ROLE PLAYING SCENARIO

Rear Admiral Medicus has called the up and coming officers of the squadron together aboard the flagship for dinner and and a strategy session. After an excellent meal and a fine wine he tosses the following situation out for discussion. “Gentlemen I’ll give you a problem faced by one of Nelson’s Captains in 1804. He had three small frigates based out of Gibraltar to cover merchant traffic in and out of the Mediterranrean. Based only a short distance away was a single 74 gun French Ship-of-the-Line. I propose several solutions to the situation; choose one and support your choice or propose one of your own.

{I} Use your frigates to convoy the merchant vessels past the threat areas either individually allowing you to cover more vessels or as a small squadron to increase firepower but the expense of slower deliveries.

{II} Attempt to engage the French Ship at sea trusting to your superior maneuverabilty and better crew quality to offset her heavier firepower.

{III} Attempt a cutting out expedition to board and capture her in Cadiz Harbor using ships boats. Keep in mind Cadiz has extensive coastal fortifications.

{IV} Propose an option of your own.

“Gentlemen I invite your opinions....”

>Eric< For the ship fighting scenario I think that using the

three other ships to attack the big one and board her

would take the ship down and we would have alot of

iteme to take with us, and that would allow the other

ships to get passed to deliver there cargo.

>Sean< The mission is to escort cargo ships throught the med....the commanders intent is for the cargo to arrive safely and expediantly. the 74 is based and I would escort the ship by single ship to expedite the delivery. then beef to a squadron if the threat level picked up. Our mission is security not assault...therfeore picking a fight is uneccsary

<Mike>Capt. Vickery will support solution no. 1. While destroying the French 74 would be advantageous, the loss of the frigates would be a severe setback to covering the maritime trade in and around Gibraltar. I would station 1 frigate to watch the harbor at Cadiz, and use my other two frigates as escort for convoys, acting as a squadron. The single frigate should be able to escape the 74, and bring word to the remainder of the squadron. If brought to battle, I would fire high, attempting to dismast the French vessel, forcing it to disengage. I would not attempt a cutting out expedition, as the fortifications at Cadiz would likely prove too formidable and the force at my disposal would not be adequate to make success likely, while failure could result in severe undermanning of the ships on station.