Ship of the Line

Sea Battles in the

Age of Fighting Sail

FJGaming
 Ship of the Line

Ship of the Line

Table of Contents
Introduction.............................................. 3 Historical Context.................................... 20
What you need................................................ 3 Historical Scenarios........................................ 20
Dice Rolling and other conventions..................... 3 Historical Ships........................................ 32
Game Terms................................................... 3 Counters.................................................. 45
Credits........................................................... 3 Glossary of Naval Terms.......................... 59
Basic Rules................................................ 5
The Sea Map................................................... 5
The Weather Gauge......................................... 5
Setting Up...................................................... 5
Round Order................................................... 5
Stern Chase.................................................... 6
Gunnery......................................................... 7
Attacking........................................................ 7
Damage......................................................... 7
Raking Fire..................................................... 7
Sinking........................................................... 8
Grappling and Ramming................................... 8
Boarding Actions.............................................. 8
Capturing Ships............................................... 8
Escape........................................................... 8
Victory........................................................... 8
Ships............................................................. 9
Notation................................................... 10
Introductory Scenario.............................. 11
Advanced Rules....................................... 12
Legendary Officers......................................... 12
Forts............................................................ 13
Shallows....................................................... 13
Coastline...................................................... 13
Harbours....................................................... 14
Islands......................................................... 14
Estuaries...................................................... 14
Prize Money................................................... 14
Campaign Play............................................... 14
Optional Rules......................................... 15
Readiness..................................................... 15
Fire ships...................................................... 15
Explosion ships.............................................. 15
Floating Battery............................................. 16
Bomb Vessel................................................. 16
Towing......................................................... 16
Currents....................................................... 16
Booms.......................................................... 16
Galleys......................................................... 17
Wind Shadows............................................... 17
Strong Winds................................................. 17
Scenario Generation................................ 18

1
 Ship of the Line

2
 Ship of the Line
Introduction to Ship of the Line
Ship of the Line is a game of sea battles from the “Age of Fighting Sail” inspired by works such as the
Hornblower series and the Jack Aubrey books of Patrick O'Brian.
The game is played in a series of rounds. In each round each ship moves according to its facing relative to
the wind direction and may fire guns. Its captain may issue orders to it, in secret, which are then carried out
simultaneously with the orders of every other captain. Orders can cause a ship to increase or decrease its
amount of sail, change heading or perform some other general order such as repairing damaged systems or
trying to grapple an enemy ship. Larger ships carry more guns and can absorb more damage than smaller,
more maneuverable vessels.

What you need

Lots of six-sided dice and one twenty-sided dice for each player.
Printed out sea map.
Printed out and assembled counters.

Dice Rolling and other conventions

d20 a twenty sided dice.
d6 a six sided dice.
d3 roll a single six sided dice and divide the result in half, rounding up (eg.. 1 or 2 becomes 1, 3 or 4
becomes 2, 5 or 6 becomes 3).

Game Terms
Captain: The player who controls a given ship is the Captain of that ship.
Gun dice: A six-sided dice which is rolled when attacking an enemy ship, represents several guns mounted
on a ship. The number of gun dice a ship has represents both the number of guns, and the general
robustness of the ship.
Maneuver: A numbered maneuver which a ship can perform.
Aft: The back of a ship. The back of a ship is also referred to as the stern.
Port: The left hand side of a ship (looking forward).
Starboard: The right hand side of a ship (looking forward).
Fore: The front of a ship, also referred to as the prow.
Heading: The direction a ship is facing in.
Tile: A single section of a map.
Map: One or more tiles placed side by side.
Sailing Dice: Each ship has a single d20 which is called its “Sailing Dice”. Each round this dice is secretly set
to show the maneuver number chosen by the ships player that round.
Range: To calculate the range between two ships count the number of squares from the first ship to the
second, including the square the second ship is in. Do not count across diagonals. The diagram below shows
the range of each square from the ship:

3 2 3
2 1 2
1 1

Credits
Writing, Design and Development: Jonathan Clarke
Play testers: Dave Stark, Martin Wharton, Kath and Andy McLelland, Paul and Sarah Mellor
Proof-reading: Alison Ross

©2004 Jonathan Clarke. All Rights Reserved. This game is protected under the copyright laws of the United
Kingdom. Any reproduction or unauthorised use of the material herein is prohibited without the express
written permission of Jonathan Clarke.

3
 Ship of the Line
Using the Game
These rules are broken down into three broad parts; the Basic rules, the Advanced Rules and Optional Rules.
To start with you may wish to peruse the glossary of naval terms to get a feel for the terminology used in the
game. Next read the Basic rules thoroughly. Once you have done that you are ready to try the introductory
scenario, which is given at the end of the Basic rules.
Play this through then move to the Advanced rules and read them. Use the scenario generator to create a
scenario and play it through, using all the advanced rules.
Once you are happy with using the Advanced rules you may wish to introduce some of the optional rules, and
maybe try out one of the historical scenarios.
The optional rules can be used as and when you wish, although I'd suggest you get comfortable with all the
Advanced rules before trying out any optional rules.

4

Basic Rules
The Sea Map
Ship of the line is played on one or more of the
included sea maps. Ship markers are placed in the
squares on the map, and moved from square to
square. Ranges are always counted from long edge
to long edge, never across diagonals.
The Weather Gauge
At the start of the game both sides should roll a d6,
the highest rolling side is considered to have the
weather gauge and may choose which map edge
they wish to set-up on (a hint; it is usually a good
idea to set up on the edge the wind is blowing
from). In the event of ties, re-roll until one side
wins.
Setting Up
Ships must be placed within two squares of the
map edge they choose to start from (unless stated
otherwise by any special rules for the scenario).
Battle of Negapatam (Dominic Serres, the elder, 1786)
5
Ship of the Line
Round Order
Each round is broken down into six phases,
performed in the following order:
1. Order Phase: Each player chooses a maneuver
for each of their ships and, in secret, sets that
ships sailing dice to that maneuvers number
(grappled ships do not set orders).
2. Move Phase: All ships reveal their Sailing Dice
and are moved accordingly.
3. Firing Phase: All guns may be fired (grappled
ships cannot fire).
4. Sinking Phase: Any ship with no gun dice left
sinks and is removed from the map.
5. Grappling Phase: Ships in the same square
may grapple one another.
6. Boarding Phase: If enemy ships have grappled
roll for boarding actions.
7. Surrender Phase: Any Captain may choose to
surrender any of their ships in this phase.
 Ship of the Line
Orders Certain Restrictions apply to what maneuvers a
In the Order phase each player must choose a given ship can set their Sailing dice to:
maneuver for each ship they control. Choose the
maneuver from the maneuver table (which can be • A ship facing into the wind can only choose from
found at the end of these rules) and then set the the Close Hauled maneuvers (1-8).
Sailing dice to show that number, this is done in • A ship facing 90 degrees away from the wind can
secret and the sailing dice kept concealed. choose from the Close Hauled maneuvers or
Reaching maneuvers (1-13).
The key to movement in Ship of the Line is a ships • A ship facing away from the wind can choose
facing relative to the wind direction at the start of a from the Close Hauled, Reaching or Running
round. maneuvers (1-20).
If the ship is facing into the wind it is considered to • Cutters and Sloops can use all Maneuvers.
be “close hauled”. If a ship is facing directly away • Frigates can never use Maneuvers 19-20.
from the wind direction it is considered to be • Ships of the Line can never use Maneuvers 17-
“running”. If a ship is facing perpendicular to the 20.
wind direction it is considered to be “reaching”. • Large Ships of the Line can never use Maneuvers
15-20.
Wind Wind
Direction Direction
Stern Chase
ò ò If a ship (the chaser) begins the round facing in the
same direction as another ship (the chased) and in
one of its chasing squares it is considered to be
chasing the other ship.
Close Any The chased ships Captain plots movement as
Hauled
Maneuvers
Maneuver
normal, but must tell the chasing ships Captain
only whether the maneuver would leave them facing in
the same direction, to the left, to the right or the
opposite direction. The chasing ships Captain then
chooses their maneuver as normal. Note that the
chased ships Captain does have to tell the specific
Wind
Direction
Wind
Direction
maneuver they are using, just the facing at the end
of the maneuver.
ò ò

Close Close
Hauled or Hauled or
Reaching Reaching Chasing
Maneuvers Maneuvers
only only

The diagrams above summarise these maneuver Chasing Chasing Chasing

restrictions based on facing.

The chasing squares are in gray (N.B. this is not

like the firing arc diagrams, these four squares are
the chasing squares, if you are not in one of these
four squares you are not chasing).

6
 Ship of the Line
Gunnery hit for one damage. The five is more than twice the
Each ship has four firing arcs; fore, aft, port and range so is a hit for two damage. The target ship
starboard. It may have zero or more gun dice in takes three damage.
each arc.
These gun dice represent the guns mounted on the Damage
ship to to fire on targets in that arc. Roll 1d20 for each point of damage inflicted. Each
The table below illustrates a ships firing arcs. roll knocks out the ability to perform the maneuver
Targets in gray squares cannot be fired upon (the with the same number.
grey squares are considered to lie between firing For example, in the above example the target ship
arcs). took three damage so you would roll 1d20 three
times. If you rolled 7, 11 and 14 the target ship
could no longer use maneuvers 7, 11 & 14.
Fore Fore Fore If you roll a maneuver which has already gone lose
one dice from the guns on the side facing the
attacker (if there are no guns on the facing side
take the dice from another side, defenders choice
Port Fore Starboard
which).
For example, in the above example the ship lost
maneuvers 7, 11 & 14. If it had already lost
Port Port Starboard Starboard maneuver 14 through earlier damage it would
instead reduce the number of gun dice it had on the
side facing the attacker by one. If there were no
Port Aft Starboard gun dice left it would take the dice off one of the
other sides (the defenders choice which).

Aft Aft Aft

Raking Fire
Attacks from line ahead or line astern cause double
damage (roll to determine hits, then double the
damage inflicted). The table below shows a ships
During the firing phase a ship can fire at any line ahead and line astern squares. The grey shaded
targets within any of it's firing arcs by rolling one or squares are not line ahead or astern.
more of the gun dice in that arc. Once a gun dice
has been rolled it cannot be rolled again in the
same round.
Gun dice can all be used against the same target in
Line
an arc or split between multiple targets in the arc. Ahead
You can never use gun dice from one firing arc
against a target in another firing arc. Line
Ahead

Attacking
Roll the gun dice you have allocated to a target all
at once. You cannot allocate some dice, roll, then Line
Astern
choose to allocate more to the same target after
reviewing the effects of the first roll. Line
Each dice which, after rolling, shows a number Astern

equal to or greater than the range to the target

inflicts one damage.
Each dice which, after rolling, shows a number
equal to or greater than twice the range to the Raking fire represents sending a shot straight along
target inflicts two damage. the length of an enemy ship, ploughing through the
For example, a frigate allocates three gun dice gun decks, masts etc.... A devastating hit.
against a ship at range two. It rolls all three dice
and gets a one, a three and a five. The one is less
than the range to the target target, a miss. The
three is greater than or equal to the range so is a

7

Sinking
A ship sinks when it has no gun dice left. Note that
a ship may still have maneuvers when it sinks. Bear
in mind that, in Ships of the Line, a ships gun dice
represents both the number of guns it has and the
general robustness of it's hull.
Grappling and Ramming
When two or more ships end their movement in the
same square one or both may grapple the other.
Grappling is automatically successful and occurs in
the grappling phase.
A ship which is grappling, or has been grappled,
cannot plot maneuvers or fire guns until it escapes
the grapple.
Boarding Actions
A ship which has grappled another ship may board
it during the Boarding phase.
1. The boarding and boarded ship should roll all
their gun dice (for all firing arcs) and add them
up.
2. If one side more than doubles the others roll
they have captured the enemy ship or escaped
the grapple (their choice which).
3. Until that happens both ships are grappled
together, do not choose maneuvers and cannot
fire guns.
4. Both Captains may agree to disengage in the
surrender phase, in which case both ships can
choose maneuvers and fire as normal next
round.
5. If more than one friendly ship has grappled a
single enemy the friendly ships rolls are added
together before comparing the enemy ships roll.
Capturing Ships
A ship is captured when its Captain either
surrenders, or it loses a boarding action.
Escape
A ship escapes a battle when it moves off the edge
of a map. In some scenarios map edges may be
defined as coastline or hostile. A ship which tries to
leave via a coastline edge is destroyed. One which
tries to leave via a hostile edge is considered
captured.
8
Ship of the Line
Victory
There are two kinds of victory in Ship of the Line;
Tactical and Strategic.
A Tactical Victory is won when one side has no
more ships left on the map. All their ships must
have either been captured, run aground (a concept
addressed in the advanced rules), sunk or fled the
map.
At this point both sides must work out their victory
point totals. Each ship has a cost in points (found
on the ships table).
• If you sink an enemy ship your side receives its
full points value.
• If you capture an enemy ship your side receives
double its points value.
• If an enemy ship is damaged but escapes, you
receive half its points value.
A ship is “damaged” if it has lost at least half of its
maneuvers or gun dice.
A Strategic victory is won by the side with the
highest number of points at the end of the game.
You can win a tactical victory but lose the strategic
victory to your enemy (this is quite common in
raiding scenarios, where raiders enter the map then
try to cause as much damage as possible before
fleeing. Their aim is to inflict more damage on their
opponents than they take themselves, winning the
strategic victory).

Ships
Each ship is described as follows:
Name: The ships name.
Rate: The ships rate, largely determined by the
number of guns it mounts (see the historical ships
section for more information on determining the
rate of a ship).
Restricted Maneuvers: The maneuvers the ship
can never use.
Fore/Aft Gun Dice: The number of gun dice the
ship has in its fore/aft firing arcs.
Port/Starboad Gun Dice: The number of gun dice
the ship has in its port/starboard firing arcs.
Point Value: The points value of the ship.
Refits: Any refits the ship has received, such as
carronades, veteran crews, legendary officers and
the like.
Points Value
Each ship has a nominal points value. This is used
to balance scenarios. Some scenarios, particularly
historical ones, will specify ships for each side and
may not be balanced. Other scenarios will call on
both sides to choose a number of ships who's total
points value equals an agreed figure.
Ship of the Line
Merchant Ships
Merchant ships are a special case of ship. They are
not rated in the same way as other ships, and are
simply classed as large or small. In real world
terms, a merchant ship of one hundred tonnes
mass or less can be classed as a small merchant,
anything larger is a large merchant.
Standard Hull Table
The table below lists all the standard hull types
used in Ship of the Line, with their relevant details.
The “Guns” column has no game use, it is purely
informational. If you need to decide what hull type
a real-world ship was, simply find the row with the
number of guns it has, this is the Ship of the Line
hull type that ship would be considered to be.
For informational purposes, a ships approximate
1800 cost (in pounds sterling) equals its point value
times 2500. To get a dollar value multiply the
pounds value by four.
For example, a first rate ship of the line costs
24pts, which equates to a real-world purchase price
of 60,000 pounds sterling in 1800.

