Sir Lancelot Holland

Many Napoleonic surgeons almost certainly saved many lives, of whom a surprisingly high percentage returned to active duty. I would suggest that while a wounded gunner or Able Seaman who worked in the rigging would be unfit for his duties especially if the wounds were to limbs, he would I think, be of limited use in the melee of hand to hand combat where mobility is paramount. I think the concept of returning wounded into action is a good one and as you say historically accurate, perhaps if the percentages of returned wounded would be higher in a boarding than in the preceding ship v ship battle, a man with light wounds may not be able to help load/run out a gun or climb rigging but he could still use a pistol, belaying pin or cutlass albeit somewhat clumsily.

You know that is actually a really good idea, Captains of the era, and to a limited degree today, use(d) distinctive buildings as navigational aids or to fix their position at landfall after a long period in open water. With the right local knowledge a building can tell you which group of islets you are passing or confirm that you are near a given port, for example transatlantic shipping bound for Liverpool or Bristol would often close to shore for a fix at or near Queenstown (Cobh) in Eire. It would also offer a little eye candy too, something to perhaps divert the attention on a long trip, or merely a reason to explore a little, especially if there is something else that may of value hidden in the area.

That would be Able Seaman Eric, the half a bee currently deployed on exchange to the USS Wasp!

I would be In favour of National flags in open water, though flags were and still are difficult to see until the ships are relatively close together and some national flags can appear similar at a distance or in poor light or angle which simply serves to make the contact more intense. Lookouts were generally experienced sailors, Able Seamen or above, they would have had 10 years or more as an Ordinary Seaman and maybe several more years as a Boy Seaman, they would have served on several ships and would be able to recognise those as well as ships that served in the same squadron for a considerable distance, often before a national flag becomes visible. Some could even name ships individually from a class of ships as there were often differences in the way they look in the water or the cut of their sails, though I suspect such differences would be difficult to build into a game, even the paintwork could give a clue as what ship was approaching, Captains were responsible for the upkeep of their commands and painting came out of their own pockets, a degree of leeway was allowed from the painting styles, they would look similar in style but may of had variations in shades of colour. This is in part why Paints can be important in game, one tends to remember distinctive ships and the Captain(s) of them. Scouting ships were almost invariably 6th or 5th rates, sometimes a 4th would be used if nothing else was available, consequently their visibility was more limited, they would actually get close enough to the enemy to determine what ships were there then run back to the fleet which would generally speaking be just over the horizon. They operated in comparative safety as no Captain of a Ship of the Line would fire on them unless fired upon, It was, strangely to us today, considered to be 'not the act of an Officer and Gentleman'. Scouting could be one way to 'employ' newbies, give them something a bit different to do and involve them in the community. In game of course it will be more dangerous for them, very few SOL Captains would resist the temptation to blow a single 6th rate apart and of course he may well be chased back to fleet by the enemy's own scouts.

I personally regard fog and rain as a godsend, an enemy ship can pass within 50 feet of me and by the time they have cleared for action and come about to an intercept course I am gone, disappeared and if I have turned, even just one tick either side of my course then I may never be found again. I do agree that fog may be overdone a bit, fog is much more likely above and below the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn as the air is cooler and the droplets that form fog do so more readily in colder climes, however it may be found between the tropics if conditions are right, but usually around dawn and it burns off quickly once the sun is up, but I do think the rainstorms have things about right for the Caribbean Sea.

I think everyone has experienced the kind of fog or rain that has been so dense that visibility is close to zero, while in some places it is rare, in others it is almost routine, the Grand Banks is notorious for it's fog and many ships have been lost because of it. Heavy rain in the Caribbean and the Atlantic/Pacific oceans is an everyday fact of life and the reduction in visibility is well documented. In game I think such phenomena is well represented at least as far as storms go, it is one of many hazards that occur at sea, (currently the only one in game and we are fortunate that we do not experience storm damage) always has been, is and always will be, despite the advent of Radar there will be losses like the Andria Doria. It is, I'm afraid, a natural fact of life, reflected In the game, be thankful that the game does not truthfully reflect real life, sailing in storms for days at a stretch is not a fun experience, it is however part of the sea going experience, further, be thankful that you do not have to fight your ship in such conditions.

It is my understanding that you had a roadmap as to how you saw the game develop, now there is nothing wrong with asking advice as long as both the advisor and the advised recognise that advice freely given and received may also be freely accepted or rejected. If the advice given does not meet with your roadmap then a polite thank you, it's a good idea but it conflicts with the roadmap Is a fair reply, if it does comply then use it. If however an idea improves the roadmap then by all means adapt the roadmap but only as far as it does not cause conflict elsewhere in the roadmap or worse still derail it.

