Action - 1720 - December 9th - Ambushed by PARTY TIME off Jamaica

On December 9th, Captain Lewis McLain was ambushed by two pirates including the notorious Party Time while attempting to run through an area of known pirate activity off Jamaica.

Ships in Action
British Captains:

Captain Lewis McLain - HMS Hunter (Athena-class 28-gun pursuit frigate)

Pirate Captains:

PARTY TIME - Captured Mercy-class 46-gun naval frigate level 30 cutthroat - La Diligent Tartane

Action Setup
Intending to join Captain Virgil Kyle to look for action off Matthew Town, I decided to push through the redzone encompassing the Windward Passage and see if there was anyone lurking there. I expected my OS speed would keep me out of trouble. I was not surprised to see Party Time and a couple of his peons lurking the Passage between Jamaica and Irish Point. I was surprised, however, when one of those peons popped up only 20 miles away in a perfect position to intercept me.

The Action Itself
The stealth-rigged La Diligent that hit me made no attempt to maneuver. It was only there to initiate the battle - PARTY TIME was close enough to get in before the battle locked. Party Time had a stolen Mercy that was clearly rigged for speed. I had no interest in taking him on with twenty fewer guns so I angled the Hunter on an escape vector and ran like the dickens. Party Time used dump guns to get in range with his 18lbers and hit me with Cut Shroud to slow me down. I countered with Disable Rigging and continued running. I started to pull away but he continued dumping guns, repairing his guns, and dumping more guns to keep me in range. He hit me with another speed debuff - Deter Pursuit - just as my Speed Increase wore off at that left me with no chance for escape. I steeled myself for boarding combat.

Party Time closed, turning occasionally to work my sails. I maintained course, firing with only my stern chasers, hoping he'd make an effort to pass me. As he closed I loaded my broadsides with Canister and popped a Three Sheets Special to repair my sails and bring my crew to full strength. I also used my surgical kit to further bolster my crew. As he closed within fifty yards I made a sharp turn to port and put by broadside square on his bow. I fired with Decimate and attempted a grapple. Unfortunately the 60-something-% chance to grapple failed. Party Time used his size and momentum to bat me aside, and then poured Canister into me with his own Decimate skill, and then immediately boarded me.

I lagged at the outset of the boarding action and lost most of my crew before I could respond. I called reinforcements and made a solid effort to repel boarders. However, between his superior AvCom equipment, crew strength, crew level, and clearly no lack of his own talent, he overcame me and my crew.

Result
I'd like to consider myself to be a talented AvCom fighter, particularly in boarding combat. I think I gave Party Time a decent fight on the deck of my ship - I started out disadvantaged by one waves of reinforcements which quickly became a two-wave spread because of loading lag. When the fight ended, Party Time had just called his last wave to make sure he finished me off.

One more durability point of my Athena - oh well. Plenty more where that came from.

Lessons Learned
I must give Party Time credit where due - he is one of the best Dirty Fighters I've ever come across. I look forward to rematching him after I've collected some Fortaleza items for myself.

A speed-rigged Mercy in the hands of a Cutthroat can catch a Naval Officer in a speed-rigged Athena or Minerva.

Beware of stealthy failboats!