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Friday, April 16, 2004

More Privateers Bounty tests: The Battle of the Kentish Knock

As I was concentrating on the battle, I did not take any more pictures, but this last simulation run was noteworthy. I ran the Battle of the Kentish Knock with my revised setup, better reflecting the actual ship positions at the start of the battle, and the Dutch did well.

Historically, at the start, the Dutch were sailing westward. I grouped the entire Dutch fleet together (CTRL-1, after selecting them all). I then set the formation to be the single line. Then, I set a new position point way to the East. I did not bother to try to turn them downwind. Instead, I let the simulation turn them. What happened is that they turned towards the wind, essentially tacking, and this allowed the leading English ships to close.

I believe that many English ships were still headed towards the Dutch, while they rapidly formed up, heading East. That let the Dutch "cross the T", pretty much. In any case, they kept sailing East, without changing course. Several ships were caught behind, so I adjusted their sails to be fully set, rather than in "battle mode". That enabled them to break free and start to escape. The only English ship in pursuit, far to the East, was the 3rd Rate Speaker.

When I shut the simulation down, the Dutch still had 97% of their ships while the English were reduced to 90% of their ships. This was actually a more realistic style battle, in that it was not a "fight to the finish".

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