Most Naval engagements were fairly small mostly one on one, rarely did reinforcements affect a battle, a notable exception was during the war of 1812 during the battle between Bonne Homme Richard and HMS Seraphis, it is likely the battle itself would have finished like many others, as a stalemate, until U.S. reinforcements arrived forcing Seraphis to strike her colours. In game it does appear that situation is very much the same, no one could guarantee that reinforcement would be nearby but if they were then that is merely the fortunes of war, the attacker(s) have the choice to break off the action or risk being sunk. Pirates fought anyone and everyone, and generally in small ships, that said, elsewhere Koltes has come up with what may be a workable solution, it may well prove to be worth considering. I rather suspect, in part, perhaps you are employing sarcasm here, sadly sarcasm does not translate well into the written word. No-one want's to sail for a couple of hours to sit in an empty PB, I would submit perhaps 25 v25 cloned ships is not the way to conduct PB's they would be more interesting with diverse ships of many rates and types with a mix of veterans and less experienced players, it offers a fairer chance and more reason for more Captains to put in the effort involved with PB's. This is not a problem the Devs can do anything about, it is something only the players can work on. Nelson had a huge incentive to do what he did, he was a Naval Officer in a long and bloody war, his country was under threat from outside agencies just as France and Spain were. while he may have enjoyed the ships and vast open sea there were aspects that he hated, one was the very region we fight in, the Caribbean, and he was also unfortunately chronically seasick throughout his naval career.

Have you considered contacting some of the institutions connected to the Royal Navy? Many of the RN museums have online facilities, Possibly the RN's newspaper the Navy News sometimes runs articles on the Napoleonic navy and would know who to talk to both aboard ships with old names dating back to the period and in the public affairs office ashore. You could also try the Imperial War Museum at Greenwich or the curator at the HMS Victory Museum at Portsmouth. It's worth a try.

The issue of sail and mast repairs is a very hard one to balance, to many repairs allow for an extension of a battle until the victim can no longer repair and is subsequently sunk or boarded, too few repairs results in much the same result, and actually denies the nations and merchantmen who primarily chained their opponents that tactic. I think it Is understood by all that The French style of fighting depended largely on disabling their enemy, it offered them the option of either fighting and ultimately boarding or breaking of the battle having the more intact sails to do so. The British were more likely to pound on the hulls, reducing crew numbers to board an opponent, these are of course generalities Captains on both sides could and did use either tactic or even both. Sail repairs are already limited by the number of rig repairs carried and the cool down clock, perhaps the best route would be to leave them in place, at a reduced level or longer cool down times and add Fluffy Fishy's idea of limited ammunition, it would mean that if a captain who is chaining has a limited window to disable by chain and an option to reduce crew numbers to board while the victim is repairing sails. This opens the door to more realistic engagements where a higher percentage of battles are drawn or where judicious use of repairs and ammunition decide if a player is sunk or escapes.

I quite like that idea, in many wars allies flipped sides causing all kinds of mayhem from irritating to absolute disaster to their former allies especially when they take their ports with them. I would also favour any incentive that puts ships on the water to fight and a bonus for just entering a PVP fight would be a good incentive, the possibility of a greater bonus would ensure that players stayed and fought instead of just entering PVP and running for the entry bonus. So they get a small reward for entry and a greater reward for actually fighting. An element of what will the admiralty do to us next would indeed keep the game fresh, wars do tend to have ever changing objectives and it would, I think, reflect that aspect of warfare.

The Monthly Brig has arrived from the Admiralty with orders, some for individual Captains, Clans or with a declaration of war or peace between nations and updates on the relationship between nations . It could be orders to patrol, hunt down a particular Captain/ship/ Renowned Pirate or fleet or carry specific cargos from point to point safely or even craft specific ships for the Navy/merchant marine based on building capacity or even take a specific port. The Admiralty could pay a basic rate for completion with bonuses from sinking or damaging enemy ships enroute, with the loser claiming the damage points done for their time and effort, Capped ships could be considered as prizes with the their cargo and hull value given as gold to the Captains involved, a proportion going to he Admiralty to help finance new ships/port facilities as was done historically. Tie it to a renown system based on paints or flags, give the lower captains something to aspire to and the Veteran captains something to fight to keep and you have reason to sail out and fight. Give them orders to fulfil to get them and a reward for successfully carrying them out with a sense of actually achieving something. Throw in the risks of OW PVP on top and RVR 'missions' which dynamically affect the next set of orders and you have a war cutting out some of the national 'bickering' where chance and the enemy can affect the outcome, and would guarantee at least one port battle a month. where trading and crafting ability can affect operations. Captains can always engage in OW PVE/PVP/RVR on their own initiative as well, which may help or hinder the Missions. Make the renown losable for breaking the rules, open exploits ect. As to the Pirates, let them be what they actually were, let them act as privateers under LOM, or be the independent scourge of the oceans as they will, in return for not doing RVR in their own right allow them to operate out of free or neutral ports with over gunned and over crewed 4th rates to compensate for the lack of SOL's. Make them the privateers or outlaws as they wish to be.