Gun Dice
Ships Rate Restricted Fore/Aft Port/ Point Value Guns
Maneuvers Starboard
Cutter - - 1/1 2 4 or less
Gunboat or Gunbrig - - 2/2 4 6-8
Sloop or Brig - 1/1 3/3 8 10-20
Sixth rate Frigate 19-20 1/1 4/4 10 22-28
Small Fifth rate Frigate 19-20 1/1 5/5 12 30-38
Large Fifth rate Frigate 19-20 1/1 6/6 14 40-48
Fourth rate Frigate 19-20 1/1 7/7 16 50-60
Third rate Ship of the Line 17-20 2/2 8/8 20 64-80
Second rate Ship of the Line 17-20 2/2 9/9 22 90-98
First rate Ship of the Line 17-20 2/2 10/10 24 100-110
Large First rate Ship of the Line 15-20 3/3 11/11 28 112-130
Huge First rate Ship of the Line 15-20 4/4 12/12 32 132 or more
Small merchant 17-20 - 1/1 1 4 or less
Large merchant 15-20 1/1 2/2 5 10 or less

9
 Ship of the Line
Notation
An easy way to record a ships details is as follows: 1

Fore Gun
Dice 4 19-20 4

Port Gun Lost Starboard

Dice Maneuvers Gun Dice 1

Aft Gun
Dice
This means it begins play unable to use maneuvers
19 or 20, and having four gun dice on its port and
starboard sides and one dice on fore and aft.
After a few rounds of combat it's details might look
At the start of the game the ships starting gun dice
like this.
are recorded in the appropriate box. In the centre
note the maneuvers the ships restricted maneuvers.
As a ship takes damage during play reduce the
number of gun dice accordingly, and record the loss 1
of maneuvers in the centre box.

As an example, a sixth rate Frigate would start off 19-20,

3 4
with the following details: 3, 7

The Frigate now has only three gun dice on its port
side, none to aft, and it's starboard and fore sides
are undamaged. In addition it has lost the ability to
perform maneuvers three and seven.

View of Port Royale, Jamaica (Richard Paton, C.1758)

10
 Ship of the Line
Introductory Scenario
This is a simple scenario designed for use with the
basic game rules.

Sides
The players divide up into two teams of as equal
sizes as possible and each player receives a single
sixth rate frigate.

Setup
If there are four or fewer players use a single tile. If
there are more than four players use four tiles to
form the map.

Four or fewer players

ò

More than four players

ò ò

The two teams set on opposite sides of the map,

each ship being placed within two squares of the
map edge. The arrows indicates wind direction.

Objective
The scenario is played until one side has won a
tactical victory.

11

Advanced Rules
Introduction
The advanced rules introduce a range of additional
rules which introduce more tactical complexity to
play. You should use the advanced rules once you
are comfortable with the basic rules.
Green Crew
Taking a green crew reduces the points cost of a
ship by 25%. If a ship has a green crew subtract
one from all gun dice rolls.
Veteran Crew
Taking a veteran crew increases the points cost of a
ship by 25%. If a ship has a veteran crew add one
to all gun dice rolls.
Carronades
The standard cannons of most ships fire a 24-32lb
cannon ball. The carronade fires a 42lb ball but is
much shorter than a standard cannon. It is usually
nicknamed a “smasher”. When outfitting a ship you
may opt to swap one or more gun dice for
carronade dice. This costs no extra points. When
you roll dice, roll the carronade dice separately
from the gun dice. Carronade dice are only d3's, but
they cause double damage (ie. a normal hit causes
two damage and if your attack roll is twice or more
the range to target you cause four damage).
12
Ship of the Line
Legendary Officers
Each Legendary office costs 10pts and is assigned
to one ship. With the exception of the admiral, the
benefit of a legendary officer only applies to the
ship they are assigned to.
Legendary Ability
Officer
Legendary Every ship on the Admirals side
Admiral gets +1 to each gun dice roll, but
if the Admirals ship is sunk or
flees every ship on your side gets
-1 to gun dice rolls until the end of
the battle (you cannot have more
than one Admiral on a given side).
Legendary You may re-roll one dice per
Captain round, but must take the new
result. You can also roll 2d6 to
determine who has the weather
gauge, take the best dice (instead
of the normal rule, where each
side only rolls one dice).
Legendary You can sail a frigate, brig or sloop
Sailing Master over shallows without running
aground and, after moving, you
may move one extra square
forward.
Legendary Anyone attacking your ship
Surgeon subtracts one from their attack
rolls.
Legendary Add one to all your attack rolls.
Gunner
Legendary You receive an extra dice on your
Quartermaster Boarding action roll and your ship
never starts a game unready (see
the optional readiness rules for
more information on this).
Legendary When a bomb vessel you are
Artillerist aboard fires, roll 3d6 to hit and
keep two of your choosing (see
the optional rules for information
on bomb vessels).
Legendary Roll 1d6 each round, on a 6 you
Boatswain restore one lost maneuver, or get
one lost gun dice back.
Some of the abilities of legendary officers relate to
 Ship of the Line
immediately runs aground and cannot plot
maneuvers again for the rest of the game.
When it comes to deciding when the game ends
ignore ships that have run aground, so, if one
side has destroyed, captured or forced to flee all
the other sides ships except those that have run
aground, the game ends.
If a run aground ship's side wins a tactical victory
the ship is refloated without any problem. If the
ships side loses then the run aground ship is
treated as captured.

Coastline
One, or more, map edges may be defined as
coastlines. A ship which leaves the map via a
Nelsons flagships at anchor (Nicholas Pocock, 1807) coastline edge is destroyed. The line of squares
along the map edge of a coastline edge is
considered to be shallows unless a scenario
states otherwise.
optional rules, they are presented here for
completeness.

If a ship with a legendary officer (or officers) is

sunk those officers are lost. If it is captured they
can be bought back for 5 points each.

Forts
Forts are fixed installations found either on
coastlines or islands. Each fort has one or more gun
dice which it can use against targets in any
direction. A fort is destroyed once all its gun dice
have gone. Unsurprisingly, forts do not plot
maneuvers.
When you hit a fort determine damage normally,
then divide it by three (round down), this reflects
the heavy construction of a fort.
Forts can use hot shot freely, and do not lose gun
dice on rolls of one. A forts point value is equal to
the total number of guns it has. Forts can be used
in raid objective scenarios by Side B (see the
scenario generation rules for more information on
objectives).
They can be placed in any square on the map. If
this square is adjacent to a coastline the fort is
assumed to be on land, if the fort is located in a sea
square it is assumed to be on a small rocky
outcrop. Forts can also be placed on islands.

Shallows
Some squares on a map may be marked as
shallows. Cutters, Gunboats and Gunbrigs may
move freely across such points, as may a Frigate,
Brig or Sloop with a Legendary Sailing Master. Any
other ship which enters a shallow square

13
 Ship of the Line
Harbours Estuaries
A harbour is a specific square (or squares) adjacent An estuary is where a river flows from the land into
to a coastline or island which is not a shallow. This the sea. Estuaries are parts of a coastline map edge
enables ships of any size to move adjacent to that which ships can safely exit by. The location of
island or coastline, on that spot. A small harbour is estuaries is known to all players and should be
one square, a large harbour is four squares along. marked on the map edge. A small estuary is one
Harbours may be natural bays, deep water channels square in width, a large one four squares in width.
or man-made havens. Ship of the Line does not
differentiate between these, they are all treated as Small
harbours using these rules. The position of a Coastline Estuary Coastline

harbour will be dictated by a scenario. The two

diagrams below illustrate a small and large Sea Sea Sea Sea Sea
harbour.

Coastline map edge

Coastline Large Estuary Coastline
Small
Harbour
Shallows Shallows Shallows Shallows
Sea Sea Sea Sea Sea Sea Sea Sea
Sea Sea Sea Sea Sea

Coastline map edge Prize Money

The side which wins should subtract the losing sides
Shallows Large Harbour Shallows
victory point score from its own. This represents the
cost to repair and re-arm after the battle. Of the
Sea Sea Sea Sea Sea Sea remaining points half are lost to the government.
The remaining half are split evenly between all the
players on the winning side and can be used to buy
Islands legendary officers or better crews.
In certain scenarios islands may be placed on the
map. An island covers one or more squares. If any Campaign Play
part of an island is in a square that whole square is In a campaign game each player's crew, officers
treated as an island square. Any ship which enters and ship(s) are taken from game to game,
an island square is immediately destroyed. Unless hopefully, improving over time.
explicity stated otherwise all the squares A player may spend their share of the prize money
immediately around an island are Shallows (this (if they won) on refitting their ships.
includes diagonally adjacent squares). Any ship In a campaign game damage to ships is
which tries to move onto a point covered by an automatically repaired between battles, unless a
Island counter is destroyed immediately. specific scenario states otherwise. Any ships which
are sunk or captured are replaced with ones of the
same value.
Captured ships are not used by the winning side,
they are taken by the King or Admiralty and prize
money given instead (as detailed above).
Shallows Shallows Shallows

Island
Shallows Shallows

Shallows Shallows Shallows

14

Optional Rules
Introduction
Once you have mastered the basic and advanced
rules you may wish to try using some of these
optional rules which introduce a few more options
into play.
Types of Shot
Guns normally fire round shot, which are heavy
round cannon balls made of iron. You may, if you
wish, fire other kinds of shot. You decide which kind
of shot to fire when you fire, but all guns must fire
the same kind of shot in a round.
Chain Shot
Chain shot consists of two weights connected by a
length of chain, and is specifically designed to
wreck sails and masts. Chain shot is used when you
wish to disable an opponent rather than sinking
them.
• When firing chainshot roll d3's rather than d6's.
• Chainshot does not reduce guns, if you hit an
already lost maneuver that point of damage is
lost.
Hot Shot
Normal round shot can be heated in fires before
firing, turning it red hot. This increases its damage
potential, but at some risk to the firing ship as the
fires may be upset on the gun deck and cause
damage to the ship.
• Hot shot causes one extra damage on a hit, but
any gun dice which comes up one when using
hot shot is lost permanently.
• Forts can fire hot shot without losing a gun dice
on a roll of one. They will normally fire hot shot
if not surprised in a scenario.
Grape Shot
Grape shot is a hail of shrapnel fired at an enemy
ship to clear its decks just prior to boarding. The
effects of grapeshot are already figured into the
boarding rules. It is just assumed that before a
grapple occurs grape shot is fired by both sides.
Readiness
Some scenarios may state that one or both sides is
not “Ready for action”. In this case the unready
side should roll 1d6 for each unready ship at the
start of each round. On a roll of 6 the ship is
readied and can choose maneuvers and fire this
round. Any other roll means it cannot act this round
15
Ship of the Line
(if you have a Veteran crew a roll of 5 or 6 readies
the ship). An unready ship is readied by its crew
rolling out the guns, raising the sails and so on.
Once an unready ship has made the roll of 6 it can
act as normal for the rest of the game.
Fire ships
Fire ships are older vessels which are loaded with
flammable materials, towed into place, then set
alight and left to drift into opposing positions. A fire
ship is towed to a desired location then set afire
and released. Each round it will move in the
direction it is facing.
• If it is running it moves two squares.
• If it is reaching it moves one square.
• If it is close hauled it does not move.
Once released a fire ships course cannot be
changed except as noted below in ramming. Any
ship which is in a square adjacent to the fire ship
after movement takes d6 damage from the flames
and jumping sparks. If the ship strikes an island or
coastline it is destroyed (if it enters a harbour and
moves through into the coastline it is also
destroyed). If it enters shallows it runs aground and
continues to burn for the rest of the game. If
another ship moves into the same square as a
fireship that ship takes 2d6 damage but can
immediately change the fire ships facing by 90
degrees.
A fire ship can be destroyed by inflicting 50 damage
on it and costs 10pts.
Explosion ships
Explosion ships are treated like fire ships, but with
the following rules changes:
• An explosion ship costs 10pts.
• Ships in adjacent squares take no damage from
an explosion ship until it explodes.
• The explosion ship explodes when:
• Another ship ends movement in the same
square as it.
• It runs into shallows, coastline or an island.
• It takes more than five points of damage in
one round.
When it explodes any ship in the same square takes
8d6 damage, one square away 4d6 damage, two
squares away 2d6 damage and three squares away
1d6 damage.

Floating Battery
A floating battery is basically a floating gun-
platform which is towed to a location and, from
there, defends it. A frigate or larger vessel can tow
a floating battery.
• A floating battery has five dice in each firing arc.
• Half the damage inflicted on a floating battery
(rounded down) and each point remaining
destroys one gun dice.
• A floating battery costs 10pts.
Ship of the Line
Booms
A boom is a tangle of logs and chanis which may be
placed across an estuary or between other terrain
features to prevent the passage of any ship. A
boom can take 100 damage before being destroyed.
A direct hit from a bomb vessel automatically
destroys a boom.

Bomb Vessel
A bomb vessel is little more than a flat bottomed
barge which mounts tremendous mortars which are
ideally used against fixed targets. Bomb vessels
cannot move on their own, they must be towed by
a frigate or larger vessel.
• Bomb vessels can fire in the firing phase.
• When a bomb vessel attacks roll 2d6 and add
them together. If you roll equal to the range to
the target you automatically hit and destroy it.
• A bomb vessel costs 10pts.

Towing
A ship may tow another ship of its own hull size or
smaller. Whilst towing the two ships are
placed in the same square. The towed vessel
does not plot maneuvers, it just moves in the
same way as the towing vessel, staying in
the same square and keeping the same
facing.
A towing vessel can only choose from
Maneuvers 1, 2 or 3, regardless of facing to
the wind.
You can only tow friendly or captured
vessels.
To begin a tow the two ships must be in the
same square after movement, the tow can
commence next round.
A tow can be ended at any time.

Currents
Some scenarios may specify currents on the
map. In such a scenario the current direction
will be noted. All ships are moved one square
in the direction the current flows after they
have moved normally. The current movement
never effects facing. Floating batteries and
Bomb vessels move in the current as well.

Ships in a light breeze (Charles Brooking. C.1750-59)

16

Galleys
The Barbary Corsairs of the North African (Barbary)
coast make extensive use of galleys which are
driven by a combination of oars and sails, ideal in
the shallow sheltered waters of the Mediterranean
sea. Such galleys are usually manned by slaves or
prisoners.
• Small galleys are treated as gunboats.
• Medium galleys are treated as sixth rate frigates.
• Large galleys are treated as large fifth rate
frigates.
• Galleys can always choose from the close hauled
or reaching maneuvers, but never the running
maneuvers (their facing relative to the wind has
no effect on their maneuvering).
• Double a galleys boarding roll.
Galleys typically carry a disproportionate number of
pirates and marines, their preferred tactic being to
board enemy vessels and subdue them.
Ship of the Line
Strong Winds
The standard game assumes moderate winds. If
you wish to play game with strong winds use the
following two rules:
• A ship which plots any maneuver which leaves
them facing in the same direction as they started
must move an extra square forward (for
reference, these maneuvers are; 1, 6-10 and 13-
16).
• Ships of the Line cannot use one third of their
port and starboard gun dice in a strong wind
(round down). This is because the strong winds
cause the ship to heel over far enough that the
lower gunports must be kept closed, or the ship
will flood and sink.

Wind Shadows
If an enemy ship is adjacent to, and directly upwind
of you, at the start of a round you cannot choose a
maneuver this round (although you can fire guns as
normal).

