Battle - 1721 - April 30 - Assault on Maracaibo

Ships in Action:
British Fleet

Captain Darrell Berett - HMHV Berett's Glory, Heavy Hercules-class 5th-rate

Captain Viscount Seaborn - HMS Maverick, Capricieux Mastercraft-class 5th-rate

Captain Robert Middlemore - HMS Fearless, Mercy-class 5th-rate

Captain Nicholas Ventura - HMHV Odysseus, Heavy Hercules-class 5th-rate

Captain Nathan Blatchford - HMS Javelin, Capricieux Mastercraft-class 5th-rate

19 other British ships, consisting mostly of medium to heavy frigates, two 4th-rates and one Prince 1st-rate.

Spanish Fleet

24 Spanish ships, mostly heavy ships of the line with a few heavy frigates.

Action Setup:
The battle took place on the Stingray Island, Britain was attacking.

The Javelin having recieved no damage during the Battle of Nassau, and with her crew in high spirits, I was delighted to recieve orders to set course for the Spanish port of Maracaibo and join the attack under the command of Admiral Lord Tikky. When I arrived, it turned out that the only ships of line we had were two 4th-rates and one 1st-rate, the rest being 5th-rates. The Fleet was then organized into Red and Green as the heavy frigate groups, and White as the medium frigate group. The lineships and remaining frigates formed up as Black Group. I was assigned to White Group together with Viscount Seaborn, under the command of Commodore Lillian Harford.

The Action Itself:
The wind was blowing strong in the S, filling our sails from our starboard quarters as we formed up a line astern. The forward groups of Red and Green soon rounded the island on our larboard side, spotting the enemy fleet to the W. Seeing that the Spanish fleet had several 1st-rates, 2nd-rates and 3rd-rates, it was decided that the British 1st-rate was to decline the engagement and head for the nearest friendly port, while the rest of the Fleet (with their great advantage in manouverability) was to continue the attack. As the Fleet rounded the northern tip of the island to larboard, we had one smaller island to the N (the "Hammer") and one to the W (the "Potato"). The enemy rearmost ships, the few frigates they possessed, now headed NW between these two islands, the British cracking on after them. At the northernmost end of the gap between the Potato and the Hammer, the Spanish lineships had formed up in a blockading line, and the Admiral took with him Green and Red to round the W side of the Potato and engage the Spanish. Black and White was to hold position and observe any changes in the Spanish line.

As Red and Green reached the N side of the Potato, the Spanish frigates could be seen moving W to intercept them, and after the two groups opened fire on eachother, the Spanish lineships slipped their cables and headed W to join the fighting. As this happened, White and Black moved in to harass the stern of the enemy while the heavier British frigates in Red and Green was to deal damage to preselected Spaniards before heading W to repair and prepare for another attack. The Spanish, having in mind to decline us the destruction of the gun emplacements protecting the town, formed two lines, one to the E and one to the W of said gun emplacement. Here followed a long series of hit-and-run attacks on the western Spanish line, while Black and White manouvered to be a nuisance to the eastern line without causing any damage. During this time, an urgent emergency happened aboard HMHV Berett's Glory, and the ship was forced to disengage the battle (one of the Spanish ships were also forced to leave the battle due to an unfortunate event of the same sort).

The Spanish was not going to sit idly by however, and as an opportunity presented itself the combined Spanish fleet charged Red and Green, managing to trap and sink one British frigate and almost overtaking the rest. Black and White moved quickly in on the Spanish sterns, and as the Spanish turned E to either reinforce their rear or reform the lines, Green and Red recovered and attacked again from the W. The Spanish now formed one single line, N to S, to the W of the town defence gun emplacement, with their frigates ready to reinforce from the N. The British continued their manouvers of quickly hitting selected targets from the W and harassing from the E.

As the Spanish frigates moved down to the Spanish line to reinforce it, the Admiral saw an opportunity to sail past the northern tip of their line and regroup with White and Black on the eastern side, and after the signals were hoisted the attack began. The Spanish reacted quickly and sent a handful of ships to intercept Green and Red, successfully cutting off one British ship that were forced to retreat back to the W. The rest of Green and Red cracked on, and managed to sink a Spanish frigate before reaching and taking cover behind the waiting Black and White groups. The Spanish were determined to end it there and then however, and initiated a general chase, overtaking the rearmost British ships and forcing them onto a lee shore, battering them horribly. Looking over my stern I was grieved to see the Maverick surrounded by Spaniards and brutally mauled, together with another sail from White Group. The signal of retreat were by some expected to be hoisted at that time, with the combined Spanish fleet right in the middle of our weaker Fleet, but the Admiral would have none of it, and ordered the fleet to sail SW and concentrate fire on the Spaniards. A wild cheer broke out on all the ships of the Fleet as the magazine on a Spanish 3rd-rate erupted in violent flames, and the Fleet turned NW to engage the sterns of the rearmost Spanish ships. The British morale was now soaring as yet another Spanish 3rd-rate were seen sinking, and as the Spanish fleet turned W towards the Fleet (cutting off three British ships including the Odysseus from the rest of the Fleet), a Spanish frigate met the same fate. Now followed yet another chase, with the British heading W towards open waters with the Spaniards in hot pursuit. The British were not planning to retreat just yet though, and the Fleet turned their broadsides upon the charging enemy, obliging one Spanish 1st-rate to take cover behind his fellows. During this manouvering, I was sorry to witness the Fearless recieve an immense ammount of enemy fire and become unable to continue fighting.