In reality re-stepping masts requires stability, it could not be done at sea. Replacing yards, spars and jury rigging was possible but involved large amounts of manpower and was an open invitation to be boarded in action. From a gaming perspective reality sometimes takes a back seat, rigging repairs in game currently allows re-stepping masts, if it did not, then unless you were fortunate and were on the outer fringes of the battle and could get far enough from the main combat to run down the escape clock you would be dead. Historically the French relied heavily on disablement of their opponents, it gave them the choice of flight or fight where the British tended more toward hull shooting to reduce crew numbers and board their opponents, both tactics were viable, both had their pro's and con's, even if dismasted a Captain had a good chance of repelling boarders or even taking his opponents ship and returning to the fight, it was all down to the skill of the captain, his officers and the morale of the men under command, now and again of course it came down to blind luck.

The only damage control that would have been done in action would have been leak stoppage and fire fighting. A large proportion of the crew would be required to re-step even part of a mast, tackle had to rigged to lift it and the yards/spars to be replaced. Premade yards and spars were carried, usually on deck for that purpose. While they could replace yards and spars relatively easily the work was slow and dangerous, stepping a mast required the ship to be on an even keel which always meant beaching and shoring up, or a dockyard. If you had sufficient height left on a broken mast it was possible to jury rig but the sail area would be small, probably so small that steerage way would be almost unattainable in big ships and was usually carried out to assist in towing. Dismasting, by and large was a French tactic. their preference was to disable an opponent, which left them the options of disabling another ship, and returning to board later in the battle or disengaging knowing that pursuit would be difficult for their opponent. The British were more likely to dismast a trader and try to keep the hull intact for the value of a prize, in a battle they were more likely to hit the hulls to decimate the crews before boarding, in that regard I think that the French actually come very close to the tactics used by the French navy during the Napoleonic wars, Like the French and British it is understandable that Pirates would prefer to cause minimal damage, both to retain value of the cargo and give them an additional ship to ravage the sea lanes.

if it is an arranged duel then perhaps some seconds to keep interlopers out?