Wind
Direction

If a ship starts the round in the grey shaded square

you are in its wind shadow (N.B. your ships relative
facing to the wind is irrelevant, all that matters is
the relative position of the ships and the wind
direction).

HMS 'Resolution' and 'Adventure' with Fishing Craft in

Matavai Bay (Wiliam Hodges, 1776)

17
 Ship of the Line
Scenario Generation 2 Determine Engagement Location
Next roll 1d6 to determine the location of the
engagement.
British vs. French & Allies
Players should agree which player is playing which d6 Location
side. If you have three or more players then divide 1-3 Coastal Engagement
up as evenly as possible between sides. In such a
game it is normal to divide the ships on a side up 4-5 Deep Sea Engagement
as evenly as possible between all the players on 6 Reefs and Islands Engagement
each side. Each players ships are considered to be a Now find the description for the location below and
single squadron under the command. Most scenario follow the instructions to determine if it has any
objectives require one side to be identified as side terrain features.
A, and the other as side B, roll 1d6 at the start of
the game and the side which rolls highest may 3 Coastlines and Coastline Features
choose which side they wish to be, in the event of a The battle happens in coastal waters, near to land.
tie roll again until one side wins. Roll 1d6 to determine how many map edges are
coastlines.
Creating a scenario
d6 Coastlines
The following steps are undertaken to create a
random scenario: 1-3 One edge is coastline
1. Determine wind speed and direction.
4-5 Two edges are coastline
2. Determine where the engagement occurs.
3. Determine how many edges of the map are 6 Three edges are coastline
coastline (if the engagement is coastal), and any Then determine which edges are coastlines at
features on those coastlines. random. Next roll 1d6 for each coastline, on a roll
4. Determine how many islands there are on the of six that coastline has some additional feature,
map (if the engagement is coastal or in reefs and roll another d6:
islands). If the engagement is in deep sea the
map is left blank.
d6 Coastline Feature
5. Determine the sizes of forces.
6. Determine the objectives of the engagement. 1 Small Harbour
2 Large Harbour
1 Determine Wind direction and Wind speed
Each player should roll 1d6. The player who rolls 3-4 No Shallows: The squares adjacent
highest player decides which direction the wind is to coastline edges are not shallows.
blowing from (it must be blowing from one of the 5 Small Estuary
four map edges). In the case of tied high rolls,
those who tied re-roll until one wins. 6 Large Estuary
For harbours and estuaries both sides roll 1d6, the
Next roll 1d6 to determine the wind speed highest rolling side places the feature as they wish
d6 Wind Speed on the map (in the event of a draw roll again until
one side wins).
1-5 Normal Wind
6 Strong Wind*
*If you are not using the optional rules for strong
wind, treat this result as a normal wind.

18
 Ship of the Line
4 Islands 6 Objectives
Next roll 1d6 to determine if there are any islands Having determined wind speed, direction, location,c
on the map, and how many. Use the table below for coastlines and islands the next step is to determine
a coastal engagement: the objectives for each side in the scenario. Roll d6
on the table below:
d6 Coastal Islands
d6 Islands
1-3 No Islands
1-3 Meeting Engagement: Side A & Side B
4-5 Two Islands
enter at opposite map edges (set up ships
6 Four Islands within two squares of the map edge) and
fight until one side has no more ships on the
Or this table for a reef and island engagement: map.
4-5 Raid: Side B begins on the map within four
d6 Reef and Islands squares on one edge. Their ships are
1-3 Two Unready. Side A enters the map from the
opposite side (setting up within two squares
4-5 Four of the map edge) and attack. Side A's aim is
6 Eight to cause as much damage as possible before
retreating. In a Raid scenario Side B begins
with twice as many points as side A1.
Players should take it in turn to place islands. Each
island occupies one square, and all surrounding 6 Intercept: Side A sets up within two
squares are shallows. Islands may be placed squares of the map edge. They must leave
together if you wish (in effect creating larger by the opposite map edge. Side B enters
islands). from either (or both) of the parallel edges,
setting up within two squares) and must
5 Force Size attack side A.
Force size determines how many points each side
begins play with, and how may tiles are used to
form the map. Roll 1d6 and look at the table below:
d6 Type
1-3 20pts per side.
Use one tile only.
4-5 50pts per side.
Use four tiles (arranged two by two into a
square)
6 100 or more points per side.
Use all six tiles (arranged three by two
into a rectangle)

1 This is to balance the fact that Side B begins the

scenario unready.

19
 Ship of the Line
Historical Context operated alone.
Below the Frigates were a wide variety of smaller
vessels which tended to be found in supporting
Historical Background
operations to other fleets or squadrons.
Ship of the Line mainly concerns itself with the
period around 1770 to 1820, with the emphasis on
Prize money
the Napoleonic wars of the late 18th century and
One of the major features of sea battle in this
early 19th century.
period was “prize money”. When a naval vessel
captured an enemy ship it turned it over to its own
Forces
government and, usually, the crew of the capturing
There were two main naval forces in this period,
ship would receive around 60% of the value of the
Britain and France.
captured vessel. This money was divided amongst
Britain possessed a strong navy, noted for its
the crew on an agreed basis and resulted in a lot of
experience and training and was allied with Prussia,
wealthy sailors. Many of the great Captains of the
Russia, Sweden and Austria. Of these allies only
period joined the Navy motivated largely by the
Russia had any significant naval power, although it
desire to get rich quick through commerce raiding,
was mainly active in the eastern Mediterranean and
a lucrative trade.
black sea regions.
France was allied with the Germans, Dutch, Danish,
Single ship and Fleet Actions
Spanish and French and had effectively annexed or
Games of Ship of the Line usually fall into two
occupied most of Northern Italy and Portugal. In
categories, single ship or fleet actions. A single ship
game terms the Spanish had a significant fleet as
action will usually be between two frigates (one on
did the Dutch.
each side), whilst a fleet action will normally be
between two squadrons or fleets of ships, with a
Conflicts
number of ships of the line supported by frigates
Most engagements in Ship of the Line will be
which act as outliers.
between British forces and mixtures of French,
Single ship actions can also occur between smaller
Spanish, Dutch or Danish opposition.
vessels, such as cutters, gunboats, brigs and
sloops.
The Importance of Frigates
The largest vessels to be encountered in naval
Further Reading
warfare of the period were the massive “ships of the
If you are interested in this period I would
line”. Standard naval doctrine of the day involved
recommend the following books:
the two sides in a battle forming up into lines and
blasting away at each until one side broke and fled
Humble, Richard, editor. Naval Warfare- an
the field. A “ship of the line” was a vessel which
illustrated history. Island books, 2004.
was considered large enough to be able to engage
Lambert, Andrew. War at sea in the age of sail.
in such battles without being obliterated too
Cassell, 2000.
quickly.
Price, Anthony. The Eyes of the Fleet.Grafton, 1990.
On the whole the French and Spanish ships were
Thomas, Donald. Cochrane, Britain's Sea
numerous and more heavily armed, but the British
Wolf.Cassell, 1978.
ships were more maneuverable and possessed of
superior crews who were able to sustain higher
Historical Scenarios
rates of fire, thus balancing out their opponents
The next section gives details to play several
numerical advantages. If you are playing some of
famous historical scenarios. Each scenario is
the historical scenarios in the game you will find
described and then orders of battle listed for each
that British fleets tend to be smaller, but have more
side, followed by set-up information, map layout
veteran ships.
and any additional special rules. You cannot change
Smaller than the ships of the line were the frigates.
the order of battle for one of these battles unless
Frigates had a variety of roles to perform although
both players agree, in which case you can consider
their three most important roles were to act as
yourself to be attempting a “what if?” scenario.
scouts for the fleets of ships of the line, attack the
enemies merchant shipping and defend their own
merchants from enemy attack. Frigates normally

20
 Ship of the Line
The Battle of Dogger Bank (1781) Setup
The second battle of Dogger Bank was a squadron The British forces begin in tile A, facing east. The
action fought off the Dutch coast during the Dutch begin in Tile D, facing west. The Wind is
American War of Independence. It was notable both blowing from the west (indicated by the ð arrow).
for the varied age and condition of the ships taking
part and for the ferocity of the combat, more North
personnel being killed or wounded on this occasion ð A B
than in major fleet actions of the period involving
more than three times the number of ships. With
their determined resistance the Dutch honoured a
long tradition, stretching back to the three Anglo- C D
Dutch wars of the previous century and continuing
to their final fleet action against Admiral Duncan at
the Battle of Camperdown in 1797.
South
Order of Battle
British Forces
3rd rate Ships of the Line: Fortitude, Berwick,
Buffalo, Bienfaisant, Princess Amelia
4th rate Frigates: Preston and Dolphin
All British ships are considered to have Veteran
crews.

Dutch Forces
3rd rate Ships of the Line: Admiraal Generaal,
Erfprins, Batavier, Admiraal de Ruijter, Admiraal
Piet Hein, Holland
4th rate Frigate: Argo

The Battle of Dogger Bank (Thomas Luny, 1781)

21
 Ship of the Line

Camperdown (Sir William Allan))

Camperdown (11th of October 1797)
As an ally of France, Holland assisted in a plan to
land material for Irish rebels in Ireland. A Dutch
fleet of 16 ships under Admiral Jan de Winter set
sail with equipment and 15,000 troops hoping to
take advantage of unrest in the Royal Navy
following the mutinies at the Nore and Spithead.
The British North Sea Fleet under Admiral Adam
Duncan intercepted the Dutch and began what
turned into a bloody fight. At the end of the clash
the Dutch had suffered 5000 casualties and had lost
nine ships of the line and a number of frigates.
Duncan had not lost one vessel. Camperdown eased
pressures on the Royal Navy having to cover the
Dutch fleet and ended Irish rebel hopes of getting
any support from mainland Europe.
British Ships
3rd rate Ship of the Line: Bedford, Monarch
(Veteran crew), Montagu, Powerful, Russel,
Triumph, Venerable, Agincourt (Green crew),
Monmouth, Veteran, Ardent, Belliqueux, Director,
Lancaster
4th rate Frigate: Adamant (Veteran crew), Isis
Large 5th rate Frigate: Beaulieu
Small 5th rate Frigate: King George
6th rate Frigate: Circe, Rose, Active
Brig: Diligent
Gunbrig: Martin
Dutch Ships
3rd rate Ship of the Line: Staten Generaal, Brutus,
Jupiter, Vrijheid, Cerberus, Gelijkheid, Haarlem,
Leyden, Tjerk Hiddes, Hercules, Wassenaer,
4th rate Frigate: Alkmaar, Batavier, Beschermer,
Delft
Large 5th rate Frigate: Mars, Monnikendham
Small 5th rate Frigate: Ambuscade, Heldin
6th rate Frigate: Minerva, Waakzamheid
Sloops: Ajax, Atalanta, Daphne, Galathe
Gunboat: Het Haasje
The Dutch and British
The British fleet sets up in tile C, facing South. The
Dutch fleet sets up in tile A, facing North.
West
A B ï C
D E F
East
The grey shaded areas of tiles E & F are shallows.
The arrow on the map indicates wind direction.

22
 Ship of the Line
Cape St Vincent (14th February 1797) Firme, Conquestada, Glorioso, San Nicolas
Keeping with the aggressive policy of the navy,
Admiral Sir John Jervis did not have a second Set-up
thought when he ordered his 15 ships of the line The Spanish ships begin in two groups. Group one
against 27 Spanish vessels off Cape St Vincent. The sets up in tile F, facing North, and has seven ships
Spanish were in a 20-mile line with plenty of space in it. Group two sets up in tile E, facing North. No
between each vessel so Jervis sailed through and ship of group one may be within six squares of a
split the leading 18 ships off from the rest of the ship in Group two at the start of the game.
fleet. The battle began in earnest and after an The British ships are set up in tiles B & D, facing
exchange of broadsides the Spanish were prevented South, and at least half the ships must be in tile B
from turning back to rejoin battle by the bravery (ideally they should be arranged in a north-south
and foresight of Horatio Nelson. Nelson, who had line)
pulled his vessel - the 74 gun Captain - out of
battle line to block the Spanish vanguard now had North
to fight the enemy vessels on his own. Not content Að B
with just getting in the way of the Spaniards,
Nelson wanted to show them the Royal Navy was
not to be trifled with and set to the largest ship
afloat - the 130-gun Santissima Trinidad - with
gusto. With his masts and rigging badly damaged,
C D
Nelson was saved by the arrival of Admiral Cuthbert
Collingwood in the Excellent. Collingwood's
broadsides forced the San Nicolas away and it
became entangled with the nearby San Josef.
Again alone with the Spanish ships, Nelson steered
his badly damaged ship alongside the San Nicolas E F
and led boarding parties on to her. Overwhelming
the crew, Nelson then boarded the still-entangled
San Josef forcing its surrender. By the battle's end,
four Spanish ships had been taken and 3000 men
South
lost. The British lost only 300.
The arrow indicates wind direction.
British Ships
1st rate Ship of the Line: Britannia, Victory
2nd rate Ship of the Line: Namur, Barfleur,
Blenheim, Prince George
3rd rate Ship of the Line: Culloden, Excellent,
Orion, Captain, Diadem, Egmont, Goliath, Colossus,
Irresistible
Small 5th rate Frigate: Minerve, Southampton,
Lively, Niger
Sloops: Bonne Citoyenne, Raven, Fox

Spanish Ships
Huge 1st rate Ships of the Line: Santìsima
Trinidad
1st rate Ships of the Line: San José, Conde de
Regla, Prìncipe de Asturias, Purìsima, Salvador del
mundo, Concepción, Mexicano
3rd rate Ship of the Line: Oriente, Atlante,
Soberano, Infante de Pelayo, San Ildephonso, San
Ysidro, San Pablo, Neptuna, San Domingo, Terrible,
San Juan Nepomuceno, Bahama, San Fermìn, San
Antonio, San Francisco de Paula, San Genaro,

23
 Ship of the Line

The battle of Copenhagen (JT Serres, 1801)

Copenhagen (2nd April 1801) number of men captured. In return for handing over
When Denmark refused to leave the armed the wounded, the British took 12 ships as prizes.
neutrality of the north coalition, the Royal Navy
moved to deprive the enemy of the Danish fleet. British Forces
The Danes had 18 ships in Copenhagen harbour, 3rd rate Ship of the Line: Defiance, Monarch,
protected by a 66-gun battery and a wide area of Ganges, Elephant, Ardent, Edgar,
shoals that made navigation difficult. The British Polyphemus
forces had twenty six ships of the line, seven 4th rate Frigate: Glatton, Isis
frigates and a number of smaller craft. When talks Small 5th rate Frigate: Alemene, Blanche,
between the nations failed, the British commander Amazon, Desiree
Sir Hyde Parker moved by sending his deputy, Vice- 6th rate Frigate: Arrow, Dart, Jamaica
Admiral Horatio Nelson, into battle with a dozen Brig: Harpy
major warships. Nelson took his ships around the Fireships: Otter, Zephyr
shoals and prepared to make his attack. But several Bomb Vessels: Discovery, Explosion, Hecla,
key vessels ran aground, including a floating Sulphur, Terror, Volcano, Zebra
battery meant to fire on the Danish gun
emplacements, and a nervous Parker ordered a
withdrawal. Informed of the order, Nelson placed
his telescope to his blind eye and said: "I have only
one eye - I have a right to be blind sometimes. I
really do not see the signal." He then proceeded
with the attack, pounding the Danish ships in a
bloody action. Within two hours Nelson had just
under 1000 men killed or wounded, while the Danes
suffered almost 2000 casualties and a similar

24
 Ship of the Line

Danish Forces
3rd rate Ship of the Line: Elephanten, Danmark,
Trekroner, Saelland, Jylland, Prøvesteenen
4th rate Frigate: Mars, Holsteen, Indfødsretten,
Dannebroge, Wagrien
Large 5th rate Frigate: Hiaelperen, Iris
Small 5th rate Frigate:
6th rate Frigate: Aggershuus, Cronborg, Nyeborg,
Rendsborg
Brigs: Sarpen, Nidelven
Sloop: Elven
Gunboats: Nykøbing, Aalborg, Christiansund,
Arendel, Langesund, Odense, Flensborg, Stege,
Stavaern, Viborg, Naskau
Floating Batteries: Svaerdfisken, Hayen, Floating
Battery #1, Søhesten
Large Merchant: Charlotte Amalia

Set-up
British ships set up in tiles B and C, facing as the
player wishes.
Danish ships set up in tile E, facing as the player
wishes. The Charlotte Amalia was used as a
blockship, moored in the mouth of the channel in
tile E (the channel is the line of non-shallow
squares between the two blocks of shallows in line
E).
North East
A B ï C

D E F

South West

The arrow indicates wind direction. The bold line at

the bottom of the map is coastline (and
Copenhagen) and the shaded areas are shallows.
Danish ships which leave the map from one of the
channel squares in tile E are not destroyed and are
assumed to have fled upriver, they cannot return.

