From: Mcg339@aol.com
Message-ID: <49311950.24e3cd21@aol.com>
Date: Thu, 12 Aug 1999 03:09:21 EDT
Subject: Basics of colonization era naval combat


  The most important principle in one-on-one sailing ship battles is to gain 
the wind gauge!

  Gaining the wind gauge means that your vessel is on the windward side of 
your opponent. This means that your opponent is limited in how close he can 
get to YOU. It also means that if you are chasing him in a 'Run', you will 
eventually catch him if you start at a close range (since you are blocking 
part of his wind).

  When gaining the wind gauge, you must be careful to keep it for as long as 
possible, even if it means trading broadsides against an opponent (although 
trading broadsides against bigger guns is foolish).

  Being upwind also allows you to react more quickly to changes in wind 
direction (since it is leaving you or arriving at you first).

   There are three basic passes in naval combat (i don't know the era names 
for these, so bear with me):

   The Broadsides volley (both ships more-or-less parallel and travelling in 
same direction).
   The Pass (parallel facing, but opposite directions)
   The Rake (travelling perpendicular to the target across stern or bow)

   The Broadsides volley is usually an exchange of fire by two vessels at 
relatively close ranges. It is very indicative of the type of battles in 
years to come (esp with the stagnancy of naval combat tactics that stretches 
from this era until Nelson comes into his own, nearly 130 years later). The 
broadsides volley involves a gamble that your gunners are better than their 
counterparts, and that your guns, powder, and shot are bigger and more 
plentiful. Not really a good gamble.

  The Pass is  usually difficult to pull off effectively, largely due to the 
difference in relative velocities of the vessels. The pass is basically a 
broadsides that might be a surprise. It is an effective tactic if the 
attacker is on a smaller, faster vessel with bigger guns (a rare situation) 
or is on a comparable vessel with decisively faster/more effective gun crews. 
This is because the vessel performing the pass will have to make some 
important decisions promply after making the Pass: Do I stay or do I go? If 
you stay, you have to reload quickly or else find yourself in a broadsides 
situation.

  The Rake is the most effective way to tear an enemy ship apart. Stern Rakes 
(crossing behind the target) are effective at destroying rudder, command 
crew, sails, yards, and masts, plus killing more crewmen. Bow Rakes (crossing 
before the target) are effective at destroying hull integrity, slowing the 
ship (with bow hits), destroying the capstan/anchor, sails, rigging, masts, 
and yards. The power of the rake comes from two factors: 1) it will probably 
go largely unanswered, since few ships carry a full broadside astern, and 2) 
you are striking the target along his denser side.

   explanation of 2): If you observe a vessel amidships (from a broadside), 
the masts are several degrees apart in respect to the viewer's angle. IF you 
observe a vessel from astern, the masts are nearly lined up, or at most, only 
a degree or two apart. A near miss of a mast is MUCH more likely to hit 
another than just splash into the sea. Shot that lands on the deck has much 
farther to travel before entering the sea, making it more likely to collide 
with a crewman or ship component.

  More to come...

Todd