or combine the roles, have the cutter do the streaming

Of course he did, that's why he was the merry monarch! lol

For those who have an interest in Naval combat these were the original laws by which ships of the Royal Navy were governed at sea in home and foreign waters. Enacted in 1661 by His Britannic Majesty, King Charles II, these laws were enforced alongside the Articles of War of 1757 and were still current in this form until 1866 when amendment's were added. They form the basis of todays Naval Discipline Act 1957. It is interesting to note that even within the 1957 NDA and still applicable in the Articles of WAR capital punishment is still on the statute books although very rarely exercised. Charles II, 1661: An Act for the Establishing Articles and Orders for the regulateing and better Government of His Majesties Navies Ships of Warr & Forces by Sea. Pages 311-314 Statutes of the Realm: Volume 5, 1628-80. Originally published by Great Britain Record Commission, s.l, 1819. This free content was digitised by double rekeying. All rights reserved. Citation: BHOChicagoMLA 'Charles II, 1661: An Act for the Establishing Articles and Orders for the regulateing and better Government of His Majesties Navies Ships of Warr & Forces by Sea.', in Statutes of the Realm: Volume 5, 1628-80, ed. John Raithby (s.l, 1819), pp. 311-314. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/statutes-realm/vol5/pp311-314 [accessed 10 August 2017]. Keyword highlight In this section Articles to be observed II. Proviso touching the Powers of the Lord Admiral. Footnotes Articles to be observed FOR the regulateing and better Government of his Majesties Navies Ships of War and Forces by Sea wherein under the good Providence and protection of God the Wealth Safety and Strength of this Kingdome is soe much concerned Bee it Enacted by the Kings most Excellent Majesty with the advice and consent of the Lords and Commons in this present Parliam[en]t assembled and by the Authority thereof That all and every the Articles and Orders in this Act menconed shall be duely and respectively put in Execution observed and obeyed in manner hereafter menconed. The public Worship of God. 1. That all Co[m]manders Captaines and other Officers att Sea shall cause the publique Worshipp of Almighty God according to the Liturgy of the Church of England established by Law to be solemnly orderly and reverently performed in theire respective Ships And that prayers and preachings by the respective Chaplaines in holy Orders of the respective Ships be performed diligently and that the Lords Day be observed according to Law. Swearing, Drunkenness, &c. 2. Every person and persons in his Majesties pay using unlawfull and rash Oathes Cursings Execrations Drunkennes Uncleannes or other Scandalous Actions in derogation of Gods Honour and corruption of good manners shall be punished by Fine Imprisonment or otherwise as the Court Martiall shall thinke fitt. Holding Intelligence with Foreign States, being Enemies, or with Rebels. 3. If any Officer Mariner Souldier or other person in the Fleet shall give hold or entertaine Intelligence to or with any King Prince or State being Enemy to or any persons in Rebellion against His Majesty His Heires and Successors without direction or leave from the Kings Majesty the Lord High Admirall Vice Admirall or Commander in Cheife of any Squadron every such person & persons so offending shall be punished with death. Receiving Letters or Messages from any Foreign Prince, &c. being an Enemy, and not revealing the same. Punishment. 4. If any Letter or Message from any King Forreigne Prince State or Potentate being an Enemy to the Kings Majesty His Heires and Successors or on theire behalfe be conveyed to any Inferior Officer Mariner or Souldier or other in the Fleet and the said Officer Mariner Souldier or other as aforesaid doe not within twelve houres haveing opportunity soe to do) acquaint the Superior Commander with it or if a Superior Officer or Mariner being acquainted therewith by an Inferior Officer Mariner or other or himselfe in his owne person receiving a Letter or Message from any such Enemy or Rebell and shall not in convenient time reveale the same to the Admirall Vice Admirall or the Commander of the Squadron every such person shall be punished with death or such other punishment as the Court martiall shall thinke fitt. Relieving an Enemy or Rebel.; Punishment. 5. No person or persons of the Fleet shall releive an Enemy or Rebell in time of Warre with money victuals powder shott armes ammunition or any other supplies whatsoever directly or indirectly upon pain of death or such other punishment as the Court martiall shall thinke fitt to impose. Papers, Charter-parties, &c. taken in any Ship seized as Prize, to be preserved.; Punishment. 6. All the Papers Charter Parties Bills of Lading Pasports and other Writings whatsoever that shall bee taken seized or found aboard any Ship or Ships which shall bee surprised or seized as prize shall bee duely preserved and not torne nor made away but the very Originals sent up intirely and without fraud to the Court of Admiralty or such other Commissioners as shall be appointed for that purpose there to be veiwed made use of and proceeded upon according to Law upon pain of losse of all the shares of the Takers and such further punishment to be inflicted upon the Offenders therein as the quality of theire offence and misdemeanor shall be found to deserve and the Court martiall shall impose. Taking out of Prize, or Ships or Goods seized for Prize, any Money, &c. before Judgment had Punishment.; Proviso for Pillage.; Exception. 7. None in his Majesties pay shall take out of any Prize or Ship or Goods seized on for Prize any Money Plate Goods Lading or Tackle before Judgement thereof first past in the Admiralty Court but the full and intire accompt of the whole without imbezlement shall be brought in and Judgement past intirely upon the whole without fraud upon pain of such punishment as shall be imposed by a Court martiall or the Court of Admiralty excepting That it shall be lawfull for all Captaines Seamen Souldiers and others serving as aforesaid to take and to have to themselves as Pillage without further or other account to be given for the same all such Goods and [Merchandize (fn. 1) ] (other then Armes Ammunition Tackle Furniture or Stores of such Ship) as shall be found by them or any of them in any Ship (they shall take in fight or prize) upon or above the Gundeck of the said Ship and not otherwise. Embezzling, &c. Cables, Anchors, &c.; Punishment. 