25

The Battle of the Nile (Nicholas Pocock, 1808)
The Nile (1st August 1798)
Having unsuccessfully tried to catch the French fleet
on its way to Egypt, Britain's Admiral Nelson finally
got within cannon shot at Aboukir Bay. Nelson had
13 ships under his command, four fewer than
Admiral Brueys d'Aigalliers, who felt protected by
land batteries and rocks. As soon as he saw the
French Nelson set to them, but first his vessels had
to brave fire from the battery placed on Aboukir
Island. Having got past those guns, the British then
exploited poor positioning by Brueys d'Aigalliers,
who had allowed too much room at the head of his
line, and sailed down the unmanned shore-side of
the first French ships, pummeling them with little
fear of return fire. Other arriving vessels also took
advantage of similar gaps in the French line and
even the mighty 120-gun L'Orient was in desperate
trouble. It had forced the nearly sinking
Bellerophon out of the battle but, at 10pm, the
French flagship exploded after being set upon by a
pack of British ships. The Nile was a stunning
victory for Nelson with only four enemy vessels
26
Ship of the Line
escaping. Courage and determination have never
been more impressively characterised than those of
Dupetit Thouars, captain of the Tonnant, during the
Battle of the Nile. Thouars had his right arm shot
away, then the left and finally one of his legs was
taken off by a cannonball. Refusing to give up
command, he insisted on being put in a tub of bran
that was on deck and led his men until he collapsed
from blood loss. One of his final orders was to nail
the Tricolour to the mast so it could not taken down
in surrender.
British Ships
3rd rate Ship of the Line: Goliath, Zealous, Orion,
Audacious, Theseus, Vanguard, Minotaur,
Bellerophon, Defence, Majestic, Alexander,
Swiftsure, Culloden (aground)
4th rate Frigate: Leander
Brig: Mutine
French Ships
Large 1st rate Ship of the Line: L'Orient
 Ship of the Line
3rd rate Ship of the Line: Guerrier, Conquerant,
Spartiate, Aquilon, Peuple Souverain, Franklin,
Tonnant, Heureux, Timoleon, Merucure, Guillame
Tell, Genereux
Large 5th rate Frigate: Diane, Justice
Small 5th rate Frigate: Serieuse, Artemise

Set-up
The British fleet begins in tile B, facing South. The
Culloden begins on the edge of the shallows in tile
B, facing South. As long as the brig Mutine stays
adjacent to the Culloden it may roll 1d6 at the start
of each round, and on a 6 it can begin to move
normally.
The French fleet begins in tile F, facing North.

North
ð A B

C D

E F

South

The shaded areas on the map are Shallows and the

arrow on the map shows wind direction.

27

The battle of Trafalgar, beginning of the action (Nicholas Pocock, 1808)
Trafalgar
This great deciding naval battle of the Napoleonic
Wars took place between 27 British ships under
Admiral Nelson and 33 French and Spanish vessels
under Admiral Villeneuve. Needing to clear the
British from the English Channel to allow an
invasion of his implaccable national enemy,
Napoleon Bonaparte wanted his navy to escape the
British blockade, draw it away from Europe to the
West Indies and then, after joining up with the
Spanish, returning to hold the narrow stretch of
water long enough to allow the crossing of his
army. Surprisingly, Villeneuve did manage to slip
through the blockade and a rare error by Nelson
gave the French more than a week's head start. By
the time he reached the West Indies the combined
enemy fleet had begun returning towards Europe
and safe harbour in Cadiz. Determined to bottle up
and destroy his foe, Nelson and his fleet prowled
waiting for an opportunity and that came faster
than expected. Bonaparte, believing there was only
a small blockading force outside Cadiz, ordered
Villeneuve from port and into the Mediterranean. To
his horror, the French admiral found himself caught
between Nelson's fleet and cut off from safety by
the blockading squadron. On 21 October, Nelson
sighted his prey and gave the famous order
“England expects that every man will do his duty”.
After outlining his plan to his captains, Nelson
ordered the British fleet to head in two lines
28
Ship of the Line
towards the in-line French and Spanish. This would
open up his vessels to enemy broadsides, but would
split their formidable line, reduce the odds and then
allow the better-trained British sailors to use their
superior gunnery and sailing skills to destroy at
close range. The plan worked brilliantly and with
the French vanguard cut out of the battle by the
British slicing through the fleet, Nelson's men
proceeded to take the enemy fleet apart. Britain did
not lose a ship, while 18 enemy vessels were
destroyed. Some 14,000 French and Spanish sailors
were lost, ten times the British casualties. Trafalgar
ended any chance France had of invading Britain
and, from 1805 onwards, Bonaparte largely kept his
military operations to terra firma.
Spanish Ships
Huge 1st rate Ships of the Line: Santìsima
Trinidad
Large 1st rate Ships of the Line: Santa Anna and
Principe de Asturias
1st rate Ships of the Line: Rayo
3rd rate Ship of the Line: Argonauta, Neptuna,
Monarca, Montanez, San Augustino, San Idelfonso,
San Juan Nepomuceno, San Franceso Assis,
Bahama, San Justo, San Leandro
Large 5th rate Frigate: Themis, Cornelie,
Hortense, Hermione, Rhin
Brig: Argus

French Ships
3rd rate Ship of the Line: Bucentaure, Formidable,
Neptune, Indomptable, Pluton, Mont Blanc,
Swiftsure, Intrepide, Scipion, Berwick, Aigle,
Algeciras, Achille, Argonaute, Duguay-Trouin,
Fougueux, Heros, Redoubtable
British Ships
Weather Column
1st rate Ship of the Line: Victory, Brittania
2nd rate Ship of the Line: Temeraire, Neptune
3rd rate Ship of the Line: Conqueror, Leviathan,
Ajax, Orion, Agamemnon, Minotaur, Spartiate,
Africa
Lee Column
1st rate Ship of the Line: Royal Sovereign
2nd rate Ship of the Line: Prince, Dreadnought
3rd rate Ship of the Line: Mars, Belle Isle,
Tonnant, Bellerophon, Colossus, Achilles,
Polyphemus, Revenge, Swiftsure2, Defence,
Thunderer, Defiance
Ship of the Line
Set-Up
The British fleet sets up in two lines. The Weather
column ships are set up in tile A, facing East. The
Lee column are set up in tile D, facing East. No ship
of the Lee column may be set up within four
squares of the Weather column. Ideally the ships
should be arranged in east-west lines in the two
tiles. The Other British forces may be split between
tiles A and D as you see fit.
The French and Spanish fleets are combined and
start play in tiles C and F. At least half the ships
must be in each tile. Individual ships must begin
play facing due North or South.
North
ð A B C
D E F

Others
Small 5th rate Frigate: Phoebe, Naiad, Sirius,
Euryalus
South
Sloop: Pickle
Gunboat: Entreprenante
The arrow indicates wind direction.

Battle of Trafalgar, end of the action (Nicholas Pocock, 1808)

2 This is not an error, the French and British both

had ships called Swiftsure fighting in the battle.

29

Naval Duels in War of 1812 (1812 to 1815)
The War of 1812 is sometimes called the "Second
War of Independence" or the "forgotten war." It was
fought from 1812 until 1815 between the United
States and Great Britain. This conflict was mainly
caused by the US resentment of British naval
harassment. The British, already at war with
France, regularly seized American ships and took
seamen from them (some of whom were US
citizens) to serve in the Royal Navy and were also
blockading French ports, stopping American trade
with the French.
As an interesting aside, two days before the
declaration of war, Great Britain agreed to repeal
the naval laws which were chiefly responsible for
the conflict. Unfortunately slow trans-atlantic
communication meant that the declaration was
made anyway. In the same way, the greatest battle
of the war, the Battle of New Orleans, occurred
fifteen days after a peace treaty had been signed.
The United States, still a fledgling country, risked
national disaster by again going to war with the far
more powerful Great Britain and support in the US
was divided with the West and South in favour of
war and the people of the New England regions
strongly opposed to war. The Treaty of Ghent ended
the war and restored territories to prewar status,
establishing a commission to settle Northwest
Territory boundary disputes. As in most wars, both
sides claimed victory.
Despite having their coastline bottled up by an
almost-watertight British blockade, the American
raiders who eluded the Royal Navy net caused
considerable damage to Britain's trade. By mid-
1814, more than 800 British vessels had been
taken, forcing the Royal Navy to escort trade
convoys.
The following section lists a number of notable
engagements that occurred during the war of 1812.
1812
USS Constitution vs HMS Guerriere (19th
August)
Having broken through the British naval blockade,
the 44-gun Constitution took on a 38-gun Guerriere
off Nova Scotia. Within 30 minutes the American
crew had crippled its smaller opponent.
USS Wasp vs HMS Frolic (18th October)
The Wasp and the Frolic were each 18 gun sloops
30
Ship of the Line
and set to battle off the coast of Virginia. For more
than 40 minutes the crews hammered at each other
until the British vessel was reduced to little more
than a wreck. The American's sails and masts,
however, had been so badly damaged it was unable
to sail away from an arriving British 74 gunner and
it was forced to surrender.
USS United States vs HMS Macedonian (25th
October)
The 44-gun United States, under Captain Stephen
Decatur, took on the British 38-gunner Macedonian
off Madeira. Bombarding from long range, the
United States pulverised the enemy ship and forced
a surrender. To add insult to British injury, the
Macedonian was repaired, reflagged and fought
again - this time for America.
USS Constitution vs HMS Java (29th December)
The duel between these frigates took place off
Brazil and, once again, ended in an American
victory. It took two hours, but the Java was left a
wreck and its captain forced to surrender.
1813
USS Hornet vs HMS Peacock (24th February)
In just 11 minutes, the Peacock was sunk off Brazil.
HMS Shannon vs HMS Chesapeake (1st June)
Freshly built and with an inexperienced crew, the
Chesapeake took on one of the Royal Navy's best
ships in the Shannon. Both were 38-gunners, but
the British were able to out-sail and out-shoot the
Americans and within minutes had inflicted enough
damage to board the Chesapeake. The British
suffered 83 casualties, while the Americans lost 146
men. The captured vessel was reflagged and served
Britain with distinction.
HMS Pelican vs USS Argus (14th August)
The 18 gun Argus was enjoying a very profitable
commerce-raiding voyage in the English Channel -
in which she had sunk or taken 20 prize ships -
when she ran into the Pelican. The 20-gun British
sloop exacted quick revenge and sank the raider.
USS Enterprise vs HMS Boxer (3rd September)
Sailing off New England the British 14-gunner was
intercepted and taken by the Enterprise.
1814
USS Peacock vs HMS Epervier (29th April)
A 45-minute battle off Florida saw the British 18
gunner strike its colours.
HMS Phoebe vs USS Essex (21st March)
For almost a year-and-a-half, the 38-gun Essex had
been raiding British trading routes and had at least
40 scalps to its credit. Sailing with a smaller ship,
the Americans found themselves blockaded in a
 Ship of the Line
Chilean port by the Phoebe and an 18 gun sloop,
Cherub. A risky breakout in heavy weather proved
disastrous for the Essex as its main mast snapped
and it was forced back to port. The British then
fired upon the stricken vessel from long range until
it was smashed into wreckage.
USS Wasp vs HMS Reindeer (28th June)
The Wasp engaged the Reindeer in the English
Channel and sunk it within 30 minutes. She then
went on to capture 13 prize vessels.
USS Wasp vs HMS Avon (1st September)
This night action saw the 18 gun Avon sunk by the
successful American raider.

