2 vs 2 Frigate Action

[TexaS]

Very good fights, both of them!

About listing I have to say that I was a bit surprised at how little the brig La Grace listed. At 15 knots wind at 90 degrees she was completely straight in the sea with fore staysail, fore course, fore top sail, fore top gallant and main staysail set. It was up to 17 in gusts and if it had increased over to 20 we were told to fall off. That brig was built from af Chapman’s drawings of about 1775. More modern sailing boats and my experience from the brig Tre Kronor of a design from about 1840ies are that they list very much more but are of a more stable design. That is, the shape of the hull makes them less prone to turn into the wind when listing and get more “lift” on the leeward side from the listening.

By the way... I’ll mention it again as I learned it by doing the same mistake, only the center arc can rake.

[Dobbs]

About listing I have to say that I was a bit surprised at how little the brig La Grace listed. At 15 knots wind at 90 degrees she was completely straight in the sea with fore staysail, fore course, fore top sail, fore top gallant and main staysail set. It was up to 17 in gusts and if it had increased over to 20 we were told to fall off. That brig was built from af Chapman’s drawings of about 1775. More modern sailing boats and my experience from the brig Tre Kronor of a design from about 1840ies are that they list very much more but are of a more stable design. That is, the shape of the hull makes them less prone to turn into the wind when listing and get more “lift” on the leeward side from the listening.

Jonas, I think you're confusing listing and heeling. When the wind blows and a ship heels, that's natural. When a ship lists, something is wrong.

Warships of this time period were designed to stay more upright than modern ships. They sacrificed of their ability to go to windward to match the angle of heel to the elevation capabilities of the gun carriages.