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Larry Pieniazek wrote:
> In lugnet.loc.au, Lindsay Frederick Braun writes:
>
> > Nice to know there'll be coal at Port Block. We'll have to visit
> > sometime. ;)
>
> And what? Clean out that fearsome nest of pirates lurking nearby? I didn't
> think capital ships did well against piracy.
There aren't too many cases where capital ships have even come into direct
contact with pirates. One example I can think of might be Britain versus
Zanzibar, 1880--pretty much a war against illicit trade and outright piracy
given haven by the Sultan. British battleships took it apart in the shortest
war on modern record, IIRC about two hours and forty minutes. Of course, the
Sultan was pretty much unable to shoot back, which was the point--even pirates
in the harbour wouldn't have been able to retaliate. Thus we call it a
turkey-shoot. ;)
Capital ships have to be used in a strategic manner against piracy--taking
apart the places where they stop, rest, sell, and steal. But you're right in
that the primary purpose of the line-of-battleship was to destroy other
line-of-battleships; when sent on foreign station, their mere presence was
meant to be intimidating to lesser foes whether of legitimate authority or
not. So it's something of a psychological deterrent too. (And if one never
quite knows where those capital ships will be, they could be in for a nasty
surprise.)
Operationally, capital ships of earlier eras pretty much mounted the same
class of weapons and represented a similar form that pirate ships might have,
and so were useless because they were slower and had very limited weapons
ranges--a pirate could turn tail and flee. Modern battleships don't have
quite the same limitations; even as early as the 1890s, if you could see it,
you could generally also hit it. The late-19th-century warship also became a
steel and high-explosive monster carrying 800 to 1200 men, which is a technos
that even an exceptional pirate wouldn't have access to.
But if you're going to go chasing pirates, then yes, you need something
smaller and more nimble. _Gloire_ might represent the sort of ship that
chased down privateers in the Atlantic during the US Civil War, as just one
example, but to stamp out piracy totally one needs to make the lifestyle
unprofitable. That means also making it undesirable for non-pirates to
consort with pirates, even innocently, and thus making it impossible for
pirates ever to light to sell booty or get a good night's sleep. Even pirates
need a few friendly ports!
best
Lindsay
(I was referring more to cluttering up the harbour and being a hazard to
navigation at Port Block, however. ;) )
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