In my head, it's a rather awkward situation: men finding themselves floating about, grabbing debris, meters from those who they were fighting to the death with just moments before.
I wonder about what historical examples tell us about these situations. Was there a code of conduct that determined that sailors in the water would be out of the fight? And if there was, would they taunt each other and cheer on their remaining ships while waiting to be rescued?
If a British ship and a French one sank next to one another during Trafalgar, how would the survivors of both interact while the battle kept raging?
I specified the Age of Sail because I know ships fought up close during that time, but I welcome an answer that covers other time periods, including modern warfare.
Did countries other than the issuing nation actually view these privateers as anything other than outlaws?
How differently were they treated than your regular, unlicensed pirate?
Hey guys,
I am planing to get into naval wargaming with sailing ships.
My research on models and has been tricky so far. Most rule sets are pretty old and I'm not sure how good they really are, because there are so few reviews. Also it seems almost impossible to get PDF versions of the rules, and I don't want to spend 20$ plus 20$ shipping from the US to Europe just to have a look in a ruleset that I have read ONE blogpost about.
Can you guys recommend a ruleset with the following characteristics:
- features Age of Sail
- battle size: 10+ ships per side OR squadron size (like 1-5 ships per side) <-- I would be willing to use different rulesets for different battle sizes
- medium complexity
- I would be fine with hex or square, but plain table is fine as well
Also it seems quite hard to get models in Europe. Any advice in affordable (like under 10$ or β¬ / ship) and decent looking models? Good shops that ship to Germany would be appreciated as well.
Thank you in advance, guys!
The French and British had very different doctrine when it came to gunnery during the age of sail. The French generally aimed for the masts and rigging in an attempt to disable the ship, the British generally aimed for the deck and hull to cause as much damage and kill as many people as possible.
My question is, why did the French stick with this tactic for so long when it obviously wasn't optimal? This came to mind when I read an account of an American frigate that fought a French frigate in the Caribbean in one of the very first naval actions in US history. The American frigate followed the British practice of going for the hull, the French their usual practice of going after the rigging. The result was the French ship surrendering and the inexperienced American navy notching one of their first victories, losing only one sailor.
Of course the French navy did prevail against the British navy at times in the 18th Century, but from about the 1780's all through the Napoleonic Wars the British annihilated them time and again, often despite disadvantages in numbers and ship quality. Given the historical scoreboard, I have to think that shooting at the rigging rather than the actual crew was a bad doctrine, why didn't the French change it in the face of numerous setbacks and defeats?
Old Ironsides? Nao Victoria? HMS Victory? Cutty Sark? Mary Rose?
Indulge your salty hemp lashed tar boners here.
Hi all,
I've noticed quite a lot of people building age of sail models at the moment and I'm so pleased! This is my particular area of interest and I'm a shameless oak, hemp and canvas nerd. There are quite a few really great plastic models out there, and after that there's a whole world of plank of frame wooden kits. For those who like diddy scale, I would highly recommend Langton Miniatures 1/1200 series of fighting sail, and he also makes some really nice 1/300 resin models.
I've got one or two in my stash that I'm intending to start work on in the near future when time allows. But in the meantime I hope to see more tall ship projects under way!
If anyone is confused about rigging or other technical details, I've amassed quite a library on the subject so would love to help where I can :).
I remember reading this one a long time ago and always thought it would make a good series, but I never saw a sequel. Itβs such a good concept I struggle to believe that it hasnβt been developed or co-opted or continued.
So if you make planet fall on an island, what's the best strategy to get to a larger landmass?
I was reading the beginning pages of Tarzan while visiting Stockholm and Vasa-museum, and it really struck me: I want to really dive into that era of Sea and Sail.
Please help to find the creme de la creme of fiction and non-fiction. So far I have read nothing of that genre so the most obvious would be the best I guess?!
Thank you!
Sorry if this is the wrong subreddit for this kind of thing, but I was told you guys might know exactly how many old-school 1700-1800s era sailing ships (IE,black powder, made of wood, classic pirate ships would be required to take out a modern/semi modern battleship Iron armor, massive guns, radar, etc
For the sake of this battle, the modern ship is magically transported back in time, about a half mile away from the old school armada.
Specifically , I'm asking what sort of ships would need to be involved in this battle to make it even (or 5/10) on both sides. 20 ships of the line vs a WW2 era cruiser? 1000 First rate ships with 36-pound guns vs a cold war era Battleship? Or maybe you need to go all the way back to ww1 era dreadnoughts.
I'm not interested in fantasy ships, this is strictly a historical question. I was originally going to ask AskHistorians, but they don't do Vs questions.
Thank you for your help!
Obviously no plumbing, did they just hang over the side? Also were they allowed on the main deck if they weren't on duty?
So i am looking for a good book/s reccomendation for books about sailing ships in 18th-19th century. More specifically containing information about all different components/functions on board and how they sailed it.