8. None shall imbezle steale or take away any Cables Anchors Sailes or any of the Ships Furniture or any of the Powder or Armes or Ammunition of the Ship upon pain of death or other punishment as the quality of the offence shall be found by a Court martiall to deserve. Pillaging, &c. Captains, &c. of Foreign Ships taken as Prize not making Resistance.; Penalty. 9. If any foreign Ship or Vessell shall be taken as prize that shall not fight or make resistance that in that case none of the Captaines Masters or Mariners being Foreigners shall be stripped of theire Clothes or in any sort pillaged beaten or evill entreated upon pain That the person or persons soe offending shall forfeit double Damages but the said Foreign Ships and all the Goods soe taken shall be preserved intire to receive Judgement in the Admiralty Court according to Right and Justice. The Duty of Captains, &c. upon Signal of Fight. Punishment.; Yielding, &c.; Punishment. 10. Every Captain or Commander who upon signall or order of fight or view or sight of any Ships of the Enemy Pirate or Rebell or likelihood of Engagement shall not put all things in his Ship in a fitt posture for fight and shall not in his owne person and according to his place hearten and encourage the Inferior Officers and common men to fight couragiously and not to behave themselves faintly shall bee [casheire (fn. 2) ] And if he or they shall yeild to the Enemy Pirate or Rebells or cry for quarter he or they soe doeing shall suffer the paines of death or such other punishment as the offence shall deserve. Inferior Officers not observing the Commands of their Superiors. Punishment. 11. Every Captaine Commander and other Officer Seaman or Souldier of any Shipp Frigott or Vessell of Warre shall duly observe the Commands of the Admirall or other his Superior or Commander of any Squadron as well for the assailing or setting upon any Fleete Squadron or Ships of the Enemy Pirate or Rebells or joyning Battel with them or making defence against them as all other the Commands of the Admirall or other his Superior Commander upon pain to suffer death or other punishment as the quality of his neglect or offence shall deserve. Officers in time of fight withdrawing or not fighting.; Punishment. 12. Every Captaine and all other Officers Mariners and Souldiers of every Ship Frigott or Vessell of War that shall in time of any fight or engagement withdraw or keepe backe or not come into the fight and engage and do his utmost to take fire kill and endamage the Enemy Pirate or Rebells and assist and releive all and every of His Majesties Ships shall for such offence of cowardice or disaffection be tried and suffer paines of death or other punishment as the circumstances of the offence shall deserve and the Court martiall shall judge fitt. Officers and Ships appointed for Convoy not fighting, or otherwise neglecting Duty.; Penalty. 13. The Captaines Officers and Seamen of all Ships appointed for Convoy and Guard of Merchants Ships or any other shall diligently attend upon that Charge without delay according to theire Instructions in that behalfe and whosoever shall be faulty therein and shall not faithfully performe the same and defend the Ships and Goods in theire Convey without either diverting to other parts or occasions or refusing or neglecting to fight in theire defence if they be sett upon or assailed or running away cowardly and submitting those in theire Convoy to hazard and perill or shall demand and exact any money or other reward from any Merchant or Master for conveying of any such Ships or other Vessels belonging to His Majesties Subjects shall bee condemned to make reparation of the damage to the Merchants Owners and others as the Court of Admiralty shall adjudge and alsoe be punished criminally according to the quality of theire Offences be it by pains of death or other punishment according as shall be judged fit by the Court martiall. Not chasing an Enemy, or not relieving a Friend. Punishment. 14. Whatsoever person or persons in or belonging to the Fleete either through cowardize negligence or disaffection shall forbeare to pursue the chase of any Enimy or Pirate or Rebell beaten or flying or shall not releive or assist a known freind in view to the utmost of his power shall be punished with death or otherwise as a Court martiall shall find fitt. Discouraging the Service.; Punishment. 15. When att any time service or action shall be commanded no man shall presume to stopp or put backward or discourage the said service and action by pretence of Arreares of Wages or upon any pretence of Wages whatsoever upon pain of death. Officers betraying their Trust, or yielding to the Enemy. 16. All Sea-Captaines Officers and Seamen that shall betray theire Trust or turne to the Enemy Pirate or Rebells and either run away with theire Shipp or any Ordnance Ammunition or Provision to the weakning of the Service or yeild the same up to the Enemy Pirate or Rebells shall be punished with death. Deserting.; Punishment. 17. All Sea Captains Officers or Mariners that shall desert the Service or theire Imployment in the Ships or shall run away or intice any others soe to doe shall be punished with death. Spies.; Punishment. 18. All persons whatsoever that shall come or be found in the nature of Spies to bring any seducing Letters or messages from any Enemy or Rebell or shall attempt or endeavor to corrupt any Captaine Officer Mariner or other of the Navy or Fleete to betray his or theire Trust and yeild up any Shipp or Ammunition or turn to the Enemy or Rebell shall be punished with death. Sedition, Mutiny, Punishment. 19. Noe Person in or belonging to the Fleete shall utter any words of Sedition or Mutiny nor make or endeavour to make any mutinous Assemblies upon any pretence whatsoever upon pain of death. Concealing traiterous or mutinous Practices or Words.; Punishment. 20. Noe person in or belonging to the Fleet shall conceale any traiterous or mutinous practices designes or [word (fn. 3) ] or any words spoken by any to the prejudice of His Majestie or Government or any words practices or designes tending to the hindrance of the Service but shall forthwith reveale them to his Superior that a meet proceeding may bee had thereupon upon pain of such punishment as a Court martiall shall finde to be just. Quarrelling with or striking a superior Officer. 21. None shall presume to quarrell with his Superior Officer upon pain of severe punishment nor to strike any such upon pain of death or otherwise as a Court martiall shall finde the matter to deserve. Complaint of unwholesome Victuals how to be made.; Exciting Disturbance thereon.; Punishment.; 22. If any of the Fleet finde cause of Complaint of the unwholesomnes of his Victuals or upon other just ground he shall quietly make the same knowne to his Superior or Captaine or Commander in Cheife as the occasion may deserve that such present remedy may bee had as the matter may require and the said Superior or Commander is to cause the same to be presently remedied accordingly but no person upon any such or other pretence shall privately attempt to stirr up any disturbance upon pain of such severe punishment as a Court martiall shall finde meete to inflict. Quarrelling, &c.; Punishment. 