A fleet of east indiamen at sea (Nicholas Pocock, 1803)

31

Historical Ships
The following section provides more information on
ships of the period and a list of real ships in service
during the Napoleonic wars.
In game terms, each ship is “rated”, for example
first rate, second rate and so on. A ships “rate” can
be determined from its number of guns as follows.
Note that guns are always mounted in pairs (one
facing port, one facing starboard), so a ships
broadside (firing all guns on one side at a target) is
half its total number of guns.
Guns Rating
100+ 1st rate Ships of the Line
90-98 2nd rate Ships of the Line
64-80 3rd rate Ships of the Line
50-60 4th rate Frigate
40-48 Large 5th rate Frigate
30-38 Small 5th rate Frigate
22-28 6th rate Frigate
10-20 Brig (two-masted square rigged)
10-20 Sloop (ship rigged)
6-8 Gunboat or Gunbrig
4 or less Cutter
The Spanish and French did both possess a handful
of vessels with more than 110 guns, including the
French Orient (112 gun) and the Spanish
Santissima Trinidad (136).
A ship’s ‘rate’ was mainly decided by the number of
guns she carried, from the largest 120- gun First
Rate, down to Sixth Rate 22-gun ships. The smaller
‘unrated’ vessels (sloops, brigs, bomb vessels, etc)
were commanded by more junior officers
(Commanders, Lieutenants) but a ‘rated’ ship was
always a Captain’s command and always ship
rigged (having three square rigged masts).
First Rate: The biggest ships of the fleet, with their
guns on three decks. First rates were generally
used as flagships and fought in the centre of the
line-of-battle. They were armed with a minimum of
100 heavy cannon, carried a crew of about 850 and
were over 2000 tons Builder’s Measure (a formula
for calculating the capacity of the ship, not the
displacement of the ship as is the practice
32
Ship of the Line
nowadays).
Second Rate: The Second Rate ships of the line
were also three-deckers like the first rates, but
smaller, with a reputation for poor handling and
slow sailing. They mounted between 90 and 98
guns, and also fought in the centre of the line-of-
battle. Generally around the 2000 ton mark, they
had a crew of approximately 750. Like the First
Rates, they had 32 pounder guns on the gundeck,
but 18 pounders instead of 24 pounders on the
middle deck, with 12 pounders on the upper deck
(compared to 18 or 24 pounders on First Rates).
Unlike the First Rates, which were too valuable to
risk in distant stations, the Second Rates often
served overseas as flagships.
Third Rate: The most common ships of the line
were the two-decker Third Rates, with between 64
and 80 guns. The most effective and numerous of
these was the 74 gun ship, in many ways the ideal
compromise of economy, fighting power and sailing
performance, and forming the core of the
battlefleet.
Fourth Rate: Two decker ships of 50 to 60 guns,
were, by the end of the 18th century, no longer
reckoned to be ‘fit to stand in the line of battle’.
Despite this, 50 gun ships were heavily engaged, in
the line, at the battles of Camperdown and
Copenhagen. With two decks, their extra
accommodation made them suitable flagships for
minor overseas stations, while their relatively
shallow draught made them suitable as headquarter
ships for anti-invasion operations in the North Sea
and the English Channel. They were also useful as
convoy escorts, troopships and even, on occasion,
as convict transports. In normal service they had a
main armament of 18 pounders, a crew of 350 and
measured around 1000 tons. Sometimes fourth
rates are referred to as Frigates, at other times as
Ships of the Line. In game terms they are
considered to be Frigates.
Fifth Rate: These were the “true” frigates, the
Navy’s ‘glamour ships’. A frigates main armament
was located on a single gun deck. The Frigates
served as “the eyes of the fleet” operating as fast
scouts of the battlefleet. At other times they
operated in an independent cruising role, searching
out enemy merchant ships, privateers or enemy
fleets. Developed from early-18th century
prototypes, the Fifth Rates of Nelson’s time had a
variety of armaments and gun arrangements, from
32 gun ships armed with 12 pounders to 36 and 38-
gun frigates with 18 pounders, even some 40 gun
ships and cut down two-deckers with 24 pounders.
Captured enemy frigates were also used in service,
 Ship of the Line
and many of the best British-built ships were copied was quite common for ships of the same name to
or adapted from French designs. A fifth rate serve in different fleets, and where a ships name
typically had a crew of 250 to 300 men. In game appears more than once in a nations list this
terms fifth rates are divided into two classes, Large indicates that the name has been re-used after a
(40-48 guns) and Small (30-38 guns). ship bearing it was sunk.
Sixth Rate: The Sixth Rates were smaller and
more lightly armed frigates, with between 22 and
28 nine-pounder guns, a crew of about 150, and
measuring 450 to 550 tons. There were never
enough frigates; while Lord Nelson was searching
for the French fleet before the battle of the Nile he
said, ‘Frigates! Were I to die this moment, want of
frigates would be found engraved on my heart!’.
Unrated vessels included the following:
Sloop: A sloop of war was a vessel commanded by
an officer with the rank of Commander. Sloops
could be armed with between 10 and 20 guns, be
ship rigged or brigs (two-masted square rig) and
were capable of most of the tasks undertaken by
frigates, with the exception of fleet reconnaissance.
They were often armed with carronades, giving
them a heavy punch at close range. The cruiser
class (a specific class of sloop) was the most
numerous class of sailing warships ever built, over
100 of these 380 ton, 18 gun brig sloops being
built. They carried a crew of 120 men.
Bomb vessels and fireships: Developed from
two-masted craft (ketches) armed with mortars for
shore bombardment, and first used by the French in
the late 17th century, the bomb vessel of the late
18th century had ship rig. The fireship, intended as
a means of setting an enemy ship on fire, was often
a converted merchant ship, though some were
specially built for the Royal Navy. Both the bomb
vessel and the fireship were only seldom used in
their designed role, but proved useful as patrol or
convoy escort sloops.
Gunboats and gunbrigs: These were small, two-
masted vessels, a Lieutenant’s command, and
originally intended for anti-invasion patrol. Later,
they developed into more capable vessels, fit for a
variety of tasks. They were built to a wide variety of
classes, and often had evocative names, for
instance Grappler, Growler and Griper were three
‘Courser’ Class gunbrigs.
Cutters: The smallest warships in service, cutters
were developed from craft used by English
smugglers. These single masted vessels were built
for speed and employed as patrol boats and
dispatch carriers.

The following list gives some of the historical ships

of the period. Some ship names are repeated in the
same or different lists, these are not mistakes. It

33
 Ship of the Line
French Ships Hannibal: 74 guns. Captured from the British in
1801.
Achille: Ship of the line blown up at Trafalgar.
Heros: 74 gun ship of the line which fought at
Aigle: 74 gun ship of the line which fought at
Trafalgar.
Trafalgar.
Heureux: Ship of the line; forced to surrender at
Algeciras: 74 gun ship of the line which fought at
the Nile.
Trafalgar.
Indomptable: 80 guns. Involved in the Battle of
Aquilon: 74 gun ship of the line which fought at
Algeciras Bay. At Trafalgar leads the attempt to
the battle of the Nile.
recover prizes after the battle and went ashore
Argonaute: 74 gun ship of the line which fought at
afterwards.
Trafalgar.
Infatigable: Frigate with Admiral Missiessy's
Atlas: 74 guns.
squadron in Rochefort.
Barras: 74 guns.
Intrépide: 74 guns.
Bellone: 34 gun ship-rigged privateer.
Justice: 34 gun frigate which fought at the Nile.
Berwick: 74 guns, formed part of the French fleet
L'Orient: 120 guns, (formerly Sans Culotte)
at Trafalgar. The Berwick was captured from the
Brueys' flagship escorting Napoleon to Egypt and at
British and previously fought at the Battle of
The Nile, where she catches fire and blows up
Dogger Bank.
spectacularly after being engaged by three British
Bonaparte: 18 gun brig.
ships.
Bucentaure: Villeneuve's flagship in Toulon, on the
La Cleopatre: 40 gun Frigate, commanded by
Atlantic crossings, and at Trafalgar. Wrecked on
Captain Mullon in the first equal ship-to-ship of the
reef after the battle.
Revolutionary / Napoleonic wars (18 June 1783),
Carrère: The frigate in which Murat and other
when she was taken by the 40-gun Nymphe, by
generals escape from Egypt in 1799. Napoleon is in
boarding.
the other ship of the squadron, aboard the Muiron.
Magnanime: 74 guns, Captain Allemand, with
Concorde: 44 gun Frigate, flagship of the squadron
Admiral Missiessy's squadron in Rochefort. Engaged
that took the sloop Hyaena, the first prize taken by
by Antigone when attempting to escape the
either side in the Revolutionary/Napoleonic wars.
blockade.
Conquerant: 74 gun ship of the line which fought
Majestueux: 120 guns, Admiral Missiessy's
at the battle of the Nile.
flagship in Rochefort with which he escaped the
Dédaigneuse: 44 gun frigate.
blockade.
Desaix: 74 guns, commanded by Captain Christy-
Mercure: Ship of the line; forced to surrender at
Pallière. Involved in the Battle of Algeciras Bay.
the Nile.
Diane: 34 gun frigate which fought at the Nile.
Mont Blanc: 74 guns.
Droits de l'Homme: 74 guns, destroyed by the
Muiron: 38 gun Frigate. The Frigate in which
British frigates Amazon & Indefatigable with two
Napoleon escaped from Egypt in 1799.
thousand men aboard in a famous action in the
Channel in 1796. Neptune: Ship of the line at Trafalgar
Papillon: French corvette cut out by Indefatigable
Duguay-Trouin: 74 gun ship of the line which
in the Gironde.
fought at Trafalgar and captured by the english in
Peuple Souverain: 74 gun ship of the line which
1805.
fought at the battle of the Nile.
Formidable: 80 guns. Involved in the Battle of
Peuple Souverain: Ship of the line; is dismasted
Algeciras Bay. Is Rear Admiral Dumanoir's flagship
and driven out of the action at the Nile before
in command of rear division at Trafalgar .
surrendering.
Fougueux: Ship of the line at Trafalgar .
Pluton: Ship of the line at Trafalgar.
Franklin: 80 guns, with the French fleet at the
Redoubtable: Ship of the line at Trafalgar.
Nile; is forced to surrender.
San Antonio: 74 guns, taken by Superb off
Généreux: 74 guns, one of only two ships of the
Gibraltar in 1800.
line that escaped from the Nile.
Sans Culottes: 120 guns, renamed L'Orient when
Gloire: Ship-rigged 12-gun privateer.
she becomes Brueys' flagship escorting Napoleon to
Guerrier: 74 gun ship of the line which fought at
Egypt and at The Nile.
the battle of the Nile.
Scipion: 74 guns.
Guillaume Tell: 80 guns, one of only two ships of
Sérieux: Frigate; at the Nile she joins in the action,
the line that escaped from the Nile.
firing on Orion, and is sunk outright.

34
 Ship of the Line
Spartiate: 74 gun ship of the line captured by the
English at the battle of the Nile.
Swiftsure: 74 guns, captured from the British and
part of the French fleet at Trafalgar. Taken back by
the British at Trafalgar, and renamed Irresistible
(because there is another Swiftsure in the British
fleet).
Terrible: Ship of the line with Villeneuve's
combined fleet returning from West Indies in 1805,
intercepted by Calder.
Timoléon: Ship of the line; runs ashore at the Nile,
and is set on fire by her crew.
Tonnant: Ship of the line; is the last French ship
still firing at the Nile and the last to surrender.
Utile: 32 gun Corvette taken by the 32-gun
Southampton in 1796 in the Mediterranean.
Vengeur: Ship of the line sunk by Brunswick in the
Glorious First of June after a four-hour nearly point-
blank battle. French legend had it that she sank still
fighting, but in fact she eventually surrendered.
Vestale: 36 gun Frigate (36 gun), taken by the 32
gun Terpsichore off Cadiz in 1796 but later
recaptured.

35

British Ships
Abergavenny: Ship of the line, in Jamaica up to
1801.
Achilles: 74 gun ship of the line which fought at
Trafalgar.
Active: 28 gun frigate which fought at
Camperdown.
Adamant: 50 guns, part of the squadron keeping
watch on the Dutch in 1797 before Camperdown.
Took part in the battle.
Agamemnon: 64 guns, commanded by Lord
Nelson at the outbreak of war in 1793; the vessel in
which Nelson begins to build his legend. Part of
North Sea Fleet at Copenhagen
Agincourt: Ship of the line at Camperdown.
Ajax: Ship of the line which was in Nelson's fleet at
Trafalgar.
Alexander: 74 guns; at the Nile followed Vanguard
outside the French line.
Almene: Frigate, part of North Sea Fleet at
Copenhagen
Amazon: 36 gun Frigate, launched in 1795. In
1796, in company with Indefatigable, forced the
French ship of the line Droits de l'Homme to be
embayed and wrecked near Brest. Was herself
wrecked in the action.
Amazon: 38 gun Frigate, launched in 1799 as
successor to the above. Led the frigates of the
North Sea Fleet at Copenhagen.
Amelia: 36 gun frigate, operating in the Western
Mediterranean.
Amethyst: Frigate with theDover fleet, 1804.
Amphion: 32 gun frigate.
Africa: 64 gun ship which fought at Trafalgar.
Single handedly slowed the progress of the
French/Spanish van.
Antigone: Frigate, French-built c.1795.
Ardent: 64 guns.
Ariel: Sloop.
Arrow: Frigate, part of North Sea Fleet at
Copenhagen
Audacious: 74 guns, was at the Nile in 1798,
sailing inside the French line. Involved in Battle of
Algeciras Bay.
Aurore: Frigate.
Avenger: 16 gun sloop.
Bedford: 74 guns, scouted ahead of Rodney's fleet
and finds the Spanish fleet before the Moonlight
Battle.
Belettes: Frigate wrecked on the Italian coast in
1796.
Belleisle: ship of the line with Channel Fleet
blockading Brest.
Bellerophon: 74 guns; at the Nile followed
36
Ship of the Line
Vanguard outside the French line.
Bellona: 74 guns, part of North Sea Fleet at
Copenhagen.
Biter: gun brig, part of North Sea Fleet at
Copenhagen
Blanche: 32 gun Frigate, part of Nelson's first
squadron in 1796, taking Ceres and serving at
Copenhagen.
Blazer: gun brig, part of North Sea Fleet, wrecked
on Swedish coast before Copenhagen.
Blenheim: 74 guns. Lost at sea in the East Indies,
presumably as a result of corrupt shipbuilding
practices.
Bloodhound: gun brig.
Brilliant: Frigate.
Britannia: 100 guns, with Jervis at St Vincent.
Brunswick: Ship of the line which sank Vengeur in
the Glorious First of June after a four-hour nearly
point-blank battle.
Burford: Ship of the line.
Caesar: 80 guns. Flagship at the Battle of Algeciras
Bay.
Caligula: 74 guns, in the Western Mediterranean.
Calpe: sloop, was the sloop that first sees Linois's
squadron arrive at Algeciras in July 1801.
Canopus: 98 guns, Rear Admiral Louis's flagship
with Nelson off Cadiz and at Gibraltar
Captain: 74 guns, Nelson's command at St Vincent
in which he breaks the line and takes San Nicolas
(80), the San Josef (112 gun) and, briefly,
Santissima Trinidad (136).
Cassandra: Frigate.
Centaur: Ship of the line; was nearly in a mutinous
state when seconded from the Channel Fleet to join
St Vincent of Cadiz in the spring of 1798.
Charwell: 32 gun frigate.
Childers: sloop, fired on by the Brest batteries in
the first shots of the Revolutionary/Napoleonic wars
(3 January 1793), shortly before the declaration of
war on 1 February).
Conqueror: Ship of the line, which received
surrender of Bucentaure at Trafalgar
Constitution: Cutter.
Cruizer: 18 gun brig, part of North Sea Fleet at
Copenhagen
Culloden: Ship of the line, led the British line at St
Vincent. Later at the Nile, went aground at the start
of the action.
Cumberland: 74 guns.
Cyclops: 36 gun frigate.
Dart: 24 gun frigate, part of North Sea Fleet at
Copenhagen.
Dee: 38 gun frigate.
Defence: 74 guns; one of the leading ships in the

