Damage Model

[tater]

Ships stayed afloat while battering each other, sometimes for hours. I think that the damage system would be better as maturin said, and the largest factor in losing would more often than not be the crew, not the ship. At some point they will realize that there is no hope, and captains were not usually monsters, they'd strike to prevent the needless loss of their men.

 

I think that splinters are certainly a small force multiplier, but if you look at actual round shot, the cross section of a given ball is still tiny compared to a hull, I think that was the point. Shot full of holes is still way more wood than holes, so a few shots will go in the holes… not a measurable difference in effect I'd think over large numbers of shots. It's hard for us you know at this point without really good real data, but splinters don't have to be flying due to shot to be dangerous. The relatively safe interior of the ship becomes jagged. The ship heels, or you slip and instead of hitting a blunt object, you brush into a splinter. Anyone who has ever worked on remodeling their hose, etc, has likely backed into, or stuck their head onto a nail during demo (I have, OUCH!)

[maturin]

good point

Would it be good idea to lower crew damage a bit if the side of the ship is very badly damaged? Though.. we never saw references with fully open broadside of the ship with all planking destroyed.

I think that a badly damaged hull will not make crew more vulnerable to roundshot. There could be a difference either way, but not an important one.

 

Grapeshot, however, would start having a horrible effect. So yes, dedicated anti-personnel weapons could get a bonus when firing on a badly damaged bulwark.

 

I don't think all the planking ever got destroyed either. Even a 32lb ball is only six inches across, and there's a lot of area to cover. Patrick O'brian books often mentions things like "three ports beaten into one." So that describes a large gash, or a three meter-long hole.

I think he took that description from eyewitness accounts:

 

Isaac Hull next took up a position off his crippled enemy’s larboard bow from which he fired several broadsides into him, according to one report blowing the first two gun ports on that side into one gaping hole.

Here too: http://books.google.com/books?id=ZJstAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA401&lpg=PA401&dq=%22two+gunports+beaten+into+one%22&source=bl&ots=RRYV1x4a4U&sig=OlPH9-SQHhpGaA9bL47on8Drq34&hl=en&sa=X&ei=UwkNU9yJMsKsyAHb64DwCw&ved=0CCcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22two%20gunports%20beaten%20into%20one%22&f=false

"...several ports beaten into one."

 

The most important effect of a hull full of holes is that the guns are going to start getting dismounted, with their breeches shot loose from the hull. They become unusable and downright dangerous, charging around the decks with the roll of the ship or even plunging down hatches to smash into the hold.