23. None shall quarrell or fight in the Ship nor use reproachfull or provokeing speeches tending to make any quarrell or disturbance upon paine of Imprisonment and such other punishment as the Offence shall deserve and the Court martiall shall impose. Wasteful Expence of Ammunition.; Punishment. 24. That there be [no (fn. 4) ] wastfull expence of any Powder Shott Ammunition or other [ores (fn. 4) ] in the Fleet nor any imbezlement thereof but that the Stores and Provisions be carefully preserved upon such penalties by Fine Imprisonment or otherwise upon the Offenders Abbetters Buyers and Receivers as shall bee by a Court martiall found just in that behalfe. Neglect in conducting and steering Ships.; Punishment. 25. That care be taken in the conducting and steering of the Ships that through wilfulnes negligence or other defaults none of His Majesties Ships be stranded or run upon any Rocks or Sands or Split or hazarded upon pain that such as shall be found guilty therein be punished by Fine imprisonment or otherwise as the Offence by a Court martiall shall be adjudged to deserve. Burning Ship or Stores.; Punishment. 26. All persons that shall willingly burn or sett fire on any Shipp or Magazine or [sto (fn. 4) ] of Powder or Shipp Boat Ketch Hoy or Vessell or Tackle or Furniture thereto belonging not appertaining to an Enemy or Rebell shall be punished with death. Sleeping upon Watch.; Punishment. 27. No man in or belonging to the Fleet shall sleep upon his Watch or negligently performe the Duty imposed on hin or forsake his station upon pain of death or other punishment as the circumstances of the Case shall require. Murders. 28. All Murders and wilfull killing of any persons in the ship shall be punished with death. Robbery and Theft. 29. All Robbery and Theft committed by any person in or belonging to the Fleet shall be punished with death or otherwise as the Court martiall upon consideracon of circumstances shall finde meete. Provost Marshall refusing to receive, &c. Prisoners. Punishment. 30. No Provost marshall belonging to the Fleet shall refuse to receive or keepe any prisoner comitted to his charge nor suffer him to escape being once [in (fn. 4) ] his custody nor dismisse him without order upon pain of being lyable to the same punishment which should have beene inflicted upon the party dismissed or permitted to escape or such other punishment as the Court marshall shall thinke fitt. Officers, &c. not apprehending Offenders. Punishment. 31. All [Captaines (fn. 4) ] Officers and Seamen shall doe theire endeavours to detect apprehend [and (fn. 4) ] bring to punishment all Offenders and shall assist the Officers appointed for that purpose therein upon paine to bee proceeded against and punished by the Court martiall att discretion. Sodomy. 32. If any person [or (fn. 4) ] persons in or belonging to the Fleet shall commit the unnaturall and detestable sin of Buggery or Sodomy with Man or ( (fn. 5) ) Beast he shall be punished with death without mercy. Misdemeanors and Disorders at Sea. 33. All other Faults Misdemeanors and Disorders committed att Sea not mentioned in this Act shall be punished according to the Lawes and Customes in such cases used att Sea. Lord High Admiral may grant Commissions to call Courts Martial.; Proceedings regulated. Sentence of Death, for Offences on Voyage, when executed. 34. And it is hereby further Enacted That the Lord High Admirall for the time being shall by vertue of this Act have full power and authority to grant Commissions to Inferior Vice Admiralls or Commander in Cheife of any Squadron of Ships to call and assemble [Court marshalls (fn. 7) ] consisting of Commanders and Captaines and no Court martiall where the paines of death shall bee inflicted shall consist of lesse then Five Captaines at least the Admiralls Lieutennant to be as to this purpose esteemed as a Captaine and in no case wherein sentence of death shall passe by vertue of the Articles aforesaid or any of them (except in case of mutiny) there shall be execution of such Sentence of Death without the leave of the Lord High Admirall if the offence be committed within the Narrow Seas But in case any of the Offences aforesaid be committed in any Voyage beyond the Narrowe Seas whereupon Sentence of Death shall be given in pursuance of the aforesaid Articles or of any of them then Execution shall not be done but by Order of the Commander in Cheife of that Fleete or Squardron wherein Sentence of Death was passed. Judge Advocate to administer an Oath on Trial; or Court may appoint a Person to administer Oath. 35. And be it further Enacted and Declared That the Judge Advocate of any Fleete for the time being shall have full power and authority to administer an Oath to any person or witnes in order to the Examinacon or Tryall of any of the Offences aforesaid and in the absence of a Judge Advocate the Court marshall shall have full power and authority to appoint any person to administer an Oath to the purpose aforesaid II. Proviso touching the Powers of the Lord Admiral. ¶[Provided alsoe and bee it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid That this Act or any thing or things therein conteyned shall not in any manner of wise extend to give unto the Lord Admirall of England for the time being or to any his Vice Admiralls Judge or Judges of the Admiralty his or theire Deputy or Deputies or to any other the Officers or Ministers of the Admiralty or to any others having or claiming any Admirall Power Jurisdiction or Authority within this Realme and Wales or any other the Kings Dominions any other Power Right Jurisdiction Preheminence or Authority then he or they or any of them lawfully have hath or had or ought to have and enjoye before the making of this Act other then for such of the Offences specified in the severall Articles conteyned in this Act as hereafter shall be done upon the main Sea or in Ships or Vessells being and hovering in the maine Streame of great Rivers onely beneath the Bridges of the same Rivers nigh to the Sea within the Jurisdiction of the Admiralty and in none other places whatsoever and comitted only by such persons as shall be in actuall Service and Pay in his Majesties Fleete or Ships of War. (fn. 8) ] Footnotes 1. Merchandizes O. 2. cashiered O. 3. words O. 4. the word is not clear on the Roll. 5. interlined on the Roll. 6. with O. 7. Courts Martiall O. 8. annexed to the Original Act in a separate Schedule.