general chase at the Moonlight Battle. At the Nile
sailed outside the French line and was part of North
Sea Fleet at Copenhagen.
Defiance: 74 guns, Admiral Graves' flagship in
North Sea Fleet at Copenhagen.
Désirée: Frigate, part of North Sea Fleet at
Copenhagen
Diadem: Captain Towry, Nelson's flagship, as
Commodore, at Bastia in 1796 at the time of
Ramage's court martial.
Doris: 36 gun Frigate, part of Channel Fleet off
Brest.
Dragon: 74 guns, discovered Villeneuve at Ferrol
after his return from the West Indies before
Trafalgar.
Dreadnought: Collingwood's flagship off Cadiz. He
shifted his flag to Royal Sovereign for Trafalgar.
Eagle: Flagship of the fleet sent to America under
Admiral Howe.
Edgar: 74 guns, one of the leading ships in the
general chase at the Moonlight Battle. Part of North
Sea Fleet at Copenhagen
Egyptienne: 36 gun Frigate, part of Calder's fleet
that intercepted Villeneuve returning from West
Indies.
Elephant: 74 guns, part of North Sea Fleet at
Copenhagen. Nelson temporarily moved his flag to
Elephant from St. George to take advantage of her
shallower draft.
Entreprenante: Cutter with Nelson off Cadiz. Was
at Trafalgar.
Euryalus: 36 gun Frigate, part of Collingwood's
fleet off Cadiz. Was at Trafalgar. Takes Villeneuve
to England after the battle.
Barfleur: 98 gun ship of the line which fought at
Cape St. Vincent.
Beaulieu: 40 gun Frigate which fought at
Camperdown.
Belliqueux: 64 gun ship of the line which fought at
Camperdown.
Berwick: 74 gun ship of the line captured by the
French in 1795, fought at Dogger Bank.
Bienfaisant: 74 gun ship of the line which fought
at Dogger Bank. Captured from the French at
Louisburg (Nova Scotia) in 1758.
Blenheim: 98 gun ship of the line at Cape St.
Vincent. The same name was also used by a 74 gun
double decker.
Bonne Citoyenne: 18 gun sloop which fought at
Cape St.Vincent.
Buffalo: 74 gun ship of the line which fought at
Dogger Bank.
Circe: 28 gun frigate which fought at Camperdown.
Colossus: 74 gun ship of the line which fought at
37
Ship of the Line
Cape St.Vincent.
Colossus: 74 gun ship of the line which fought at
Trafalgar.
Diligent: 12 gun brig which fought at
Camperdown.
Director: 74 gun ship of the line which fought at
Camperdown.
Discovery: Bomb vessel used at Copenhagen.
Dolphin: 50 gun Frigate which fought at Dogger
Bank.
Egmont: 74 gun ship of the line which fought at
Cape St.Vincent.
Entreprenante: 8 gun gunboat which fought at
Trafalgar.
Euryalus: 36 gun frigate which fought at Trafalgar.
Euryalus: The name Euryalus was used by both a
74 gun ship of the line and a 38 gun frigate at
different times.
Excellent: 74 guns; broke the line with Nelson at
the Battle of St Vincent, taking the San Ysidro (74
gun).
Falcon: 18 gun sloop.
Ferret: 6-gun schooner tender to Abergavenny.
Fisgard: Frigate, with Mediterranean fleet before
Trafalgar.
Foudroyant: Lord Keith's flagship in the Western
Mediterranean . Later in 1800 was part of Nelson's
squadron blockading Malta (still under Keith),
played a part in defeating the French relief attempt
under Perrée, taking his flagship Généreux, and
then is one of the ships that take Guillaume Tell
when she attempts to escape from Valetta. These
were the last two ships left of the fleet destroyed at
the Nile.
Fox: Cutter, part of North Sea Fleet at Copenhagen.
A second Fox, a sloop, served at Cape St.Vincent.
Franchise: 36 gun frigate with the Channel fleet.
Galatea: Frigate.
Ganges: 74 guns, part of North Sea Fleet at
Copenhagen
Généreux: Ship of the line.
Explosion: Bomb vessel used at Copenhagen.
Fortitude: 74 gun ship of the line which fought at
Dogger Bank and was involved in a raid on Corsica
in 1794, in which it was repulsed by a gun tower on
mortella point.
Glatton: converted East Indiaman, armed only with
carronades, commanded by 'Bounty' Bligh with the
North Sea Fleet at Copenhagen
Glory: Sterling's flagship as second-in-command to
Calder intercepting Villeneuve.
Goliath: 74 guns, was leading ship of the British
line at the Nile, sailing inside the French line.
Hannibal: 74 guns. Was taken by the French at the

Battle of Algeciras Bay in 1801, after running hard
aground.
Harpy: 18 gun brig/sloop, part of North Sea Fleet
at Copenhagen.
Hyaena: 24 gun sloop, the first prize taken by
either side in the Revolutionary/Napoleonic wars.
Taken by a French squadron led by Concorde (44
gun).
Immortalité: ship of the line, with Channel Fleet
blockading Brest, later with Lord Keith's fleet off
Boulogne
Indefatigable: 40 gun frigate. In 1804, in
company with Amazon forced French ship of the
line Droits de l'Homme to be embayed and wrecked
during Brest blockade.
Invincible: 74 guns, part of North Sea Fleet in
1801 but wrecked on way to Copenhagen.
Isis: 50 guns, part of North Sea Fleet at
Copenhagen
Jamaica: Frigate, part of North Sea Fleet at
Copenhagen
Justinian: ship of the line.
Kite: Lugger, messenger vessel for North Sea Fleet
before Copenhagen
Lark: Lugger, messenger vessel for North Sea Fleet
before Copenhagen
Leander: 50 guns, was at the Nile though by then
considered too small to form part of the line.
Leda: Frigate.
Lion: 64 guns.
Hecla: Bomb vessel used at Copenhagen.
Irresistible: 74 gun ship of the line which fought
at Cape St.Vincent.
Isis: 58 gun Frigate which fought at Camperdown.
King George: 34 gun frigate which fought at
Camperdown.
Lancaster: 64 gun ship of the line which fought at
Camperdown, originally an east indiaman which
was converted to military duty in 1797.
Leviathan: 74 gun ship of the line which fought at
Trafalgar and captured the third rate spanish ship
San Augustin.
Lively: 38-gun frigate.
London: 98 guns. Flagship commanding North Sea
Fleet at Copenhagen
Lydia: 36 gun frigate.
Malta: Ship of the line with Calder's fleet
intercepting Villeneuve. Was badly damaged and
sent home.
Marlborough: Ship of the line.
Mars: Ship of the line at Trafalgar. Villeneuve
transferred to her after surrendering.
Medusa: Frigate.
Melpomène: Frigate with the channel fleet in
38
Ship of the Line
1804.
Minerve: 38 gun Frigate, ship in which Nelson
hoisted his pennant as Commodore (1796). Under
his command took the Spanish frigate Sabina (40
gun).
Minotaur: 74 guns; at the Nile followed Vanguard
outside the French line.
Monarch: 74 guns, Flagship at Camperdown. Later
part of North Sea Fleet at Copenhagen
Majestic: 74 gun ship of the line which fought at
the battle of the Nile. Launched from Deptford in
1785.
Mars: 74 gun ship of the line which fought at
Trafalgar.
Martin: 8 gun gunbrig which fought at
Camperdown.
Monmouth: 64 gun ship of the line which fought at
Camperdown and was built in 1796.
Montagu: 74 gun ship of the line, led a fleet wide
mutiny in 1797 and fought at Camperdown.
Mutine: 12 gun brig captured from the French by
the English in 1797, fought in the battle of the the
Nile (1798)
Naiad: 38 gun frigate which fought at Trafalgar.
Naiad: Frigate at Trafalgar.
Namur: 98 gun ship of the line at Cape St. Vincent,
later cut down to a 74 gun double decker.
Neptune: 98 gun ship of the line which fought at
Trafalgar under the command of Captain (later
Admiral Sir) Thomas Freemantle.
Niger: 32 gun frigate which fought at Cape
St.Vincent.
Northumberland: Ship of the line; was blockading
Malta in 1800.
Nymphe: Frigate. In the first equal ship-to-ship of
the Revolutionary / Napoleonic wars (18 June
1783), when she took the 40 gun La Cleopatre by
boarding.
Orion: 74 guns; at St Vincent took the 112 gun
Salvador del Mundo. Was at the Nile in 1798,
sailing inside the French line.
Pasely: Sloop attached to Superb in the watch on
Cadiz between the two actions of the Battle of
Algeciras Bay.
Phoebe: Frigate at Trafalgar.
Pickle: Sloop with the fleet at Trafalgar.
Pique: 36 gun frigate attached to squadron in
Jamaica (c. 1803-1805).
Pluto: 74 guns.
Otter: Fireship destroyed at Copenhagen.
Phoebe: 36 gun frigate which fought at Trafalgar.
Pickle: 10 gun sloop which fought at Trafalgar.
Carried news of Nelson's death back to England.
Polyphemus: 74 guns, part of North Sea Fleet at

Copenhagen
Pompée: 74 guns. Virtually a hulk after the Battle
of Algeciras Bay in 1801.
Porcupine: Frigate.
Prince of Wales: 98 guns, Calder's flagship
intercepting Villeneuve returning from West Indies.
Was sent home with him to stand trial after the
action.
Princess Charlotte: 36 gun frigate.
Princess Royal: Ship of the line.
Queen: 80 guns, with Louis' fleet in Gibraltar
before Trafalgar. Collingwood's flagship after Royal
Sovereign was dismasted.
Ramillies: 74 guns, part of North Sea Fleet at
Copenhagen
Resolution: 74 guns; was the fastest ship in the
general chase after the Spaniards at the Moonlight
Battle.
Revenge: Ship of the line, at Trafalgar.
Romney: 50 guns.
Royal Sovereign: Ship of the line with Nelson's
fleet before Trafalgar, but detached along with the
Antigone to convoy troops to the Mediterranean.
However she returned to England, was re-coppered
and was back on station as Collingwood's flagship
at Trafalgar.
Russel: 74 guns.
Russell: Frigate, part of North Sea Fleet at
Copenhagen.
San Fiorenzo: 36 gun frigate.
Sandwich: Rodney's flagship at the Moonlight
Battle.
Sibella: 28 gun Frigate, sunk by the French 74 gun
Barras in 1796 in the Western Mediterrean.
Sirius: 36 gun Frigate, with Channel Fleet
blockading Brest. Was at Trafalgar
Southampton: 32 gun Frigate with the
Mediterranean fleet in 1795-6.
Sparkler: gun brig, part of North Sea Fleet at
Copenhagen.
Speculator: lugger with the squadron keeping
watch on the Texel before Camperdown.
Spencer: 74 guns. Involved in Battle of Algeciras
Bay. Later with Louis' fleet in Gibraltar before
Trafalgar.
St. George: 98 guns, Nelson's flagship in North
Sea Fleet and at Copenhagen.
Success: Frigate.
Superb: 74 guns.
Surinam: 18 gun sloop.
Sutherland: 74 guns.
Swiftsure: 74 guns and confusingly named since
there was another Swiftsure which was taken by
the French, who kept her name. At the Nile followed
39
Ship of the Line
Vanguard outside the French line.
Téméraire: 98 guns, at Trafalgar.
Terpsichore: 32 gun Frigate, took the first Spanish
ship to be captured after Spain joined on the French
side in 1796, the 34 gun Mahonesa, off Malaga.
Later took the French 36 gun frigate Vestale off
Cadiz.
Thames: Frigate attached to Superb in the watch
on Cadiz between the two actions of the Battle of
Algeciras Bay.
Theseus: 74 guns, was at the Nile in 1798, sailing
inside the French line. After the battle is one of the
two ships that help at the defence of Acre in 1799.
Tigre: 74 guns, is commanded by Sir Sidney Smith
at the siege of Acre in 1799.
Trumpeter: 74 guns.
Vanguard: 74 guns, sent under Nelson into the
Mediterranean in spring 1798. Was Nelson's
flagship at the Nile, leading the ships that sail
outside the French line.
Venerable: 74 guns. Flagship at Camperdown.
Involved in Battle of Algeciras Bay.
Veteran: 74 guns, part of North Sea Fleet at
Copenhagen
Victory: 112 guns, flagship of the Mediterranean
fleet. Nelson's flagship on Toulon blockade and at
Trafalgar
Ville de Paris: 112 guns, Flagship on Brest
blockade
Vincejo: 18 gun brig/sloop.
Powerful: 74 gun ship of the line which fought at
Camperdown.
Preston: 50 gun Frigate which fought at Dogger
Bank.
Prince George: 98 gun ship of the line at Cape St.
Vincent
Prince: 98 gun ship of the line which fought at
Trafalgar.
Princess Amelia: 80 gun ship of the line which
fought at Dogger Bank. The infamous Captain Bligh
of the Mutiny on the Bounty story served as a fifth
lieutenant on the Princess Amelia in 1782, leaving
shortly after the battle for Dogger Bank.
Raven: 18 gun sloop which fought at Cape
St.Vincent.
Rose: 28 gun frigate which fought at Camperdown.
Sirius: 36 gun frigate which fought at Trafalgar.
Spartiate: 74 gun ship of the line captured from
the French at the battle of the Nile. Fought at
Trafalgar.
Sulphur: Bomb vessel used at Copenhagen.
Terror: Bomb vessel used at Copenhagen.
Thunderer: 74 gun ship of the line which fought at
Trafalgar.
 Ship of the Line
Tonnant: 80 gun ship of the line which fought at
Trafalgar. Notable for twice fighting off French
borders during the battle.
Triumph: 74 gun ship of the line which fought at
Camperdown.
Volcano: Bomb vessel used at Copenhagen.
Windsor Castle: Ship of the line with Calder's fleet
intercepting Villeneuve. Badly damaged and sent
home.
York: 64 guns, foundered in the North Sea due to
corrupt shipbuilding practices. Chief among them
was the use of "devil bolts'; instead of using copper
bolts to hold the ship's timbers together at key
points, the bolts were faked by inserting copper
heads and tails in the appropriate positions
connected only by hidden wooden dowels.
Zealous: 74 guns, with Louis' fleet in Gibraltar
before Trafalgar.
Zebra: Bomb vessel used at Copenhagen.
Zephyr: Fireship destroyed at Copenhagen.

