Action - 1720 - September 1 - Action off Matthew Town

Ships in Action:
British - 6 frigates

Joseph Fletcher - Deliverance-class frigate

James Maddox - HMS Heroine - Raa-class heavy frigate

Eli Bateman - Minerva-class frigate

Jimmy Firth - Capricuix-class frigate

Sapphire Web - Mercy-class frigate

Miles Felkin - Hercules-class sleek frigate

Spanish - 4 frigates

Flynn Mordaigh (sp?) - ''Hercules-class heavy frigate

3 other captains, all 50's I believe. There was a plain Herc, I saw

Action Setup:
My Fellow Captains, it is with great pleasure that I report to you the success of a recent venture into the sea. Pairing with the inestimable Lord Joseph Fletcher, sporting his new Deliverance-class frigate, we entered the red zone surrounding Port-de-Paix with high hopes of spotting the enemy.

After a rather disappointing engagement with a patrol of level 65 pirates, we sat off the coast of Matthew Town looking at a rather empty sea. Lord Fletcher send a boat to inform me that he would soon leave, as he was expected at dinner in Port Royal with the Admiralty. I went to my cabin with orders to be roused should the enemy be spotted. I then went to sleep. Not more than two minutes went by until I was called back on deck. Two frenchmen were spotted in the distance, as well as a group of spanish. They rounded the isle and it became clear we were out-numbered, if not out-matched. They numbered 4 heavy frigates. However a fellow Brit was nearby. We grouped around him and one or two others. The spanish approached and we engaged.

The Action Itself:
The weather was extremely stormy, which reduced our visibility, and interfered in our ship-to-ship communication. Our hunting party was split, only three of us arriving at the battle, but the enemy was also split. Only two were present.

As it was a mixed group and there was no clear senior officer present, there was much confusion on our part about what to do, and we sat, monitoring the enemy, for some time, when I suggested we respectfully form a line behind Captain Fletcher. As we did, the Spanish maneuvered to cut across our sterns. Fletcher ordered us to come about and focus fire on the rear, plain Hercules.

I found the range on the Heroine to be lacking in comparison to the monstrous frigates in the water, and couldn't effectively fire on the enemy. I maneuvered closer. Suddenly two more Dons came over the horizon with a bone in their teeth, easily outnumbering us, but the battle was far from lost. Our own reinforcements came, making it a six on four situation, and considering our ships were stocked with the finest of Britain, it was really more like 18 vs 4.

Lord Fletcher sent up a signal for Heroine to follow, which we did, but it soon became apparent that the Spanish were either drunk or panicked. They simple sailed in a weak line, protecting their most crippled ship. One of our fellow captains became very impatient, and in the great Nelsonian tradition, simply ordered a charge.

The Dons started dropping into the sea, one by one. Lord Fletcher and I sailed to intercept Capitan Mordaigh's heavy Hercules. Unfortunately Fletcher took a stumble on his quarterdeck and became rather disconnected with reality for a spell, and Heroine could only mount enough speed to take a few potshots at the don, but he was being attacked from several ships, and he soon went to the bottom of the sea.

The Result:
The heavy storm and the smoke from the guns made it very difficult to tell this from that, but after combining our reports we concluded that Lord Fletcher got a kill shot, and I also.

Brits - No losses Dons - 4 heavy friages

British Victory!

Lessons Learned:
The lessons to take from this is that communication is very important. Some were on Vent, others weren't. There was no distinct leader, so things got muddled. Had we been facing a deadlier foe, I don't think it would have gone nearly so well. To that effect, though I tip my hat at the Spanish for coming out, as they are certainly scarce on the server, I couldn't say they were very skilled, but it isn't easy being split apart from the start, and being outnumbered, so I could be wrong.

On a personal note this was my first PVP action (at least where I wasn't blasted apart before I got off even a shot), and it was a lot of fun. But I know it would have been ten times better with my fellow SGS captains.

Though I'd very much like to PVP in a MC Raa, it was exhilarating fighting with all those heavy ships, and I pined for Confounder, my Gallant. I should certainly look into getting a PVP heavy frigate, and station it at Port Royal.