Battle - 1722 - June 05 - Defending West End

Ships in Action:
British Fleet

Captain Sir Nathan Blatchford, 1st Bart. - HMS Dreadnought, Macedon-class 4th-rate

Captain Sir Paul Melhuish - HMS Hammerhead, Macedon-class 4th-rate

Captain James Sullivan Esquire - HMS St. Albans, Macedon-class 4th-rate

Commodore Oliver Awter - HMS Charity, Macedon-class 4th-rate

Captain John Allday - HMS Achates, Macedon-class 4th-rate

19 other British ships, consisting mostly of 4th-rates and heavy frigates.

Pirate Fleet

24 pirate ships, mostly heavy frigates with some lineships.

Action Setup:
The battle took place on the Wild Keys map, Britain was defending.

The word on the docks had been the same for days: Sensitive correspondence from a known pirate leader had been found on a pirate vessel captured by British privateers only days ago, and rumours of an impending massed pirate raid on West End had spread even to Port Royal. I was therefore not surpised when I heard that a fleet was being organized by Admiral Mud, or when I later recieved my orders to ready the Dreadnought and proceed without the loss of a minute to the rendezvous off Freeport Habour.

As I arrived I was pleased to see the personal ensign of Sir Paul fluttering from the Hammerhead, and straining my glass at the 4th-rate beyond her I instantly recognized the Sullivan Arms. In all five captains of the St. George Squadron had reached the gathering point in time, forming the White Group under the leadership of Commodore Awter of the Charity.

The Action Itself:
We had a strong breeze from the ENE as we entered the cattered landmasses enveloping the town of West End, the drums echoing off the cliffs as we beat to quarters. We started forming up the Fleet between the largest island to our W and the crude ring of smaller islands enveloping it, heading NW to round the northern side of said island. We were now on two lines ahead, White taking up the van of the larboard line ahead of Black, with Blue and Green forming up the starboard line. As we slowly glided past the centre island's western slopes, my signal midshipman raised his voice from the poopdeck. "The Achates is signaling the Commodore, sir! Enemy fleet of equal force spotted SSE!". Rounding the point of a small inlet now fine on the larboard beam, the ragged lines of the pirate fleet came into view, revealing a strong fleet of captured 4th-rates and heavy frigates.

"On deck! On deck, there! The nearest enemy ships are turning towards us in unison, sir!", the cries of Midshipman Peterson were quickly followed by similar cries from the masts of nearby ships, and signals were furiously hoisted aboard the flagships. "Course SSE, sir. Engage enemy more closely." Looking at the bows of the charging pirates, I nodded aknowledgment to my signal midhsipman and turned towards my First Lieutenant. "Make it so, Mr. Bradshaw, and treble-shot the larboard batteries, I believe we shall have close-in work on our hands shortly." Nearer and neared they came, cracking on NW straight towards the Fleet still heading SE. The first muffled thunder of gunfire reached the quarterdeck of the Dreanought as the foremost ships of the Fleet turned SW, bringing their broadsides to bear. "Ah, their charge has been diverted it seems.", Lieutenant Bradshaw remarked as the gunsmoke reached us, blinding us momentarily, "surely the enemy must head SW now aswell, sir? I can not for the love of me see the pirates managing to continue on their present tack without hit-" A loud growling of strained wood and the loud crack of splintering timbers reached us just as the masts of the foremost pirate and British ships could be seen to jolt violently through the smoke. "Hard a-starboard!" I roared as St. Alban's stern came racing towards us, Captain Sullivan having lost all headway and been pushed off course by a pirate frigate ahead him. My bowsprit narrowly missed the Alban's flagstaff, and ordering the Master to place the Dreadnought so that her larboard battery could be brought to bear, I looked behind me as the boom of vicious gunfire reached us. Behind us the main bulk of the pirate fleet could be seen forcing their way through our two rearmost groups, firing both broadsides and effectively splitting the Fleet in half. Panicked shouts could be heard coming from the forecastle, followed by a loud groan as a British ship scraped across the bow, bringing with it the tip of the Dreadnought's bowsprit and splitting the spritsail. Some ships of Blue, having been dreadfully tossed about by the pirate charge, were now pushing their way through White in order to reform on our starboard side, and with British ships coming up on our larboard side, my guncrews were hard pressed getting their guns to bear.

