Advanced Tactics, Tuesday, 7th Period

[harringtongreen.livejournal.com]

The students entered the Dangershop, this time finding themselves aboard a vintage ship of the line, circa 1805. Admiral Harrington stood on the deck, clad in her Manticoran uniform. A square table stood in the center of the deck, painted blue with brownish masses around the edges. If one looked closely, it might resemble the Atlantic Ocean, off the Spanish coast. Small, hand-carved models with tiny sails dotted the blue expanse, clearly in fleet formation. A smaller table, with the sign in sheet and syllabus waiting was just to the right of the entrance; a paper-sized gap remained, perfect spot for the students to turn in their homework. Strangely, Nimitz was nowhere to be seen...unless one looked up into the masts.

“Good afternoon, all,” Honor said, giving a taut smile, “and welcome to the age of sail. Gather around the table, please, and we’ll get started.”

Pausing long enough to allow the students to gather a bit closer to the table, she then charged ahead. “You are currently aboard a rendition of the HMS Victory, the ship of the line captained by Admiral Lord Nelson in the 1805 Battle of Trafalgar. We’ll get to our purpose here momentarily, but first -- I asked you last week to review the information on the 1588 battle between the English fleet and the Spanish armada. Most of the current history seems to indicate that it was the birth of Britain as a major sea power. Do you agree or disagree?”

She allowed a few answers before continuing. “Regardless of the outcome, then, it remains pretty clear that command of the seas was – and is – an important means of growing a power base. After the French Revolution, a man by the name of Napoleon Bonaparte was appointed ‘emperor for life,’ and attempted to strengthen his domain – France – by means of conquest and a strong Navy. The British, as the major sea power of the time, countered him. The Battle of Trafalgar is one of the most famous battles in the Napoleonic Wars. Nelson’s victory there secured Britain as the preeminent sea power for almost a century.

“Now, battles on the sea have some parallels with land battles.” Honor pursed her lips. “Can anyone guess what some of those similarities might be?”

Having swept through some of the similarities, the admiral continued her lecture. “So, while we still have an order of battle at sea, tactics during this time were governed by very different principles. First and foremost, a ship of the line during this time cannot sail directly into the wind. This means that attack vectors vary, and are prescribed by the wind direction. Typically, they could only go about seventy degrees off-wind. As a result, admirals weren’t nearly as nimble as generals were.

“Second, armament during this time – and I’m sure you’ve all seen it in the movies – consisted of cannon, lined up along the port and starboard hulls. In order to get a shot, it was necessary to maneuver alongside the vessel before lighting the fuse. Ships of this time period were heavily reinforced on the broadsides; a sneaky admiral wanting a deadly shot would aim for the more vulnerable areas, the bow and the stern.” Honor made sure to gesture, indicating the front and back of the ship as she mentioned them. “If the battle wasn’t decided in this manner, it was then left to boarding parties.

“Third, there was no voice-powered telephone, no morse code, nor cell phones; to say that communication between ships was difficult understates the problem. Signal flags existed, of course, just as they do now, but could be somewhat unreliable. Not only could the enemy – if they knew your signals – figure out what was coming, but if the masts were taken down during battle, or lost in the fog, there was no way to relay messages across the distance separating the ships.”

Honor leant down over the table, resting her weight on her palms, flat against the hard surface. “So Nelson came up with a plan. Looking at it now, can you see what was a little different about his plan of attack?” She pointed to the models as she spoke. “As you can see here, he actually approached the French and Spanish fleet head-on – very different for a time when broadsides were relied upon for strikes. The idea was to get his fleet close to the action as quickly as possible, breaking the battle down into clusters, rather than line-by-line. Which, if you think about it, given the British success rate, was a brilliant idea; they were more likely to win those types of battles than either the French or Spanish crews. A second line, lead by his second-in-command would come from the rear and engage.

“The problem with this plan is that it left the bow of the lead ships wide open to fire from the waiting French and Spanish fleet. This, Nelson said, had to be left to chance; he knew he couldn’t plan for every contingency. So, he gambled on the fact that the opposition gunners were poorly trained and lousy shots.

“Unfortunately for Nelson, the French boarding crew aboard the Redoutable were better shots. A musketball fired from the mizzenmast” – and again she pointed, this time, upward – “hit Nelson in the shoulder and lodged in his spine. He died before he could see the end of the battle and British victory.

“Which leads us,” Honor continued, “to our lesson today. Today, we will be familiarizing ourselves with the layout of a ship of the line, and practice-firing our cannon.”


Reaching under the table with the tactical model, Honor withdrew a box and opened it. Inside were several minicomps, complete with stylus. “I want you to break off into pairs. Each pair gets one minicomp to share. Using the information on your screens, I want you to find each of the locations listed. The systems will automatically update when you reach them. Once you’ve completed that, meet me below decks…and pick up some earplugs on the way down. You’ll stay in pairs for your target practice.”

A lopsided grin twitched at her lips as Nimitz leapt down from the nearby mast and landed in her arms. “Have at, ladies and gentlemen. I’ll see you below.” She turned, then paused. “Oh, and look out for the rats and weevils.”

[OCD threads coming up! Lecture heavily cribbed from here, here, and here at Wikipedia.]

