Battle - 1720 - November 18 - Port Battle to Defend Santiago

Ships in Action:
ALLIES:

Virgil Kyle - HMS Judicator ('Dauntless' Class Frigate)

William Chase - HMS Albatross ('Mercy' Class Frigate)

-11 other British ships, consisting of one 'Prince' Class 1st Rate Ship of the Line, one 'Invincible' Class 1st Rate Ship of the Line, various other 4th Rates, a 'Mont Blanc' Class Indiamen, and assorted Heavy and Fast Frigates.

ENEMIES:

- 9-ship Pirate fleet consisting of one 'Abbadon's Will' Class Refit Galleon, assorted Frigates ranging from 'Hercules' Heavy Frigates down to one 'Postillionen' Class Frigate.

Action Setup:
Prior to the battle for Santiago, I was patrolling off the coast of the port in the HMS Albatross, accompanied by 3 other British Captains from another Squadron, we successfully engaged a number of Pirate squadrons in the area, from Smugglers to a full squadron of 12 assorted Heavy Frigates in an attempt to suppress the lawlessness which was then prevalent in those waters. Our Flotilla was notified of an imminent attack upon the Port of Santiago by an organized fleet of Pirates with an 'Abbadon' Class acting as their flagship. We quickly mustered additional forces to respond and repel the assault upon Santiago.

The Action Itself:
The coordination of the port's defense was handled primarily by Captains Mr. Dius Talon and Mr. Sean Brogsitter, although our own Mr. Virgil Kyle played a pivotal role as mediator and made his presence felt throughout the duration of the battle offering up tactical alternatives and situation reports as the battle developed. Our forces were organized into Green Squadron and Black Squadron, with Green comprising our Heavy/Fast Frigates, and Black being comprised primarily of our Line Ships. We initially found the enemy approaching from the South-West attempting to hug the coast while remaining out of range of our guns in order to take the wind gage from us. However we quickly formulated a response, Green Squadron had initially been ordered to form a line on the Southern Side of the main battle line formed by Black Squadron, traveling due West, however, this would have allowed the enemy to tack close haul into the harbor and with their superior speed take the wind gage from us. We instead placed Green Squadron on the West Side of the main Battle Line facing North West in a staggered column with the intent of bringing all guns to bear as soon as they presented themselves if they attempted to close haul into the port from that direction. However they reversed tactics once again and rounded the fort located on an island west by northwest from our position which guarded both inlets to the port. They continued on up to the second inlet due Northwest of our position, and prepared to bear straight down on the nose of our battle line. Once again our response was quick and decisive, we pushed a Sleek 'Hercules' Class Frigate along with a 'Dauntless' Class frigate to the front of Green Squadrons formation, both Captained by able Privateers, Captains Mrs. Lillith Bloodrock and Mr. Koff III, when the enemy closed to within initial broadside range Green went all sails full and attempted to execute a snaking turn in order to present first our right and then left broadside in an attempt to create as many casualties on the enemy side as possible before closing. One of the faster enemy Frigates, who's captain escapes me, as I was at that point caught up in the ferocity of the ensuing battle, managed to run West by South West out in front of our maneuver and jam us up. Here once again Captain Mr. Virgil Kyle was pivotal and decisive, quickly giving the order to keep full sails and push through the impasse, we followed orders and quickly took down 2 Heavy Frigates along with the 'Abbadon' Class Refit Galleon before our black squadron had even managed to bring their main batteries to bear. The remainder of the engagement was short and decisively one-sided, with their Flag Ship gone and their attempt to stop our initial maneuvers thwarted, they were quickly broken up and guided under the waiting guns of the main Battle Line, where they quickly fell one after another.

The Result:
Our Victory was complete and unconditional, we left no enemy ships afloat, and gave no quarter. We suffered no losses, and by all accounts handed the enemy a crushing and decisive defeat.

Lessons Learned:
This was my First Port Battle, and as a result I took quite a bit away from it with me. Our victory was complete, that is not to say it did not come perilously close to ending in disaster. I was somewhat taken aback by the effectiveness of the enemy Fast Frigate in his attempts to jam our initial maneuvers, had the rest of the enemy fleet been so well organized or zealous, they might surely have taken a few of us to the bottom with them when we were bottled up in that initial S turn. Had we begun our maneuver sooner, we may have prevented this, however we may have also prevented them an opportunity to tack upwind using us as cover, coupled with our Main Battle Lines poor maneuverability to flank and attempt to board. I am not well versed enough in Naval Tactics yet to say what the outcome might have been, however it was thoroughly educational. Also, I learned that decisiveness in such situations is paramount, as demonstrated by Captain Virgil Kyle of the HMS Judicator, who never faltered even during the most perilous point in the engagement.