Battle - 1721 - January 12 - The Dust-Up at Santo Domingo

Ships in Action:
ALLIES:

 Captain Virgil Kyle - HMS Pellinore ('Valiant' Third Rate)

-13 other British ships, split up between two groups of colossals and fourth rates, and one group of the remaining two frigates.

ENEMIES:

-French fleet of 21 ships, all heavy frigates.

Action Setup:
Upon arriving in the battle's ready room, everybody diligently went about the normal business of forming up into groups and preparing for battle. We immediately were rather alarmed by the low number of friendly captains who reported for battle, and thus we decided that, if the enemy had brought a substantially more numerous force, that we would sail for our fort and wait for the enemy there, and hope they obliged us by entering. This decided, we went into battle, with hearts and minds steeled to the task ahead.

The Action Itself:
Upon entering the battle, we were quite dismayed to see that the French ships indeed exceeded our number by a goodly margin, although not necessarily our firepower, as all 21 French captains were sailing heavy frigates. Still, we decided the risk to our 6 first-rates would be too great, and decided to run for the fort, as originally planned. We proceeded to wait in the fortress for a French attack which never came. As our port was about to open to enemy attack, a few of us (me included) pushed for a bold strategy - let a volunteer in a relatively disposable ship leave the fortress and check for enemy activity immediately surrounding the fortress. If the cost proved clear, we could all jump out of the fortress, and take the enemy by surprise! Chivas Maxxven (hereto forth known as 'Chivas the Brave', per our agreement), took the role of sacrificial la- er, advance scout, and soon reported the French all bunched up near the port proper, with no one guarding the entrance to the fortress. We seized upon this opportunity, and sailed out to meet the enemy!

The Result:
...Unfortunately, this did not result in a tactical victory for us, and the port soon fell to the French land forces already fighting on the ground in the port. However, we did make them pay for their victory, inflicting four losses to our two in the fight that followed our exodus from the fort, despite the sizeable odds arrayed against us. I personally believe we could have defeated the French force, had we not lost the port itself.

Oh well - that'll be our goal for the next time around!

Lessons Learned:
This battle, in my mind, confirmed the importance of factoring in battle strategy (and firepower) into the odds of success in a port battle, be it offensive or defensive. Although we were outnumbered, we were not outgunned, and our surprise exit from the fort helped even the odds, and contributed to our success in the sea engagement. I don't fault the logic of protecting our colossals by taking cover in the fortress right off the bat, but looking back, I do rather wish we hadn't. Perhaps this is an indication that we should be bolder with our port battle tactics in the future? I don't know; I leave that for the reader to decide...

Visuals
The following are pictures from the late port battle. Enjoy :)