INWarD 2019

[Bligh]

This idea for my game came from the post by Coog for today in 2012.

On This Day 6 August.

6 August 1805, Contre-Admiral Charles-Alexandre Durand Linois in the 74-gun Marengo, accompanied by the 40-gun Belle Poule, discovered a convoy of eleven large ships sailing eastwards along the trade route from the Cape to Madras at 19°09′S 81°22′E. Closing to investigate the convoy, which was shrouded in fog, Linois was again cautious, unwilling to engage until he was certain that no Royal Navy ships lay among the East Indiamen. At 4 nautical miles (7.4 km) distance it became clear that one of the ships was certainly a large warship, flying a pennant indicating the presence of an admiral on board. This ship was HMS Blenheim, a ship of the line built in 1761 as a 90-gun second rate but recently cut down to 74-guns. She was commanded by Captain Austen Bissell and flew the flag of Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Troubridge, a prominent officer who had been sent to the Indian Ocean to assume command of half of Pellew's responsibilities after a political compromise at the Admiralty. Troubridge's flagship was the convoy's only escort, leading ten East Indiamen through the Indian Ocean to Madras.

As at Pulo Aura, the Indiamen formed line in preparation for Linois's attack, and once again Linois refused to engage them directly: Blenheim was a powerful ship capable of inflicting fatal damage on Marengo even if the French managed to defeat her, an uncertain outcome given the presence of the heavily armed merchant ships. Instead, Linois swung in behind the convoy, hoping to cut off a straggler. These maneuvers were too complex for a poorly manned East Indiaman, Brunswick, that had been taken as a prize on 11 July, and she fell out of the French formation and was soon left behind, disappearing over the horizon. At 17:30, Marengo pulled within range of the rearmost East Indiaman and opened a long-range fire, joined by Belle Poule. The rear ship Cumberland, a veteran of the Battle of Pulo Aura, was unintimidated and returned fire as Blenheim held position so that the convoy passed ahead and the French ships rapidly came up with her. Opening a heavy fire with the main deck guns, Troubridge was able to drive the French ships off, even though his lower deck guns were out of service due to the heavy seas that threatened to flood through the lower gunports. Linois, concerned for the safety of his masts, pressed on all sail and by 18:00 had gone beyond range of Blenheim's guns and overtaken the convoy, remaining within sight until nightfall.

At midnight, the French ships crossed the bows of the convoy and by morning were 4 nautical miles (7.4 km) to windward, to the south. Troubridge maintained his line throughout the night and at 07:00 on 7 August 1805 he prepared to receive the French again as Linois bore down on the convoy. Retaining their formation, the combined batteries of the Indiamen and Blenheim dissuaded Linois from the pressing the attack and he veered off at 2 nautical miles (3.7 km) distance, holding position for the rest of the day before turning southwards at 21:00 and disappearing. Troubridge wanted to pursue in Blenheim, but was dissuaded by the presence of Belle Poule, which could attack the convoy while the ships of the line were engaged. He expressed confidence however that he would have been successful in any engagement and wrote "I trust I shall yet have the good fortune to fall in with him when unencumber'd with convoy". Linois's withdrawal was prudent: his mainmast had been struck during the brief cannonade and was at risk of collapse if the engagement continued. Losses among the crew were light, Marengo suffering eight men wounded and Belle Poule none. British casualties were slightly heavier, a passenger on Blenheim named Mr. Cook was killed by langrage shot and a sailor was killed on the Indiaman Ganges by a roundshot. No British ships suffered anything more than superficial damage in the combat, and the convoy continued its journey uninterrupted, arriving at Madras on 23 August.



I decided to just use the ships which are named in the action, with three more to represent the rest of the convoy.
They would only be allowed one broadside per ship to reflect the small crew who could not reload and sail the ships. Only Blenheim and Cumberland who I classed as an armed Indiaman.
The Brunswick was only allowed to proceed on backing sails to reflect her slow speed in the action.
With these caveats in place the action was then allowed to progress as it happened with the French controlled by AI.

Here you see the set up for the commencement of the action.




I will attempt to get the rest of the action up tomorrow.

Rob.