Hey there!
Today I found out, the hard way, that when you leave battle without your fleet your fleet SINKS. I 'only' had a precious rattlesnake in my fleet after capturing a players trader and taking command of it, and the rattlesnake is my main and favorite ship, but if people have way bigger ships in their fleet this could be a problem.
I strongly suggest there should be a warning before leaving the battle about your fleet getting destroyed if you don't wait for them. Or just remove the feature, letting the AI ships fight on (so the player can spectate)-
Thanks,
Lz