Patrol - 1720 - October 8 - Anti-Piracy Patrol off of Turtling Bay

Ships in Action:
ALLIES:

Virgil Kyle - HMS Thorn ('Algiers' Refit Polacre)

Leo Davis - HMS Eagle ('Bermuda' Sloop)

ENEMIES:

-Various smugglers, pirates and ne'er-do-wells

Action Setup:
Prior to our patrol, I and the newly-commissioned patronage officer Leo Davis were preparing to undertake some sorties off of Orleans. However, it soon came to our attention that our forces around Turtling Bay were under assault, and the whole area was in full contention! Help was urgently requested, so as to avoid the inevitable port battle taking place. Captain Davis and I therefore sailed into the area, in order to help out in any way we could.

The Action Itself:
Upon entering the area, we quickly sought to help out by tackling enemy captains on the open sea, given that we were sailing light vessels that were primarily suited to do so. However, our arrival coincided with that of a heavy group sailed by captains of the Royal Secret Service, and this apparently was more than the local pirate captains wished to deal with. They quickly vacated the area, and the RSS commenced attacking large fleets of enemy ships. Being unable to assist in such heavy combat, Captain Davis and I quickly went about tackling smaller targets, mostly smugglers and the like. We did so for about an hour or two, and by the time the heavy group of RSS captains left the area, our combined efforts had brought the port out of full contention, and had greatly reduced the danger to our fellow captains sailing in the vicinity of Turtling Bay.

As an aside, I must remark that Captain Davis acquitted himself admirably throughout the patrol, and obeyed his orders to the letter. I look forward to his gaining full membership into our squadron in the future. We need more officers like him!

The Result:
Unfortunately, our patrol ended on a discouraging note, as more pirates soon entered the area, intent on causing more mischief. However, they would have their work cut out for them, being as how we and our RSS allies had brought the port's contention down by thousands of points!

Lessons Learned:
The lessons learned during this patrol were quite simple, really - any ship, no matter how small or out-gunned, can help out our war effort in the Caribbean. You just need to know where to look, and how to go about helping!