in
transporting these floating batteries along the waterways to their
present position in stormy weather; but still greater were the
sacrifices the naval gunners had to undergo in order to transform the
intricate canals and muddy ground into solid positions. This life in the
midst of swamps is a melancholy one. The officers and men working the
guns have to live and sleep inside the pontoons between the depots of
powder and projectiles. The tides and currents are continuously
displacing the floating batteries, and constant work, day and night, is
necessary to maintain the defense.
It is due to the Italian sailors to recognize that this gigantic work,
so rapidly undertaken, saved Venice and gave the army, its retreat
having been accomplished, a strong support on its right wing. They
helped to repel all the Hungarian attacks around Zenson. At the side of
these floating batteries the British monitors held the bridges which the
Austro-Hungarians were obstinately throwing across the new Piave under
the fire of their guns, and destroyed them with surprising accuracy.