Fleet Operations

Fleet operations can be messy business, so in order to clear up any confusion on the subject, the following guidelines have been put in place to assist fleets and fleet combatants with various tasks and ideas such as methods of escape, terms of surrender and methods of repair.

In order to Escape a conflict, a ship must close sails & gunports after reaching a friendly port or island. Once a ship has closed sails and “Escaped” it cannot then enter back into combat once it has repaired. Once a ship has escaped, it is out of the fight permanently, until such a time as the fleet engagement is over.

For a ship to have properly escaped a fleet battle, the ship must reach a friendly port or island. If that island is not owned or operated by the company that ship is with, the ship must request Safe Harbour. This means announcing in global chat that (Ship Name Here) is requesting safe harbour at (Island/Company Name Here). Once the island owners reply a confirmation, the ship may then lower sails and come to a complete stop. Ships that have escaped the fleet engagement are not subject to piracy or the Rules of Plunder.

In order to Surrender a ship must close sails & gunports and announce in chat that (Ship Name Here) is surrendering. Once a ship has surrendered it cannot re-join the fight, and once the fleet engagement is over, it will be subject to the Rules of Plunder, should the company that the ship belongs to have lost the fight.

There are two methods of repair for a ship during a fleet engagement. One is to utilise a fleet tender to carry resources into the fight, for ships to pull alongside and transfer repair materials, ammunition and other resources across during the fight.

The other is for a ship to find an island, drop a few crew on to it, sail around for a bit and then pick the crew back up at slow speed once the crew has gathered resources and material necessary for repairs.

During both of these manoeuvres, the ships cannot be halted. No matter how slowly they may move, the ships must still be moving, otherwise they will be counted as surrendered and removed from the fight.

During a Fleet Engagement, only one Torpedo Schooner may be in the fight. If it is sunk, the company it belongs to may not launch a pre-prepared torpedo schooner during the engagement as a replacement.

Arbiter judgement may be called to ensure that specific ships are not breaching these rules.