MHallex's Guide to Naval Warfare CW-Style
As any good world leader with imperial ambitions knows, command of the seas
is necessary to acquire and maintain power. As we can see from history,
the nation that maintains control of the seas will be the victors in any
conflict. The Romans wrested control of the seas from Carthage and
won the Punic Wars, the British defeated the Spanish Armada beginning the
decline of the Spanish Empire, and so on and so forth. Sea power is
vital to any RPer who wants to join, or maintain his place, among the ranks
of the "Great Powers."
This guide is meant to be a short introduction, a basic primer, to naval
warfare as seen in Colonial Warfare. It is not a history, or anywhere near
useful in any other application. So don’t try to quote me for history
papers.
Now lets us begin.
The Ships of Your Fleet
Shipbuilding
Manning the Fleet
Navies by Nation
Piracy, Privateering and Commerce Raiding
Combat
Chapter 1: The Ships of your Fleet
The fleets of the various European powers vary in size,
and in quality. However there are basic definitions that are useful
to know, as they tend to come up in RPing and in OOC arguments.
Warhips are categorized by the number of guns they carry. These ships
will make up the fleet you send into battle.
Ship Rating
|
Number of Guns*
|
First
|
100-112
|
Second
|
90-98
|
Third
|
64-84
|
Fourth
|
50-54
|
Frigate
|
30-50
|
Sloop
|
24-30
|
Note: The number of guns is based upon the number of guns that form the broadsides
of any given ship. Bow and Stern chasers are not counted towards this
total.
What do the ratings mean?
Ships of the Line is a broad term that refers to the warships that make up
the main battle fleets of each nation. These include the First through
Fourth Rate warhips.
- First Rates are the largest, most powerful ships in existence.
They act as the core of any large navy and are used as flagships and
the core of any battle fleet. They are very expensive and require huge
crews, numbering over a thousand strong, to man them. Needless to say
only the largest nations will possess such warships.
- Second Rates make up the bulk of the navies of larger nations.
These are workhorse ships that are significantly cheaper then the First
rates, but still very powerful.
- Third Rates are very useful ships, powerful enough to be used
in the battle line, but small and cheap enough to be dispatched for other
duties such as the escort of convoys.
- Fourth Rates are the smallest sized ship that can be included
in the line of battle and still have a hope of surviving.
- Frigates are the eyes of the fleet. They are fast adn
manuverable adn are often used for reconissance and communications within
a large fleet. Frigates can also be used to interdict enemy commerce,
hunt down pirates, and escort convoys.
- Sloops are small warships best used in the littorals, that is
shallow seas and coastal areas where larger ships have difficultly manuvering.
Sloops are useful to maintain lines of communication and supply for
your own forces, and harrass those of your enemies.
Besides these ships all fleets are made up of smaller vessels that perform
a wide variety of duties, such as picket and dispatch vessels, smaller commerce
raiders, revenue cutters, supply ships etc.
There are other ships in service yet also. The Spanish Navy still maintains
a few galleys. These ships are considered to be obsolete but still
prove useful in certain situations. Even a First-Rate Man O' War carrying
120 guns can be destroyed by a single galley if it is becalmed. Galleys
require crews of several hundred rowers, and carry only a handful of guns,
mounted for and aft.
Chapter 2: Shipbuilding
Before you can sail your fleet around the ocean causing trouble, you'll need
to build it. Or if you have a fleet already, you may wish to expand
it to face outside threats. Most coastal nations have shipbuilding
facilites of some sort, although the quality and size varies. Thus
Prussian shipyards in Pomerenia will be unable to produce First rate Battleships
without first ebign expanded and improved. The same applies to many
of the states of Italy. However traditional naval powers(Britian, France,
Denmark, Holland, Sweden, Spain) have the nessecary infastructure in place
to produce these warships.
