Battle - 1721 - Nov - 14 - Battle - of - Portobello

Report by Captain Sir Roderick Morrow describing our successful taking of Portobello from the Spanish.

Ships in Action:
ALLIES:

 Commodore the Lord Joseph Fletcher - Macdon Hunter Fourth Rate- Black Group

 Captain the Lord Seth Seaborn - Macedon Hunter Fourth Rate- Black Group

 Captain the Lord Robert Middlemore - Macedon Hunter Fourth Rate- Black Group

 Captain Sir Roderick Morrow - Macedon Hunter Fourth Rate- Black Group

 Captain Paul Melhuish - Macedon Hunter Fourth Rate- Black Group

Captain Darius Bush - Macedon Hunter Fourth Rate- Black Group

And 18 other british ships consisting of: Mainly Frigates such as Heavy Hercs, HMCs and more Macedons

ENEMIES:

-Spanish fleet of 11 vessels consisting of:

mainly medium to heavy frigates such as Trinidads, Capi MCs, Heavy Hercs, a few HMCs

Action Setup:
We all entered the Ready Room where Lord Fletcher was quick to get all 6 SGS members into a group. It was decided that our groupd would fly black sails. The map was one of the new ones, I want to say Wild Keys but I think that is an old one. Teh leader was Wildfire who had us all go out the center door.

The Action Itself:
Everyone went out at the same time and in a blob moved towards the Spanish as they were spotted immediately to the north. SGS formed a nice line with our black sails and soon formed part of a double line blocking one of the many little channels that this map has. Nothing happened but some small exchange of fire from our advanced scout. The Dons had two ships that were separate from the rest of their force and since they were so small, they could not charge us or fight us so a standoff ensued.

Eventually Wildfire and five other Captains went off to take the town in Av Com but unfortunately were defeated and all six were lost as no one from the main fleet could get to them in time. At this point Bennett took over command of the rest of our forces. The Dons got closer and we tried a charge at them but they were too fast for the fleet and a chase ensued that was soon broken off as it would have resulted in us simply letting them all get into port while we were still outside. Instead we turned the opposite direction and beat them to the port but we did not go in.

Instead a line was formed about 700 yards to the east of the entrance with our ships bow to stern, bow towards the land, facing south and all the way back to the little island with the fort. Bennet eventually went in with a few other Captains but upon hearing that the Dons were coming around the island to make a run at the port and for our sterns, they all exited and chased them away. We all turned to chase and the Spanish used that opportunity to charge again from the east side of the island and though we got back into some positioning in front of the Defender Entrance, all of them got in so that when we all entered the port, it was 18 to 10, Brits at this point.

We moved forward slowly killing a few NPCs and a couple of Dons here and there and eventually won by killing the Port Commander. No ships were lost and it was fairly uneventful though losing Wildfire and his group in the town did add some stress to the fight.

The Result:
We won the port in Av Com, no ship losses on either side.

Special Remarks:
First Port Battle for both Captain Bush and Captain Melhuish. They did well and thoguh there was no fighting of ship to ship, they did get to see how the Av Com works in the PBs and that is important because quite a few do come down to Av Com rather than sinking all the enemy.

Lessons Learned:
No real lessons learned this time, however, will again stress the importance of listening to the leasder especially when in Av Com. If he asks you to not move past a certain point then don't do it!

Misc.
Some shots to come later.