The rats that had charged the southern part of our Fleet had pierced too deep into our lines however, and finding themselves surrounded by British ships some opted to abandond their comrades and head either N to join the chaos surrounding the van of the British Fleet, or S to reform. The deadly close-range gunfire of British ships dictated the fate of those who had chosen to remain, mercilessly sinking them as they were forced into the landmass to the W. The rear of our Fleet had now managed to disengage from the rats that had charged them, and were now heading S towards the Fleet's van in order to regroup, engaging and destroying the pirates they encountered on their way. To the N, the remaining ships in the group of pirates that had charged the rear of the Fleet repeatedly harried the regrouping British ships, but after recieving a series of bloody noses they promtly turned NW to reach the open sea, abandoning their attack. White and Blue had now reached the southern tip of a narrow landmass to the W of the centre island, sailing into the range of a group of pirates to the S. As Blue moved slightly NE to regroup, White managed to form a line ahead, with Charity at the van, followed by St. Albans, Dreadnought and Hammerhead, Achates taking up the rear.

"The northern part of the Fleet is going about again, sir.", Lieutenant Bradshaw remarked as he observed the scene aft, "Ah, there it is, General chase, seems the Admiral intends to run down the northern enemy force." A rumbling thunder turned our attention southwards, in time to see the Charity rock violently as the water around her erupted in white plumes, her hull taking the full force of three enemy broadsides. Ahead of us, six enemy frigates in a crude line SE to NW came into view two points of the larboard bow, and presently fresh enemy volleys sang across the water towards the tip of our line. "Lay me alongside the Charity Mr. Cooper!" I shouted to my Master as I saw Commodore Awter disengaging to the NW, positioning himself so that our line, now heading W, could pass him and shield him with our ships. "Sir! One point of the larboard beam! Enemy frigate charging towards our line!" my First pointed at a clearly russian-made 5th-rate racing towards us, its bow-wave already significant. "Give him a proper thumping, Mr. Bradshaw, if you please." I promtly commanded, and presently the cries of the midshipmen as they repeated firing orders to their divisions. The Dreadnought's larboard side erupted in white smoke pierced by orange flames, quickly followed by the broadsides of the other ships of the Squadron. The pirate ship staggered as if hit by an invisible wall, its foremast groaning as it went by the board and the bow racing towards the water as its momentum hopelessly filled the ship with water. "Let us give them one more for good measure, lads!" I shouted across the decks, raising a cheer amongst the topdeck guncrews. Looking over the starboard rail I looked right onto the quarterdeck of the Charity, her officers looking aloft, as Commodore Awter perched there at the maintop and shouting down orders and directions to his signalman. As I passed the Charity, Captain Sullivan positioned St. Albans and the rest of White behind the Dreadnought, and so we turned, per the Commodore's signals, directly S in order to close with and destroy the remaining five enemy frigates, now in a line E to W. Through the crash of gunfire coming from the nearby ships, one could make out distant thunder in the N as Black, Green and Blue overtook, engaged and sank the northern pirate group. The enemy ships now quickly hoisted signals unknown to us, and with little warning they turned to charge us. The centre of their charge was the already damaged Charity, and forcing their way past our line they proceeded to furiously fire upon the Charity, ignoring the precise broadsides of both the Hammerhead and the Achates. "Heavens!" Lieutenant Bradshaw exlaimed as the Charity's mizzen went over the side, bringing with it the main topgallant, burying the quarterdeck in ropes, canvas and parted spars. From the forecastle one could see raging, black smoke gushing forward, the Charity's crew doing their outmost to squelch the unseen flames as enemy roundshot showered their ship again and again. "The Commodore is dreadfully low in the water already," I remarked as I saw the lower gunpoints of the Charity being closed by her guncrews, the waterline threatening to flood her lower decks, "this can in no way end well." As I uttered the words, Captain Allday proved me wrong by swiftly positioning the Achates between the relentless fire of the two pirates behind the Charity. Maneuvering the Hammerhead so that her guns could bear upon the pirate's exposed bow, Captain Melhuish swiftly fired a volley, the roundshot mercilessly clearing the decks and shattering its timbers. Recieving a fresh broadside at almost point-blank range to its already ruined hull, the pirates could do nothing but scramble for the boats as their ship sank, and wounded but still floating, the Charity managed to disengage NE and start emergency repairs. The Dreadnought had been firing steadily on the pirates that had passed through our line and had reformed to the SW, but seeing their fellows mercilessly sunk and the rest of the British Fleet, now finished with the northern enemy force, cracking on in support of White, the remaining pirates immediately turned S and fled. Here followed a long chase where the rearmost pirate was nearly overtaken, but the pirate captains having great knowledge of the limits of their ship and crew, they managed to slip out to open water, abandoning the raid on West End.

The Result:
British victory.

The British lost 3 vessels, the pirates lost 20.

Lessons Learned:
Commodore Awter had the following points after the battle:

Negatives:


 * Group became split/disorganized after the initial clash.
 * Only decent focus-firing
 * No pre-battle practice/prep for recognizing orders

Positives:


 * Very quickly, we managed to regroup and dominate 7 rat skirmish ships against our 5 ships.
 * Group maintained a cool head during the last brawl.
 * Quick response to orders understood