ywrr19

Hopefully this doesn't sound like an "I heard" statement, as I don't have the source with me (being a railroader I'm not home very often) but I do believe Brian Lavery's "Nelson's Navy" book had some info on the French firing at masts and the British firing at the hulls debate, but the theory is held up by the number of casualties taken from either. I don't recall any numbers, but I recall the French casualty numbers being significantly higher than the British because of the difference in tactics. Of course there are other factors that can effect this as well, such as ship design, proficiency in gunnery, among other things. Also, weren't the French naval commanders also less experienced than the British ones due to the revolutionaries killing off a lot of the people associated with Louis XVI or thought to be associated? Anyways, if anyway is able to post some of the casualty numbers that would probably help.

The Surprise seems to be an awkward ship as far as where the line in for fiction/non-fiction is concerned. Especially since the current physical appearance of the Surprise in game isn't accurate compared to the plans from the admiralty (mainly the stern gallery, the non flush deck, and a few other details). I guess the question is where to draw the line between fiction and history. I'm sure a lot of us expect the Surprise from the Aubrey/Maturin novels, which from what I've read in Brian Lavery's book on the Surprise, had much better sailing qualities than her real life counter part. But if we wanted things to be historically accurate the in-game Surprise wouldn't be as good of a ship as it is now. So, if nobody wants fictional ships and be historically accurate, the Surprise would need to be much downgraded, or given the Surprise's fame would there be an exception to the fictional ship in O'Brian's novels? Personally I'd like to at least see the Surprise to be more accurate to the admiralty plans, than the current replica Surprise used in the movie.