There is also the matter of naval stores and lumber. Most areas of
Europe have been deforested to the point where lumber suitable for the construction
of warships is no longer available. Lumber is imported from several
still-forested regions (hint: these might be useful places to control.) Naval
stores is a broader category that includes materials such as tar and ropes.
Naval stores can be produced domestically however most of it is imported
from these regions that also provide lumber.
The British, Dutch, Danish and the other northern European naval powers obtain
their lumber from areas around the Baltic, chiefly Sweden and Finland.
France, Spain and the Mediterranean powers obtain the bulk of their lumber
from the Balkans althought France is also dependent on certain lumbers from
the Baltic.
There are also sources of lumber outside of Europe some of which fall within
the spheres of influence of various colonial powers. Canada produces
naval stores and lumber, as does Brazil. However the infastructure
nessecary to produce enough of these products of supply a large fleet is
not in place. Even were it to be built there is also the expense of
transporting to be reckoned with. The United States is another source
of supplies and it is self sufficent when it comes to shipbuilding.
Chapter 3: Manning the Fleet
Now that you've built your fleet of massive warships that will make your
enemies quake with terror, you need to find crews. That may prove difficult
for some of you, and nearly impossible for others.
First we want to find seamen with sailing experience. This necessitates
a suitably large merchant marine. Nations such as Great Britain, Holland,
and the US have a large pool of merchant sailors to draw upon.
Others, like Denmark, have an equally large pool of fishermen. However most
of us lack that vital resource and are forced to train civilians. You
also need officers to command these fleets. The French Fleet suffered
many defeats during this era because the nobility, which had provided the
bulk of the officer corps, fled the nation.
Recruitment is also an issue. Many fleets are known for their harsh
regimens, especially Great Britain. The British have traditionally
resorted to the press gang, taking criminals, beggars and the poor and forcing
them into service. Other fleets, such as the US Navy, are a bit more
pleasant to serve in and consist of volunteers. Once you have sailors, its
important to be nice to them. Keep them well fed and paid on time or
you will end up like the British did in the 1790s, with entire fleets mutinying.
Chapter 4: Navies by Nation
This section attempts to provide a short description of the fleets of each
nation. If you disagree with my description of your particular nation,
present your case and I might change what I’ve written.
- Spain: Spain possess a large navy, however its quality leaves much
to be desired. Spanish ships are of an older design and require much
larger crews then those of other nations. Spanish ships carry much
greater numbers of soldiers aboard then other navies.
- Great Britain: The British navy is the worlds best, in terms of seamanship.
British sailors are the best in the world. Their ships are another story.
When compared to contemporary ships of other nations they are smaller, slower,
not as maneuverable and carry less weaponry.
- France: French ships are, from a technical perspective, superior to
the vessels of all other powers. However the Revolution has cost the
French Navy the bulk of its officer corps and many of its best trained sailors.
Years of neglect have also left the French fleet rather small when compared
to other powers.
- Holland: The Dutch have a small but proficient navy. It lacks
the battleships that the French and British sail, as the Estates General
wishes to avoid the expense of such a fleet, however Dutch shipbuilders and
among the worlds finest and they can draw from an experienced manpower pool.
- Denmark: The Danes have a large merchant fleet that ranges throughout
the world, althought most of their trade is concentrated in the Baltic. They
maintain a large fleet in an attempt to control the Baltic. Their ships
are equal in quality to those of the other major maritime powers.
- Sweden: The Swedes have built and maintained a sizeable fleet
in an attempt to maintain the balance of power with their Danish rivals.
- United States: The American fleet is relatively tiny, with a few locally
produced frigates. However the American fleet is second only to the
British in terms of seamanship.
- Russia: Russia is in the process of building a navy but it lacks the
technical expertise and seamanship that other nations have.
- Italy: Several of the Italian states maintain war fleets. They
are small fleets made up of smaller ships, and are no threat to any of the
major maritime powers, althought they can be a threat to the Ottomans, or
when working in concert with another maritimee power.