So which part of there are many options open to captains don't you understand? Try thinking of positive options for a change, you never know you may even come up with a solution that works. What are you actually offering here? You seem to be continuously saying oh there's an obstacle, I can't do it, you should be saying ok, it's a problem, now what is the solution. No one ever won anything thinking it can't be done, What would have happened, if when Nelson saw he was outnumbered at Trafalgar and said 'it can't be done lets go home'? Or Villeneuve saw that he had numerical advantage and thought, 'hey, we can win this one' instead of 'oh god it's that Nelson bloke, we're dead. Instead of saying the time is not right suggest times that someone can be with you, use the PM system there are no spies in there, unless the guy you arrange it with is actually a spy, in which case he'd be a stupid one to blow his own cover for one or two ships! See positive options. IRL it would be decided that a convoy will sail from A to B on such a date sailing at such a time, an escort was detailed off and it sailed come Hell and High water, it took whatever the enemy could throw at it and what was left made port. Now in game we currently find it difficult to organise that, but one day someone will do it, they'll do it because eventually it will have to be done to survive as a nation, France has come up with her own solution, it is simple, workable, and almost brilliant. They don't worry about PB's, ports or anything else, If they were not a nation they would be better Pirates than the ones we have now! They are inventive, and to be honest, I actually quite admire their style, they took a bad situation, they said 'cest la vie', lets go out and turn it around, and that, is the example that should be set, not it cannot be done because....