40
 Ship of the Line
Spanish Ships Cape St.Vincent.
Neptuno: Ship of the line at Trafalgar. Taken and
America: Ship of the line with Villeneuve's
retaken; returns to Cadiz.
combined fleet returning from West Indies in 1805,
Oriente: 74 gun ship of the line which fought at
intercepted by Calder.
Cape St.Vincent.
Argonauta: 80 guns. One of the ships that escaped
Principe de Asturias: 112 guns, flagship of
Sir James Saumarez' fleet off Gibraltar in 1800.
Admiral Gravina at Trafalgar .
Was with Villeneuve's combined fleet returning from
Rayo: 100 guns, fought at Trafalgar. Wrecked after
West Indies in 1805, and intercepted by Calder.
the battle.
Argus: 12 gun Brig which fought at Trafalgar.
Purìsima: 112 gun ship of the line which fought at
Atlante: 74 gun ship of the line which fought at
Cape St.Vincent.
Cape St.Vincent.
Real Carlos: 112 guns, destroyed by Superb off
Bahama: 74 gun ship of the line which fought at
Gibraltar in 1800.
Cape St.Vincent.
Rhin: 44 gun Frigate which fought at Trafalgar.
Bahama: 74 gun ship of the line which fought at
Sabina (also Santa Sabina): 40 gun Frigate,
Trafalgar and was captured by the British.
taken by Nelson in the 38 gun Minerve in 1796.
Cacafuego: 32 gun xebec frigate, capable of being
Commanded at the time by Don Jacobo Stuart, a
rigged as a ship (square sails) or a xebec (lateen
great-grandson of James II.
sails).
Salvador del Mundo: 112 guns, taken by Orion at
Clara: 34 gun frigate.
St Vincent.
Concepción: 112 gun ship of the line which fought
San Antonio: 74 gun ship of the line which fought
at Cape St.Vincent.
at Cape St.Vincent.
Conde de Regla: 112 gun ship of the line which
San Augustino: 74 gun ship of the line which
fought at Cape St.Vincent.
fought at Trafalgar.
Cornelie: 44 gun Frigate which fought at Trafalgar.
San Catalina: 40 gun frigate. Strikes to Success
Fama: 34 gun frigate.
and Vernon.
Fénix: 130 guns; de Langara's flagship at the
San Domingo: 74 guns, sunk at the Moonlight
Moonlight Battle. She strikes to Sandwich, and is
Battle.
renamed Gibraltar.
San Eugenio: 74 guns, runs aground at the
Guipuscoano: 64 guns, flagship of a squadron of
Moonlight Battle.
four frigates, two corvettes convoying 15
San Fermìn: 74 gun ship of the line which fought
merchantmen, taken by Rodney's fleet off Finisterre
at Cape St.Vincent.
in 1780. Renamed Prince William.
San Francisco: Ship of the line at Trafalgar. Goes
Hermenegildo: 112 guns, destroyed by Superb off
ashore after the battle.
Gibraltar in 1800.
San Idelfonso: 74 gun ship of the line which
Hermione: 44 gun Frigate which fought at
fought at Trafalgar and was captured by the British.
Trafalgar.
Hortense: 44 gun Frigate which fought at San Ildephonso: 74 gun ship of the line which
fought at Cape St.Vincent.
Trafalgar.
San José: 112 gun ship of the line which fought at
Infante de Pelayo: 74 gun ship of the line which
Cape St.Vincent.
fought at Cape St.Vincent.
San Josef: 112 guns, taken by Nelson's 74 gun
Mahonesa: 34 gun Frigate, the first Spanish ship
Captain at St Vincent.
taken (by Terpsichore) after Spain allied with
San Juan Nepomuceno: 74 gun ship of the line
France in 1796.
which fought at Cape St.Vincent.
Medea: 40 gun frigate.
San Juan Nepomuceno: 74 gun ship of the line
Mercedes: 34 gun frigate.
which fought at Trafalgar and was captured by the
Monarca: Ship of the line at Trafalgar. Wrecked
British.
after the battle.
San Justo: 74 gun ship of the line which fought at
Monarcha: Ship of the line; strikes to Sandwich at
Trafalgar.
the Moonlight Battle.
San Leandro: Ship of the line at Trafalgar.
Montanez: 74 gun ship of the line which fought at
San Nicolas: San Ysidro: 74 guns, taken by the
Trafalgar.
74 gun Excellent at St Vincent.
Natividad: 50 guns.
San Pablo: 74 gun ship of the line which fought at
Neptuna: 74 gun ship of the line which fought at
Cape St.Vincent.

41
 Ship of the Line
San Ysidro: 74 gun ship of the line which fought at
Cape St.Vincent.
Santa Ana: 112 guns, at Trafalgar. Taken and
retaken; returns to Cadiz..
Santa Anna: 112 gun ship of the line which fought
at Trafalgar. Captured by Royal Sovereign during
the battle but then managed to escape to Cadiz.
Santa Theresa: Frigate taken by Cyclops during
the Moonlight Battle.
Santissima Trinidad: 136 guns, world's largest
ship of the line. Flagship of Admiral de Cordova at
St Vincent, when she is briefly taken but rescued.
Ironically had she been captured, there was no
British dockyard big enough to repair her. Flagship
of Rear Admiral Cisneros at Trafalgar.
Soberano: 74 gun ship of the line which fought at
Cape St.Vincent.
Terrible: 74 gun ship of the line which fought at
Cape St.Vincent.
Themis: 44 gun Frigate which fought at Trafalgar.

42
 Ship of the Line
Danish Ships Stavaern: 8 gun gunboat which fought at
Copenhagen.
Elephanten: 70 gun ship of the line which fought
Viborg: 8 gun gunboat which fought at
at Copenhagen.
Copenhagen.
Danmark: 74 gun ship of the line which fought at
Naskau: 8 gun gunboat which fought at
Copenhagen.
Copenhagen.
Trekroner: 74 gun ship of the line which fought at
Copenhagen.
Saelland: 74 gun ship of the line which fought at
Copenhagen.
Jylland: 74 gun ship of the line which fought at
Copenhagen.
Prøvesteenen: 74 gun ship of the line which
fought at Copenhagen.
Mars: 60 gun frigate which fought at Copenhagen.
Holsteen: 60 gun frigate which fought at
Copenhagen.
Indfødsretten: 60 gun frigate which fought at
Copenhagen.
Dannebroge: 60 gun frigate which fought at
Copenhagen.
Wagrien: 60 gun frigate which fought at
Copenhagen.
Hiaelperen: 40 gun frigate which fought at
Copenhagen.
Iris: 40 gun frigate which fought at Copenhagen.
Aggershuus: 24 gun frigate which fought at
Copenhagen.
Cronborg: 24 gun frigate which fought at
Copenhagen.
Nyeborg: 24 gun frigate which fought at
Copenhagen.
Rendsborg: 24 gun frigate which fought at
Copenhagen.
Sarpen: 12 gun brig which fought at Copenhagen.
Nidelven: 12 gun brig which fought at
Copenhagen.
Elven: 12 gun sloop which fought at Copenhagen.
Nykøbing: 8 gun gunboat which fought at
Copenhagen.
Aalborg: 8 gun gunboat which fought at
Copenhagen.
Christiansund: 8 gun gunboat which fought at
Copenhagen.
Arendel: 8 gun gunboat which fought at
Copenhagen.
Langesund: 8 gun gunboat which fought at
Copenhagen.
Odense: 8 gun gunboat which fought at
Copenhagen.
Flensborg: 8 gun gunboat which fought at
Copenhagen.
Stege: 8 gun gunboat which fought at
Copenhagen.

43
 Ship of the Line
Dutch Ships Camperdown.
Tjerk Hiddes: 64 gun ship of the line, fought at
Admiraal de Ruijter: 64 gun ship of the line,
Camperdown. Captured by the english in 1797.
fought at Dogger bank.
Vrijheid: 72 gun ship of the line, fought at
Admiraal Generaal: 74 gun ship of the line,
Camperdown. Captured by the english in 1797.
fought at Dogger bank.
Waakzamheid: 24 gun frigate, fought at
Admiraal Piet Hein: 64 gun ship of the line,
Camperdown.
fought at Dogger bank.
Wassenaer: 72 gun ship of the line, fought at
Ajax: 14 gun sloop, fought at Camperdown.
Camperdown. Captured by the english in 1797.
Alkmaar: 56 gun frigate, fought at Camperdown
and was captured by the english in 1797.
Ambuscade: 32 gun frigate, fought at
Camperdown.
Argo: 52 gun frigate which fought at Dogger bank.
Captured by the english in 1796.
Atalanta: 14 gun sloop, fought at Camperdown.
Batavier: 64 gun ship of the line, fought at Dogger
bank. Was later downgraded to 56 guns, fought at
Camperdown and was captured by the english in
1799.
Beschermer: 54 gun frigate, fought at
Camperdown and was captured by the english in
1799.
Brutus: 64 gun ship of the line, fought at
Camperdown.
Cerberus: 64 gun ship of the line, fought at
Camperdown.
Daphne: 14 gun sloop, fought at Camperdown.
Delft: 56 gun frigate, fought at Camperdown.
Erfprins: 64 gun ship of the line, fought at Dogger
bank.
Galathe: 14 gun sloop, fought at Camperdown.
Gelijkheid: 64 gun ship of the line, fought at
Camperdown.
Haarlem: 64 gun ship of the line, fought at
Camperdown.
Heldin: 32 gun frigate, fought at Camperdown.
Hercules: 64 gun ship of the line, fought at
Camperdown. Captured by the english in 1797.
Het Haasje: 8 gun gunboat, fought at
Camperdown.
Holland: 64 gun ship of the line, fought at Dogger
bank.
Jupiter: 64 gun ship of the line, fought at
Camperdown. Captured by the english in 1797.
Leyden: 74 gun ship of the line, fought at
Camperdown. Captured by the english in 1797.
Mars: 44 gun frigate, fought at Camperdown and
was captured by the english in 1799. Also a 38 gun
frigate captured by the english in 1781.
Minerva: 24 gun frigate, fought at Camperdown.
Monnikendham: 44 gun frigate, fought at
Camperdown.
Staten Generaal: 74 gun ship of the line, fought at

44
 Ship of the Line
Counters
The next few pages are counters for play. They are
divided into four types and three groups. The
groups are by nation and the types are Cutter,
Sloop, Frigate and Ship of the Line. Brigs should
use the Sloop counters and Gunboats the Cutter
counters.

British Vessel
Cutter

French Vessel
Sloop

Spanish Vessel
Frigate

Dutch Vessel
(Batavian Republic Ship of the
of 1796-1813) Line

Danish Vessel

45
 Ship of the Line
Counter Assembly
The counters are designed to be cut out an folded into stand up pieces.

õFold Here
1. Cut out round the outside black lines.

2. Fold where indicated.

õFold Here 3. Place a dab of glue on the back of each picture

then fold the counter up so the pictures are
back to back and tabs A & B act as a stand.

õFold Here
B

46
 Ship of the Line

Cutter 1 Cutter 2 Cutter 3 Cutter 4 Cutter 5 Cutter 6 Cutter 7

Sloop 1 Sloop 2 Sloop 3 Sloop 4 Sloop 5 Sloop 6 Sloop 7

Frigate 1 Frigate 2 Frigate 3 Frigate 4 Frigate 5 Frigate 6 Frigate 7

47
 Ship of the Line

Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line

15 16 17 18 19 20 21

48
 Ship of the Line

Islands
49
 Ship of the Line

Cutter 1 Cutter 2 Cutter 3 Cutter 4 Cutter 5 Cutter 6 Cutter 7

Sloop 1 Sloop 2 Sloop 3 Sloop 4 Sloop 5 Sloop 6 Sloop 7

Frigate 1 Frigate 2 Frigate 3 Frigate 4 Frigate 5 Frigate 6 Frigate 7

50
 Ship of the Line

Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line

15 16 17 18 19 20 21

51
 Ship of the Line

Cutter 1 Cutter 2 Cutter 3 Cutter 4 Cutter 5 Cutter 6 Cutter 7

Sloop 1 Sloop 2 Sloop 3 Sloop 4 Sloop 5 Sloop 6 Sloop 7

Frigate 1 Frigate 2 Frigate 3 Frigate 4 Frigate 5 Frigate 6 Frigate 7

52
 Ship of the Line

Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line

15 16 17 18 19 20 21

53
 Ship of the Line

Cutter 1 Cutter 2 Cutter 3 Cutter 4 Cutter 5 Cutter 6 Cutter 7

Sloop 1 Sloop 2 Sloop 3 Sloop 4 Sloop 5 Sloop 6 Sloop 7

Frigate 1 Frigate 2 Frigate 3 Frigate 4 Frigate 5 Frigate 6 Frigate 7

54
 Ship of the Line

Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line

15 16 17 18 19 20 21

55
 Ship of the Line

Cutter 1 Cutter 2 Cutter 3 Cutter 4 Cutter 5 Cutter 6 Cutter 7

Sloop 1 Sloop 2 Sloop 3 Sloop 4 Sloop 5 Sloop 6 Sloop 7

Frigate 1 Frigate 2 Frigate 3 Frigate 4 Frigate 5 Frigate 6 Frigate 7

56
 Ship of the Line

Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line Ship of the Line

15 16 17 18 19 20 21

57
 Ship of the Line

Fireship 1 Fireship 2 Fireship 3 Fireship 4 Explosion Explosion Explosion

Ship 1 Ship 2 Ship 3

Bomb Vessel Bomb Vessel Bomb Vessel Small Small Small Small
1 2 3 Merchant 1 Merchant 2 Merchant 3 Merchant 4

Small Large Large Large Large Large Large

Merchant 5 Merchant 1 Merchant 2 Merchant 3 Merchant 4 Merchant 5 Merchant 6

58
 Ship of the Line
Glossary of Naval Terms

Able Seaman Knowledgeable sailor.

Afore To the front of the vessel.
Aft To the rear of the vessel.
Ahoy A sailor's call to draw attention.
Aloft High in the masts or rigging.
Amidships In the middle of the vessel.
Articles Contract signed by pirates or privateers when signing with a ship. It stated the rules as well as
shares of profits.
Astern Behind.
Avast Stop
Ballast Heavy materials at the bottom of a ship used to keep the ship upright.
Bar Shallow water in entrance to harbour.
Barque Three-masted ship.
Beam Width of ship.
Bear Away Change direction to sail before the wind.
Bilges Bottom compartment of ship, usually filled with waste water.
Black Jack A leather tankard made stiff with a coating of tar. Used by dockside pubs and taverns to serve wine
and beer. Also a term used for a short weighted leather club (tarred) using to strike blows to the
head to knock out people.
Blow Short, intense gale or storm.
Boarding Nets Nets strung out from ship's side to stop boarding.
Boatswain or Bosun The Warrant Officer in charge of sails, rigging, anchors and associated gear.
Booty Term for profits taken from plunder.
Boucan French word for a grill used to smoke meat. The word buccaneer came from boucan. Smoking
meat for sale to passing ships was common from about 1620 to 1670. Men were illegally hunting
and smoking the meat until the Spanish cracked down on them. Many took up pirating since their
livelihood was over. These men at the time were known as Boucaniers.
Bow or fore The front end of a ship
Bowlines Ropes attached to sails to pull them forward.
Bowsprit Spar at the front of a ship.
Box Haul Sharp turning of a ship.
Brace Rope used to hold direction of a sail.
Brigantine Two-masted ship.
Bring To Slowing a ship so that it almost stops by heading it into the wind.
Broadside The firing of all guns on one side of a ship.
Buccaneer The Term originally applied to the hunters of wild oxen and pigs on the island of Hispaniola, but
later it was used to describe the pirates and privateers who plundered the shipping and coastal
towns in the West Indies and on the coasts of South and Central America in the second half of the
seventeenth century.
Bulkhead A heavy “wall” which divides the inside of a ship into separate partitions.

