Battle - 1720 - December 13 - The (Attempted) Defense of Puerto Cabezas

Ships in Action:
ALLIES:

Virgil Kyle - HMS Vindicator ('Reason' Fourth Rate)

Bryan Cook - 'Valiant' Third Rate

-21 other British ships, about half of them colossals.

ENEMIES:

-French fleet of 24 vessels, consisting of almost entirely of colossals, with approximately 8 first-rates.

Action Setup:
Upon arriving in the battle's ready room, I found things in substantial disarray, as none of our nation's well-known port battle commanders had gotten their summons to appear. A fellow British captain stepped up and took command, and we managed to sort out our groups as the battle started.

The Action Itself:
Upon entering the battle, We struggled to get into line formation, and started discussing tactics. We decided to blockade the most likely attack route of the French into our harbor, and managed to sort out a passable double-line as the French approached. Unfortunately, their firepower still managed to outpace ours, and we lost a ship for every one of theirs that we sunk in the first pass of their line alongside ours. As they reach they end of our line, they looked as if they wished to break through the rear of our line, and thus we made sail, in order to pull alongside their line again. Unfortunately, they pummeled us as we made sail, and by the time we were on the move, they had sunk even more of our ships. The battle commander called a general retreat at this time, and we managed to get our heaviest ships away in the melee that followed. Unfortunately, we took further loses in the retreat, my own ship among them. The Vindy never was a very swift ship, I'm afraid. I managed to beach her before she sank, however, so watch out, France - the Vindicator shall return!

The Result:
As has already been aluded to, this battle ended in bitter defeat. The French now control Puerto Cabezas, and our metal production shall suffer dearly for our humiliation. Luckily, the losses we suffered in this battle were not catastrophic, although they were quite severe. We lost approximately 8-9 ships in the fracas, among them a first rate, two second rates, a third rate (Captain Cook's, unfortunately), a Mastercraft Hercules and 2 Couronnes of unknown designation, possibly Mastercrafts. The French suffered a second rate and two third rates lost.

All in all, not catastrophic, but heavy losses, to be sure. At least we managed to take out a few of them, although our losses still outpace theirs. You must take what you can from defeat, oui?

Lessons Learned:
The main thing to take from this battle is the obvious thing - The French are back. No more coddling, no more babying, no more excuses.

Now is the time for battle, my friends! Now is the time for WAR!!!