As we passed the Spanish Fort on our starboard side, the Spanish stopped to form a ring around the pier leading to the entrance of the Fort, and the British took this opportunity to regroup with the three ships that were cut off earlier, with jokes and witticism exchanged as the ships passed eachother. As the British formed up to attack, several Spanish ships were seen leaving the battle, no doubt to take part in the Battle of Belle Isle that was just about to start. The now 11 Spaniards entered the Fort, and the 14 remaining British cracked on in pursuit. It was now clear that the battle would be decided by clash of steel inside the Fort of Maracaibo. With only minutes to go before Spanish reinforcements would arrive and drive us out of the area, the British had one captain lie outside the fort to guard the exit while the remaining captains fought their way through the Fort's defenders, mercilessly hacking down the Dons they could find. The attack ended with every British captain capacitated and a great many Spaniards in the same state, but alass, one or two Dons had managed to hide, keeping the morale of the Spanish defenders up, and so the remaining British captain had to sail away as Maracaibo were reinforced.

The Result:
Spanish victory.

The British lost 8 vessels, the Spanish lost 4.

Lessons Learned:
Blocking, focused fire and the immense advantage in manouverability enabled the British to sink several lineships without losing any ships of the same value. The determination in always keeping up the pressure with attacks on preselected ships made this a painful victory for the Spanish.

Battle Schematic:


''The forward groups of Red and Green soon rounded the island on our larboard side, spotting the enemy fleet to the W. As the Fleet rounded the northern tip of the island to larboard, we had one smaller island to the N (the "Hammer") and one to the W (the "Potato"). The enemy rearmost ships, the few frigates they possessed, now headed NW between these two islands. At the northernmost end of the gap between the Potato and the Hammer, the Spanish lineships had formed up in a blockading line''



''The Admiral took with him Green and Red to round the W side of the Potato and engage the Spanish. Black and White was to hold position and observe any changes in the Spanish line.''



''As Red and Green reached the N side of the Potato, the Spanish frigates could be seen moving W to intercept them, and after the two groups opened fire on eachother, the Spanish lineships slipped their cables and headed W to join the fighting. As this happened, White and Black moved in to harass the stern of the enemy while the heavier British frigates in Red and Green was to deal damage to preselected Spaniards before heading W to repair and prepare for another attack.''



''The Spanish, having in mind to decline us the destruction of the gun emplacements protecting the town, formed two lines, one to the E and one to the W of said gun emplacement. Here followed a long series of hit-and-run attacks on the western Spanish line, while Black and White manouvered to be a nuisance to the eastern line without causing any damage.''



''The Spanish was not going to sit idly by however, and as an opportunity presented itself the combined Spanish fleet charged Red and Green, managing to trap and sink one British frigate and almost overtaking the rest. Black and White moved quickly in on the Spanish sterns.''



As the Spanish turned E to either reinforce their rear or reform the lines, Green and Red recovered and attacked again from the W. The Spanish now formed one single line, N to S, to the W of the town defence gun emplacement, with their frigates ready to reinforce from the N. The British continued their manouvers of quickly hitting selected targets from the W and harassing from the E.



''As the Spanish frigates moved down to the Spanish line to reinforce it, the Admiral saw an opportunity to sail past the northern tip of their line and regroup with White and Black on the eastern side, and after the signals were hoisted the attack began. The Spanish reacted quickly and sent a handful of ships to intercept Green and Red, successfully cutting off one British ship that were forced to retreat back to the W. The rest of Green and Red cracked on, and managed to sink a Spanish frigate before reaching and taking cover behind the waiting Black and White groups.''



The Spanish were determined to end it there and then however, and initiated a general chase, overtaking the rearmost British ships and forcing them onto a lee shore, battering them horribly.



''The Admiral ordered the fleet to sail SW and concentrate fire on the Spaniards. A Spanish 3rd-rate erupted in violent flames, and the Fleet turned NW to engage the sterns of the rearmost Spanish ships. Yet another Spanish 3rd-rate were seen sinking, and as the Spanish fleet turned W towards the Fleet (cutting off three British ships including the ship of Captain Ventura from the rest of the Fleet), a Spanish frigate met the same fate.''



''Now followed yet another chase, with the British heading W towards open waters with the Spaniards in hot pursuit. The British were not planning to retreat just yet though, and the Fleet turned their broadsides upon the charging enemy.''



''The Spanish stopped to form a ring around the pier leading to the entrance of the Fort, and the British took this opportunity to regroup with the three ships that were cut off earlier. As the British formed up to attack, several Spanish ships were seen leaving the battle, and the remaining 11 Spaniards entered the Fort, followed by the British. It was now clear that the battle would be decided by clash of steel inside the Fort of Maracaibo. Sadly, the British did not manage to take the Fort and lost the battle.