Battle - 1720 - October 24 - A Night to Remember, Round 2: Drawing the Line at Puerto Cabezas

Ships in Action:
ALLIES:

Virgil Kyle - HMS Striker ('Conquistador' Sleek Frigate)

-23 other ships, namely a couple of second rates, a few thirds, with the rest consisting of heavy frigates

ENEMIES:

-Heavy French group of 24 ships, largely mirroring our force's composition and strength.

Action Setup:
Well, after sinking and dropping out of the then-still-ongoing battle for Carlos Harbor, I quickly realized that there was a battle to defend Puerto Cabezas rapidly approaching. Realizing that there was a chance I may be called upon to fight in this battle as well, I quickly transferred to the HMS Striker, which was docked in Port Royale. I quickly went about preparing her, and, as I suspected, I soon got an invitation to the battle. I accepted, and quickly made my way to the ready room.

Upon entering the read room, I experienced the usual flurry of activity that takes place before a major showdown such as this would prove to be. Things stayed hectic and confused for a bit too long for my tastes, but everything was organized by the time we had to leave. We left the battle room, and quickly went about maneuvering into position as we entered battle.

The Action Itself:
Being as how I was arguably sailing the fastest and most maneuverable ship in our fleet of heavy warships, Tikkas put me in his group of semi-fast sailing vessels, Red Group, and designated me the battle's scout. I was ordered to scout to the south of our fleet, as indicated in the first diagram below, and watch for a potential enemy approach to our south as the rest of our fleet took their positions, indicated in red. It didn't take long for the French to show their faces, and as the second diagram shows, I hoofed it back to the end of my groups line with the French in hot pursuit. Once the French, as well as our defense fleet, had assumed their holding positions, as indicated in the second diagram, a tense series of minutes ensued, as both sides sized up the other and formulated updated battle strategies.

As shown by the black 'X' on the diagram, the French finally attacked and broke through the center of Red Group's line from the south, as well as attacking from the west, I assume ( I was only paying attention to what was happening on the eastern end of the battle) What ensued was utter chaos, as our entire eastern line broke into smaller formations to deal with the Frenchmen suddenly in our midst. I started firing at any target I could bring my guns to bear on, and our group sunk multiple vessels. The battle soon started to shift west, as the French mass tried to push towards the port, I assume. It was at this moment I spotted a lone second-rate way off to the east of the main fight, with a frigate group fast approaching to kill it. I realized that in the fracas she had become heavily dismantled and isolated from the rest of our forces, and would soon fall if nothing was done. I came about, and made full sail for the crippled vessel, intent on protecting her as best I could. As I approached, the French frigate group started to wrap around the big ship's stern. I immediately sailed between her stern and the frigates, and I bought her a precious minute or so of time, as the frigates were forced to focus on the second rate's side, as well as my ship, in order to do any damage. However, with their combined fire they managed to punch through the second rate's broadside armor, and she went down, with my ship falling very soon after.

I listened in to the rest of the battle from the docks of Puerto Cabezas, and was initially utterly lost as to how things were unfolding. However, the confusion began to clear, and after a while a clear victor began to emerge from the confusion...

The Result:
Victory! As the surviving captains began to come into port, we tallied our loses. Starting with full groups of 24 captains on both sides, only 14 of our brave boys had come home. Among those lost were two second rates, including the one which had become separated from our fleet. However, their losses were substantially greater: 18 sunk, including many of their colossals. The 6 French captains who survived did so by fleeing with an urgency and haste known only to Frenchmen, I believe. There was no question about it: We had won!

Unbelievable. Indescribable. Amazing! We had just won two hard-fought port battles in as many hours! In two hours time, we had furthermor humbled not just one enemy, but TWO! Truly, what a great day to be an Englishman!

Lessons Learned:
What can I say? The French executed a remarkable attack, and it was only by being similarly prepared and led that we managed to carry the day. This is one battle where it seems serendipity played a major role. If we take anything from this battle, it's that we can unfortunately expect many attacks of this nature from the French in the near future. The days when we could walk all over the French are over. We're going to have to start earning our victories, through sweat and blood. The road ahead will be rocky, but we'll make it through. Keep the faith, my friends!

I also want to say, what a way to end a map! It was a true joy to participate in the actions of the 24th of October. It's a night I'll never forget!

And finally, remember my fair captains, 'twas for England we won this map!

To England, and St. George! Huzzah!

Battle Progression
The following are a series of diagrams meant to help illustrate the battle described above. Please refer to it when reading about the action itself.

This first picture is an overview of the battle map. As you can see, it's on the Stingray-shaped map. The green block is our fort, I believe.



The second diagram shows the initial deployment of our forces before engagement and battle. Please note that the thin lines denote fleet movements, while the thicker lines and dots represent the eventual positions of the ships themselves.



The third picture details the French fleet movements (as best I can discern), as well as the initial moments of the attack. Again, the black 'X' denotes where the southern French force breached our line. The blue-circled question mark to the west denotes the assumed general attack route of the western French force. Again, I was not paying attention to this arena, hence the dirth of information about it.



This final diagram shows my actions for the last 5 minutes or so up until I was sunk. The white 'X' denotes my position when sunk. The second rate I was protecting pretty much sank at the location indicated, as she had very few sails left by the time I arrived to help her.