Battle -1722 - March 24 - Defense of West End

Ships in Action:
British Fleet

SGS Captains

Captain Jack Naseby - '''HMS Lenox

Captain Shaun Jervis - '''HMS Fearless

Captain Sir J. R. Lapenotiere

Captain Alexander Lias

Captain David Cole

17 other British ships.

French Fleet

19 French ships, 2 1st-rates, some 3rds, and a mix of Macedons, Mont Blancs, and Hercules Mastercraft Frigates

Action Setup:
The British fleet formed near the fort defense gun with a line facing southwards on a strong defensive position.

The Action Itself:
The skirmish group, Red Squadron, took out two French frigates attempting to sail into the gap between our line and the southern coast on their way to destroying the town defense gun. After this the French fleet closed range and a line gunner duel ensued. Though close to losing two ships of our own, our line held, while the French suffered yet another loss. At this point, Blue Squadron was ordered to the rear as the French fleet had formed in a manner to threaten our rear. However, they advanced forward, aiming for the van of our now shortened line. The British fleet began moving forward. The fleets engaged at close range, one of our fourth rates was focused upon but was able to pull away before suffering critical damage. Red Squadron had by now pulled up to the left of the van and started blocking the French fleet, forcing them onto a lee shore or have their T crossed. At this point HMS Lenox sunk a French 3rd-rate and was then the target of a focused barrage from six enemy ships. She was forced to fall away and repair. French ships were sinking fast as they were now cornered ever closer to the south eastern shore. Having rejoined the fight HMS Lenox sent a French Hercules Mastercraft to the depth. Soon after the last French warship was sunk. One Frenchman having fled the battle. White Squadron was responsible for six of eighteen enemy vessels sunk in the action.

The Result:
A resounding victory for the British fleet.

Totals: No British vessels sunk or captured, 18 French vessels sunk or captured, one fled. Major British victory.

Lessons Learned:
Planing and execution were very good. This is a defensive position I tried suggesting back on Roberts, during the dark days, but was not really received. I believe white had issues with coordination and communication. For one, despite being the majority of the group, we ceded leadership to an unknown. The senior officer should take lead, if he is not comfortable with that, then pass it to one of our members within the group. The lack of communications from this group leader was a problem and lead to a lot of confusion. Please make sure you acknowledge commands in battle, either by the admiral or the group commodore in the future, a simple kk, rgr, 10/4 or whatever you prefer in the group chat works wonders. All in all, when the guns went off, we did good. There's room for improvement however. Please do not take my remarks are reproachful or reprimanding, but as objective criticism of what we need to, and can, improve so we are better prepared next time. To top it off, our gunnery was superb, 1/3 of the kills from our group.