"might" work? It does work, it's how every convoy sailed since the Napoleonic Wars are organised, convoys are not organised for individual Captains benefits but for the Nation, If a Captain cannot make a convoy then he can wait on the next or sail independent, or if he comes across one going his way join it and leave close to his destination. There are other options, it can be as flexible or as rigid as the Convoy Commodore chooses. Two merchantmen can constitute a convoy, they can always request escort on TS, sometimes a warship is about, many captains are already looking out for the enemy and if there is a merchant player local then he has an 'technical' escort and to my knowledge very few Warship Captains would leave a merchant at the mercy of an enemy warship if he could intervene in time. If a Captain said to a clan mate he's taking a cargo to X and his mate is taking a cargo to Y is it not sensible to go together parting company close to destination? is it not sensible to say to the clan that you will arriving at Y at such a time and would like an escort in if available, or even hail a passing warship? So there are options, a lot of options, it is easy to give negative feedback on suggestions, it also deters people from putting them forward, so nothing changes. The Captains who think 'that could work' then adapt it to their circumstances are the Captains who will get more of their cargo's through, those who do not may find themselves less fortunate.

Convoys are organised, The Escorts are organised at the same time for both ends. so what happens is the convoy builds up at port A where the out bound Escort takes them to point B where the convoy starts it's open water route to point C where the inbound Escort collects them and escorts then to Port D where the convoy disbands. If an Escort player has a ship at both the departure and arrival port then the escort would be the same people just different ships, and while the Convoy is on the OW segment the escorts can be doing what they like until it's time to sail for the convoy RV point. The loss of a small ship or two occasionally is a small price in return for parts for ships or other valuable cargos and even Ships of the Line that should never be at sea alone. That is exactly how the British Admiralty regarded the loss of ships like Rawalpindi an Armed Merchant Cruiser, who took on Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, two 11" gun ships v a single merchant with 6" guns allowing at least some of their convoy to escape or HM Ships Acasta and Ardent, 2 Destroyers with 4.5' guns who took on the same two German Battlecruisers . Even a pair of Indiamen accompanying some T-brigs have the fire power to hold up or even beat off the smaller warships and would be better than nothing at all.

With respect Sir, you don't need mountains of time for escort duties. Escorts would only be required where merchants are most vulnerable. If the enemy had a fleet of CSS Hunley's, I-boats or U-boats I would be more inclined to agree on the time issue, but in open waters finding and sinking convoys in 18th/19th century surface ships is akin to finding needles in a haystack even when you have intelligence as to points of departure and arrival, sailing times et al, as it was, also, during the 20th century until the advent of surveillance satellites.

1 Pirates were renowned for operating out of small bays, inlets, coves and even small ports of which Kidd's Island is a token reflection of that fact. Such places were often temporary and were moved if discovered. 2 To reflect the Pirates semi-nomadic lifestyle I think they should be able to use any port with the exception of Capital regions as a base, because they may be forced to move at short notice due to increased Naval activity perhaps the normal costs of changing ports should be removed especially if it will cost them more to set up buildings and facilities. After all what self respecting Pirate would pay 'port duties' anyway? 3 If Pirates can cheaply set up almost anywhere they would have some degree of local influence, this they currently have, you only need to see the amount of influence they hold over the US Eastern seaboard on PVP Global to understand that, Pirates lives were hard and they had an influence far greater than their numbers suggested, they do not need the additional influence provided by teleporting. 4 They should not be able to own and operate ships above 4th rate, if they can cap one and sell it off fair play to them. They should though, I think, they be able to over crew and over gun their ships as they did, but the poorer standard of maintenance of ships should also be reflected. 5 Owning regions would be a handicap to their way of life, they depended on appearing and disappearing at will, only for brief periods did they hold any specific areas like Kingston, small areas of Haiti and Bermuda, and then only until National Navy's could spare sufficient resources from the wars that dominated the Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean sea, rarely involving the Caribbean and Eastern seaboard of the Continental US. 6 Many Pirates originally operated under letters of marque, some were former military Captains and some would of, if permitted by reason of pardon, assist navy's in small actions then return to a life of Piracy. I do not see that this is unreasonable. 7 If they are forbidden the use of 1st through 3rd rates then there is no requirement for them to have level 3 shipyards at all, level 2 shipyards would suffice for their needs.

Emergency repairs often consisted of securing canvass over holes below the waterline to restrict water flow into the hull until more permanent repairs could be carried out with wood. While it is accepted that spare spars, even short lengths of mast were carried there were only sufficient amounts to jury rig a mast and even then they could rarely be utilised in combat. It is fair to say that damage control as it is known today was in its infancy, that every effort was made to save ships damaged in combat, but then as now repairs in combat are extremely difficult to effect and that increasing damage from further combat will very well sink the ship you are trying to save.

Thank you for the information Sir, much of it was unknown to me, In all honesty if I had known I would have put far more consideration into the matter than I did at the time.. Incidentally my personal views on the US clans are not so different to your own, elsewhere I expressed the hope that US clans can get it into gear, In game I am a sea Captain first and foremost not a politician, and like my real life counterparts tend not to get involved too deeply in politics, however all said and done I believe the US commander did what he believed was right for his nation, I watched the video of the screening action, which I thought was well conducted on both sides, Did the guy in the Santi get home? I hope he did, he earned it, the US screeners were pretty determined. There is I think, hope for them yet, but only if they can turn their nation around.