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oooh! Is James actually giving credit to the American ship for seriously damaging Endymion's rigging? That's novel! :wink: (although I must concede that David could say the same about Roosevelt!)
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Not exactly. Not making excuses, just looking at the tactical situation. I am not discrediting Hope either, but Decatur was fighting knowing that the other RN frigates were closing in, note that line...

I believe a contemporary account noted that the US 44 class heavy frigates had the scantlings of a 74. The problem of course being that there could never be enough of them, which is why British...