Comments

Sign-in and Turn-in

[harringtongreen.livejournal.com]

Sign in, grab a syllabus, and make sure to turn in your papers.

Re: Sign-in and Turn-in

[defiantlyyours.livejournal.com]

Number 6 handed in his handwaved, many apologies paper.

Discussion 1

[harringtongreen.livejournal.com]

I asked you last week to review the information on the 1588 battle between the English fleet and the Spanish armada. Most of the current history seems to indicate that it was the birth of Britain as a major sea power. Do you agree or disagree?

Re: Discussion 1

[cat-in-the-box.livejournal.com]

"It was the first major naval victory for them," Schrodinger said. "And when you take down an enemy like the Spanish Armada, people start listening to you when you threaten naval attack."

Re: Discussion 1

[once-a-king.livejournal.com]

"Yes, certainly," Peter said. "It proved to the Spaniards that England wasn't going to stand to be bullied by them. It opened the seaways to England allowing them to settle the colonies and roam the Northern seas without opposition."

Re: Discussion 1

[sarcasm-guy.livejournal.com]

"Uh... Agree?" Sokka hazarded. It seemed the easiest answer.

Re: Discussion 1

[socksofcool.livejournal.com]

"I'm going to go with the flow on this one and agree," Seely said.

Discussion 2

[harringtongreen.livejournal.com]

“Now, battles on the sea have some parallels with land battles.” Honor pursed her lips. “Can anyone guess what some of those similarities might be?”

Re: Discussion 2

[cyclopeanmerc.livejournal.com]

"Both involve heavy chains of command?" Pip ventured.

Re: Discussion 2

[2-twin-devils-2.livejournal.com]

"Planning?" The twins guessed. All of this was a little hard to digest, since they'd never been around, involved or had to worry about sea or land battles.

Re: Discussion 2

[once-a-king.livejournal.com]

"Possible problems with supplies and a supply train," Peter said. "Either an army or a fleet can be cut off from its supplies. An army marches on its stomach no less than a navy sails on hardtack and gunpowder."

Re: Discussion 2

[sarcasm-guy.livejournal.com]

"Artillery," Sokka answered grumpily, from experience. "And generals with big egos. And, uh, tactics. You have to know your enemy's strengths and weaknesses, and how to defend against them."

Re: Discussion 2

[threeweapons.livejournal.com]

"Weather being distruptive to plans?"

Re: Discussion 2

[socksofcool.livejournal.com]

"Terrain dictates tactics for both," Seely said. "You just get a bit more variety with land battles."

Get to Know Victory

[harringtongreen.livejournal.com]

Areas such as the forecastle (pronounced more like "folksail"), mast, wheel, anchor, berthing, and more were scattered about the ship. It gave the students a chance to talk amongst themselves while conducting the smaller-scale scavenger hunt.

And, as Harrington had warned, there was the occasional rat or weevil to be seen...especially near the food supplies.

Re: Get to Know Victory

[cat-in-the-box.livejournal.com]

Schrodinger played with mini-comp and looked around for a partner.

Re: Get to Know Victory

[cyclopeanmerc.livejournal.com]

Pip looked around for a partner and mused that he was glad that this wasn't real.

He was probably the biggest and most notable target.

Re: Get to Know Victory

[once-a-king.livejournal.com]

Peter was quite possibly shining with the glee of being able to explore the ship of one of his boyhood idols. He already had studied and memorised the layout of the Victory when he was a little boy so he just looked around, pacing out distances and looking up into the riggings to see if he'd possibly be allowed to climb it.

Re: Get to Know Victory

[threeweapons.livejournal.com]

Alanna...stayed away from the ship. Far away from the ship. She was also a touch green.

Ready, Aim, Fire...?

[harringtongreen.livejournal.com]

Below decks, Honor waited with a somewhat skittish Nimitz. He had donned his own ear protection, the same he wore when accompanying his person to the shooting range. Climbing into his usual spot on her shoulder, he perched with his ears laid back. He was not thrilled with this particular exercise.

Directions waited for the students at each of the cannon stations. Beyond the porthole, models could be seen, set up by the Dangershop as targets. Honor was available to assist if needed.

Re: Ready, Aim, Fire...?

[sarcasm-guy.livejournal.com]

Sokka took one look at the directions and promptly ignored them. He hung back and waited to watch everyone else.

After Class

[harringtongreen.livejournal.com]

At the appropriate time, Honor called an end to the cannon fire. Some of the students weren't bad shots; some results showed how inaccurate cannon could be at long range.

"Homework this time is to study the tactical operations Nelson used at Trafalgar. Make up your own plans -- both as Nelson's fleet and as the French and Spanish fleet. You'll be divided up next week to fight it out.

"...and yes the safety protocols will be on." She smiled. "Now, dismissed!"

Re: After Class

[threeweapons.livejournal.com]

"Um...professor Harrington? Ma'am?"

OOC

[harringtongreen.livejournal.com]

So my own sense of seamanship has gone the way of the dodo. Then again, I was more of a nuclear Navy type of gal...;)

Re: OOC

[harringtongreen.livejournal.com]

And no worries about handwaving the papers...it's kinda expected. ;)