- Ottoman Empire: The Ottoman navy is sizeable, althought its quality
is lacking when compared to the more advanced nations in Europe. However
it should not be ignored as it controls the Eastern Mediterreanean and can
project Ottoman power throughout that area as well as into the Black Sea.
Minor naval powers such as Poland, Prussia and Austria do not have fleets
of sufficient size or quality to pose a major threat to any of the other
powers.
Several of the other non-European powers maintain fleets. Persia maintains
a small fleet in the Persian Gulf, which could pose a threat to smaller European
squadrons in the area. The Marathas Confederation in India maintains
a medium-sized fleet of gunboats, which have proven to be a threat to numerically
inferior European forces.
Chapter 5:Piracy, Privateering and Commerce Raiding
Commerce is the lifeblood of many European nations. Merchant ships
ply the trade routes between distant ports carrying cargoes ranging from
wheat to exotic spices. Whalers and fishing vessels traverse the seas
hunting their quarry. And, with a few notable exceptions, they are
all unarmed and helpless.
The cheapest way to go after enemy shipping is to commission privateers.
A privateer is a private individual with a letter of marquee from a nation's
government. This letter makes them technically part of the naval forces
of that nation, and exempts them from being treated like pirates. Privateers
will hunt after enemy commerce, and then capture and sell the ships and cargoes
for their own profits.
Another option is to use ships from your fleet as dedicated commerce raiders.
These ships have the advantage of being, for the most part, faster and better
armed than any privateer. The cargoes from captured ships will then
be turned over to your government for your own use (minus of course the bonus
paid to the crew.) This is a favorite tactic of the French. As
they could not hope to meet the English navy head on they would dispatch
commerce raiders to attack English merchants while maintaining most of their
larger vessels in a fleet that could threaten Britain itself.
Piracy for the most part, has been wiped out in the areas most heavily traveled
by European shipping. Piracy in the Baltic, Atlantic and Mediterranean
is virtually unheard of. There is still some piracy off of the coast
of India, but the heaviestly-infested waters are those of the South China
Sea and Indonesia.
Chapter 6: Combat
Here is the part you've all been waiting for, combat. I could get all Sun-Tzu
on you and say the best victory is the one that doesn’t require fighting,
but that’s no fun to RP, now is it?
First off we must remember that large-scale fleet actions were relatively
uncommon. During the Napoleonic Wars only 3 major naval battles come
to mind: Aboukir Bay, Copenhagen and Trafalgar. While there will probably
be more large scale battles in the RP, since people enjoy doing that sort
of thing, the fact that it is terribly ahistorical in most settings should
be remembered.
Most battles were small, only a handful of vessels involved. Often
the battles were just duels between two relatively equal ships. A frigate
would never face a first-rate as the frigate would have fled long before
then. All vessels, even warships, will flee from larger vessels.
This has been exploited to some extent by the captains of Indiamen, vessels
who are easily the same size as a second-rate warship, but mount less than
20 guns. A more heavily armed frigate would avoid engaging what appears
(at least form a distance) to be a superior vessel.
In ship-to-ship combat the aim of each vessel is to destroy or capture the
other. Certain nations, like Spain for instance, favor closing within
a short range of the enemy and boarding them. Other nations
who carry fewer marines aboard ship prefer to remain further away.
One common tactic is to maneuver your ship so that you are perpendicular
to your opponent. This allows you to disable their rudder, or sweep
their decks with grapeshot to kill their crews (raking fire). Many
vessels carry a few guns fore and aft (these are called bow and stern chasers,
respectively) so that they continue to fire, albeit at a much-reduced rate,
upon a vessel attempting this.
This tactic was also used in fleet actions. During battles fleets would
be arranged in lines parallel to the opponents line. Admirals would
attempt to maneuver vessels between the stern and bow of two enemy vessels
and then fire upon them. This tactic is known as "crossing the T."
The best example of this would be the battle between the French and English
at Aboukir Bay.