Hope you have some good reccomendations, thanks!
I know that there are a few naval powers on Golarion - Cheliax, the Shackles, I think Vudra - but what level do they operate at? I went looking on Archives of Nethys, because I'm doing some deep prep for Osirion and came to what their Navy might be like, and it's largely still a coastal force with river galleys transporting archers and troops, sometimes ramming. Very mediterannean, which I like. But do other Golarion naval forces still consist of galleys whose main objective is to ram or board? I know that cannons do exist, there's the entire gunslinger class, and there is an entire country of stereotypical Johnny Depp yar har aren't we fun libertarian freedom lovers now give us yer gold or we'll rape and pillage pirates, but do those pirates actually have...pirate ships? I mean the archetypal ones, where they hoist the jolly roger, run out the cannons and fire a broadside. Or are cannons still a very, very recent invention, and putting them on ships not yet a common practice? Has golarion actually entered the Age of Sail yet, or is it still stuck in the Age of Discovery?
Hi, everyone.
As a hobby I'm making a tabletop game (tabletop roleplaying game, actually) about swashbuckling adventures in the Golden Age of Piracy (let's narrow it down to 1670-1710). It's not deep into realism, but it's always good to know the facts in order to be able to choose which of them to actually use. The problem is, I'm confused about certain basics of naval warfare in the Age of Sail. I read some great fiction like "On Stranger Tides" by Tim Powers, "Treasure Island" by Robert Stevenson and "Captain Blood" by Rafael Sabatini (some of them do describe seamanship technicalities to a certain degree) and did sime minor research on particular toptics, but many questions are still open for me.
So, let's imagine two hostile ships are close enough to begin an artillery duel against each other. My questions are:
-
What was usually considered "close enough" to shoot an all-out salvo?
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In which state sails were usually kept when an artillery duel began? Fully hoisted? Reefed? Fully taken in? What factors affected a captain's decision concerning sails' position?
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If a ship's sails are fully taken in, will helm's position even affect ship's position (traverse)? If yes, to what degree?
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Is it true that basic tactics in an artillery duel between two ships consisted of (a) firing a salvo, (b) turning 180 degree while reloading fired guns, (c) firing a salvo from another side, (d) repeat?
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If turning 180 degree in a battle was the case, did it matter to choose between tacking (coming about) and jibing/wearing ("tacking downwind")?
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How many salvos were usually necessary to render enemy vessel unable to continue fighting back? Say, if (a) a sloop shelled a frigate and vice versa; (b) a sloop shelled an armed merchant and vice versa; (c) a frigate shelled an armed merchant and vice versa.
I do understand that answers can greatly depend on numerous factors (like, shooting distance can depend on the cannon caliber). If possible, please, specify some examples in your answers so that I could have something to start with.
Hey everyone.
I'm interested in naval exploration and naval history.
I'm looking for non-fiction about anything from stories of famous ships, captain Cook's voyages, piracy, Bounty mutiny,... Suggestions on any of these or related topics are very welcome.
Note: I'm currently reading Erebus by Michael Palin and like it a lot so far, so similar popular writing style is probably what I'm looking for. I can get through a "dry" or academic book as well, no problem, as long as the topic is interesting.
For all fans of the Golden Age of Piracy or Age of Sail!
Ahoy! I am looking to bring some fresh new style to sailing ships in From the Depths (and hopefully we get better sails)! Here is my next ship. A realistic design of the most notorious pirate ship in history: The Queen Anne's Revenge.
I have four words: MIMIC BLOCKS ARE AMAZING!.. There are tons of awesome decorations made for the sake of realism from the inside out!
Check out these pics, and maybe the workshop too. A full story of the ship and lots of pictures are on the workshop. Thank you for viewing! Here is the link:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1547236247&searchtext=queen+annes+revenge
https://preview.redd.it/s4ovnwrj08u11.jpg?width=1825&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=42905cafa55aba847849c1ad2dbe262aef9522d1
https://preview.redd.it/1ntowgmt08u11.jpg?width=1900&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1d5408fdddf52d7e28bd3026be594ed675d55328
https://preview.redd.it/30cja9ru08u11.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6547cde9ddd7f23484bf599986e71b46b9ef168b
https://preview.redd.it/ip320zub78u11.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=85ab3ff032c3da9dfeee29e53d6cdc277aafd7f9
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What were laws like regarding cannons during the Age of Sail, especially for non-military ships? Could a merchant captain just sail into port and buy a couple? Or would he have to apply for permits (something like how gun licenses work today)? Could a British captain buy cannons from say, a French port?
I understand its a broad period of time (1571β1862), so I guess anything within that time period is fine.
I'm thinking particularly of the 18th and early 19th centuries, when the flintlock and bayonet had completely replaced hand to hand weapons for infantry. How were boarding parties armed, and how did they use their weapons?