59
 Ship of the Line
Bumboo A mixture of rum, water, sugar, and nutmeg. Favoured among West Indians as well as buccaneers
and pirates.
Cable A term for heavy rope.
Cable (length) A length of 240 yards.
Cannon A muzzle loading gunpowder weapon which hurls a metal ball (or other ammunition) at high speed
at a target. In Ship of the Line a single cannon system on a ship actually represents a battery of
several cannons, which are treated as one unit for firing purposes.
Canvas A game term for a group of sails.
Capstan Large cylindrical device that sailors inserted poles into to help haul up cables.
Careen Lying a ship on its side to allow its hull to be cleaned. The ship is bought into shallow water, then
when the tide goes it out it rolls sideways, allowing it to be cleaned. On the next high tide it can be
floated off again.
Carronade A short, fat, cannon. It has a shorter range than a standard cannon, but packs more punch.
Cat'O'NineTails A whip made from knotted ropes, used to punish crewmen.
Caulking Using unpicked rope and pitch to seal gaps in planks. The caulking on a ship had to be regularly
replaced as it wore out.
Chaser A small calibre gun mounted on the fore or aft of the ship, used to fire on targets who are following
you, or who you are following.
Close-Hauled Rigging a ship to sail directly into the wind.
Cog A ship developed in the medieval period, partly to resist attacks by longships (as used by the
Vikings). It had very high sides to prevent boading and a raised bow and stern where archers
would be stationed.
Colors The flag flown by a vessel to show her nationality.
Commissions Governments would issue these licenses to privateers. They authorized raids on foreign shipping.
Corsairs A Pirate or Privateer operating in the Mediterranean. The most famous corsairs were those based
on the Barbary Coast of North Africa who were authorized by their governments to attack the
merchant shipping of the Christian countries.
Crimp A person who is tricked or press ganged into serving on a crew.
Crows nest A basket at the top of the main mast where a look-out is stationed. The height gives them the best
possible visibility.
Cutlass A short, heavy, curved sword. The preferred weapon of many a pirate.
Cutter Single-masted small ship.
Davy Jones' Locker According to sailor's lore, Davy Jones is an evil spirit in the sea. His locker was the ocean where he
received dead sailors.
Deck The exposed area of the ship where the men did their work.
Dirk A long thin knife. It was used for fighting in close quarters, as well as cutting rope.
Doubloon A gold coin minted by Spain or Spanish colonies. Worth about seven weeks pay for an average
sailor
En Flute A warship without some, or all, of its cannons.
Fathom A measure of six feet, used to describe the depth of water.
Figurehead A carved figure perched on the front or bow of sailing vessels that helped establish a ship's
identity. This also refers to the captain when the spouse is on board. Historically the figurehead
was credited with the ability to ward off evil spirits (many Mediterranean ships have eyes painted
on the prow, which were believed to ward off the evil eye).

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 Ship of the Line
Flag Officer A senior officer in charge of a squadron or fleet (usually an Admiral). A flag officer has their own
personal flag which is flown from the mast of the ship they are on board.
Flagship The vessel which the commander of a fleet or squadron operates from. It flies the commanders
personal pennant (his flag), hence Flagship.
Flibustier French term for pirates during the golden age of piracy.
Fluke The portion of an anchor that digs securely into the bottom, holding the boat in place; also a term
for any occasion when the anchors digs in on the first try.
Fore Front of a ship.
Forecastle Small deck at front of ship.
Freebooter Another term for pirate.
Gaff Yard supporting top of a sail.
Gasket Platted rope holding sails to yards.
Gibbet A wooden frame from which dead pirates were hung, often in a metal cage especially fitted for the
dead man. This was done as a warning to others who would think of taking up a career in piracy.
Go on the account To embark on a piratical cruise
Grog British naval seamen received a portion of liquor every day. In 1740, Admiral Edward Vernon
ordered the rum to be diluted with water. Vernon's nickname was Old Grogram, and the beverage
was given the name grog in their disdain for Vernon.
Grommet A name British seamen gave to an apprentice sailor, or ship's boy. The word comes from the
Spanish word grumete, which has the same meaning.
Gun A generic term for any firearm. Includes cannons, chasers and carronades.
Halyards Ropes to raise or lower sails.
Haul Off Move away.
Heave To Stopping a ship by heading it into the wind.
Heel The term used to describe a ships leaning to one side under the influence of wind and sail (a ship
heeling to starboard is leaning to the right).
Hull The main body of a ship, built out of heavy wooden timbers.
Jib Triangular sail at prow of ship.
Jolly Boat A small craft used by the ships crew for general work. The term “jolly boat” comes from the crafts
use as a ferry to take the crew ashore for rest and recreation.
Jolly Roger The Jolly Roger was the pirate's flag. It had a black background and a symbol (usually white)
symbolizing death. The jolly roger came into use about 1700. Before then pirates used the colors
of their nationality. Only Edward England flew a flag with the skull and crossbones motif, but all
those flying the Jolly roger had symbols signifying either death, violence or limited time. The
variations were unlimited.
Keel Lowest lengthwise running timber of ship.
Land Ho! Traditional calling when a sailor sights land.
Landlubber Lubber is an old slang word for someone who is stupid and lazy. Sailors added land to it to describe
someone stupid about the ways of life aboard a ship.
Landsman Inexperienced sailor.
Larboard Port.
Lateen sail A triangular sail.
Lee Downwind. The lee side of a ship is that which is downwind, and a fleet in a lee position is
downwind from their enemy.

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 Ship of the Line
Leeward Same direction as the wind. Ships under sail heel to leeward and this reduces the effectiveness of
guns on the leeward side.
Letters of Marque A commission or license issued by the government authorizing seizure of enemy property. In
Britain and her colonies the letter was issued by the sovereign, the Lord High Admiral, or a Colonial
Governor. Such letters were purchased by entrepreneurs, a percentage of their prizes was kept by
the issuing authority and any remainder was split evenly between the crew of the privateer.
Light cannon A game term used to describe a smaller calibre cannon, normally only found on merchant ships.
Log-line A knotted rope and piece of wood that measures a ship's speed.
Long boat A long rowing boat, often called a pinnace.
Luff Turn a ship closer to wind.
Lugger A small two or three masted ship intended for fishing, coasting or sailing.
Lug sail A four-sided sail.
Lying To Position a ship is in after being brought to.
Maroon Pirates used marooning as an act of punishment. A transgressor of their codes would be stripped
and left upon an isolated island with only a few supplies, if any at all. Most transgressors preferred
a quick death to marooning, for it could mean starvation or worse, isolation for years, until rescue
or death.
Mast These were upright beams which sails were suspended from. The number of masts varied. Their
names were, mainmast ( largest mast centrally located ), fore-mast ( front of ship ), aft-mast
( rear of mainmast ), mizzenmast ( usually lateen-rigged, rear and sometimes front of ship, used
to improve steering ), bowsprit ( extended out at an angle over the bow ).
Mate The word mate comes from the word meat, and originally meant people who shared food. Later it
came to be known as a companion. Mate was also the title of an officer aboard naval and merchant
ships. The mate oversaw the sailors, ensuring that the captain's orders were carried out. He also
was responsible for stowing cargo and organizing the crew's work.
Midshipmen Junior-ranking officers who would assist in the control of the crew. Most midshipman were
teenagers, those surviving being promoted to lieutenant in a few years.
Mizzen Rear of a ship.
No Purchase, No A term used to mean "no plunder, no pay". At the time, the English word purchase referred to any
Pay plunder, loot, or booty. A pirate sailing under this term (in the ship's articles) would have to seize
loot or forfeit pay.
Ordinary Seaman Sailor with limited experience.
Orlop deck The lowest deck on a vessel.
Packet Small, fast ship for sending despatches and orders.
Peg Leg This was a nickname, given by pirates to those who had replaced a leg with a wooden prosthetic.
The Spanish name is Pié de Palo, the Dutch is Houtebeen.
Peso (Piece of The peso was the main coin in the Spanish-American colonies. It was slightly larger than the 19th
Eight) century U.S. silver dollar. It had a value of eight reales. Often the coin would be cut into 8
sections, each one representing 1 reale. Hence the name "piece of eight". The Spanish government
minted an immense amount of these coins and they were widely circulated.
Petty Officer Included gunner's mates, quartermasters, master-at-arms, carpenter, bosun and cooper, the ship's
master, chaplain and surgeon
Picaroon Term meaning both pirate and slaver.
Pinnace A ship's boat, usually towed behind the ship whilst at sea.
Plying Turn to windward.

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 Ship of the Line
Point A game term, used to describe a point where lines intersect on the game map. Ships move along
the lines, from point to point.
Ponton An English prison hulk, or converted ship hull where captured pirates were held.
Port The left side of a ship, if you are facing forward.
Press Gang A group of sailors who "recruit" for their ship using violence and intimidation
Privateer An armed vessel or persons aboard, which are authorized by a commission or "letter of marque"
from a government to capture the merchant vessels of an enemy nation.
Prize A prize was a ship which was captured. The word is derived from the latin pretium, meaning prize,
value, reward, wages.
Quarterdeck As the need for castles (raised sections at fore and aft to act as firing platforms for archers) was
diminished so too was their size. Fore and aft-castles were replaced with the terms quarter-deck
and fore-deck.
Quartermaster Under pirates, the quartermaster had an almost equal amount of authority as the captain. He was
elected and as such was the crew's voice. If a ship was captured, the quartermaster almost always
took over the captured ship. He maintained order, settled arguments, and distributed supplies. The
quartermaster was in charge of all booty gained and distributed it among the crew.
Rake Firing down the length of a ship from a position off of its bow or stern. A good raking shot will tear
straight through the ships below decks, likely causing massive damage. In Ship of the Line a raking
shot ignores Hull systems, only damaging non-Hull systems on a ship.
Ratlines Ropes attached to a ship's shrouds that are used as ladders.
Reef Lessen sail area by tying parts of it to the mast.
Rigging The part of a ship which supports and operates the sails.
Royals Square sails sitting beneath the topgallants.
Sailing The art of getting from A to B in a sail driven vessel, slowly, whilst avoiding starvation,
dehydration, disease, getting lost, mutiny, pirates and bad weather.
Schooner A ship with two masts, where the fore mast is shorter than the aft mast.
Scuppers Holes pierced in deck near bulwarks to allow surplus water to drain off.
Scurvy A disease resulting from a vitamin C deficiency which results in weakness, anemia, and spongy
gums.
Sea Rover A pirate or pirate's ship.
Sheets Ropes attached to bottom corners of sails.
Ships Articles A document which governs the conduct of a private crew and ship. Anyone serving aboard a ship
must follow the articles or face punishment. The articles were usually laid down by the ships
master (its owner) and the captain.
Shiver my timbers An imprecation used by "stage-sailors" presumably of nautical origin, shiver here is used in the
sense of "to shatter" or "splinter into pieces", the timbers of a ship.
Shrouds Support ropes attached to the masts.
Square-Rigged A ship rigged with square sails at its bow.
Starboard The right side of a ship, if you are facing forward
Stays Forwards and backwards support ropes for the masts.
Stern or aft Rear of ship.
Strike the Colors To haul down a ship's flag as a signal of surrender.
Swab A swab is a mop made from rope used to clean the deck. It is also an insult intended to show
contempt for a crude, ignorant person.

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 Ship of the Line
Sweet trade The career of piracy.
Tack Way of a ship zig-zagging into the wind or turning it by steering to windward.
Tar A pitchy substance used for various purposes aboard ship (such as caulking or protecting surfaces
from water). Also a colloquial term for a British seaman.
Top Platform around the mast.
Topgallant Highest of the three spars used to make a mast.
Under sail A ship which has its sails up and is moving is “under sail”
Under way A ship which is “under way” is moving.
Walk the Plank Walking the Plank referred to blindfolding a prisoner, tying his hands to his sides, and forcing him
to walk a plank that was suspended out over the sea. This vivid description of pirate's torture and
entertainment sparks the imagination, and well that it should, for that is where it sprang from. It is
fictional, the work of 19th century artists.
Wear Turn a ship by moving prow in direction of the wind.
Weather Upwind. Opposite of lee, the weather side of a ship is that which is facing into the wind. A fleet in a
weather position is upwind from their enemy.
Weather Gauge To “have the weather gauge” over an enemy means you are upwind of them at the start of an
engagement, a major advantage in sail driven ships.
Windage How far a ship is blown off course by the wind.
Xebec A small three masted vessel (frigate or smaller in game terms) with lateen and square sails.
Yard Horizontal spar that holds up the sails.
Yardarm Outer sections of the yard.

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Main Index
Boarding Actions...................... 8
Boarding Phase........................ 5
Bomb Vessel.......................... 16
Booms.................................. 16
British Ships.......................... 36
Camperdown......................... 22
Cape St Vincent..................... 23
Capturing Ships....................... 8
Copenhagen.......................... 24
Danish Ships..........................43
Dutch Ships........................... 44
Escape.................................... 8
Estuaries............................... 14
Explosion ships...................... 15
Fifth Rate.............................. 32
Fire ships.............................. 15
Firing Phase............................ 5
First Rate................................ 32
Floating Battery........................16
Forts....................................... 13
Fourth Rate............................. 32
French Ships............................ 34
Galleys.................................... 17
Grappling Phase......................... 5
Harbours................................. 14
Heading.................................... 3
Islands.................................... 14
Legendary Officers.................... 12
Map.......................................... 3
Move Phase............................... 5
Order Phase...............................5
Raking Fire................................ 7
Ramming.................................. 8
Readiness................................ 15
65
Ship of the Line
Sailing Dice............................. 3
Second Rate.......................... 32
Shallows............................... 13
Sinking Phase.......................... 5
Sixth Rate............................. 33
Sloop.................................... 33
Spanish Ships........................ 41
Surrender Phase:..................... 5
The Nile................................ 26
Third Rate............................. 32
Tile........................................ 3
Towing.................................. 16
Trafalgar............................... 28
Victory.................................... 8
War of 1812.......................... 30
Wind Shadows....................... 17
FJ Gaming
FJ Gaming
FJ Gaming
FJ Gaming
FJ Gaming
FJ Gaming
Ship of the Line Maneuver Table
Fore
The numbered square indicates
the ships start position. Port Starboard

Aft

Close Hauled Å Æ
1 2 3 4 5

Ç 6 7 È 8 ñ ñ
Ç 9 10 È
Reaching

Å Æ
ñ ñ ñ ñ ñ ñ
11 12 13 ñ ñ ñ
14 Ç 15 16 È
Å Æ
ñ ñ
Running ñ ñ ÉÅ ÆÊ
17 18 19 20
Ship of the Line Maneuver Table
Fore
The numbered square indicates
the ships start position. Port Starboard

Aft

Close Hauled Å Æ
1 2 3 4 5

Ç 6 7 È 8 ñ ñ
Ç 9 10 È
Reaching

Å Æ
ñ ñ ñ ñ ñ ñ
11 12 13 ñ ñ ñ
14 Ç 15 16 È
Å Æ
ñ ñ
Running ñ ñ ÉÅ ÆÊ
17 18 19 20
Ship of the Line Maneuver Table
Fore
The numbered square indicates
the ships start position. Port Starboard

Aft

Close Hauled Å Æ
1 2 3 4 5

Ç 6 7 È 8 ñ ñ
Ç 9 10 È
Reaching

Å Æ
ñ ñ ñ ñ ñ ñ
11 12 13 ñ ñ ñ
14 Ç 15 16 È
Å Æ
ñ ñ
Running ñ ñ ÉÅ ÆÊ
17 18 19 20
Ship of the Line Maneuver Table
Fore
The numbered square indicates
the ships start position. Port Starboard

Aft

Close Hauled Å Æ
1 2 3 4 5

Ç 6 7 È 8 ñ ñ
Ç 9 10 È
Reaching

Å Æ
ñ ñ ñ ñ ñ ñ
11 12 13 ñ ñ ñ
14 Ç 15 16 È
Å Æ
ñ ñ
Running ñ ñ ÉÅ ÆÊ
17 18 19 20
“Raise the yardarm and roll out the
guns!”
Ship is a quick and easy game of
sea battles in the age of fighting
sail, playable by 2 or more players
in an hour or less.
If you enjoy this game you'll
probably also enjoy our other
micro-games:
• Biplane Barmy: WWI aerial
action.
• Blazing Jets: Cold war
dogfights.
• Marines vs. Zombies: urban
survival horror.

FJGaming FJG004