Essex

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Revision as of 07:29, 26 December 2020 by Bill DK (talk | contribs) (battle rating update)
Essex
Essex Sailing front 1.png
Rate5th Rate
Guns40
ChasersNone
Broadside Weight
Cannon Broadside Weight324 pd
Carronade Broadside Weight640 pd
Battle Rating200
Total Crew315
Sailing Crew130
Minimum Crew{{{Minimum Crew}}}
Max Speed12.35 kn
Turn Rate3.29
Structure
Bow Armour Hit Points1008
Side Armour Hit Points4100
Stern Armour Hit Points403
Structure Hit Points2050
Armour
Bow Armour Thickness37 cm
Side Armour Thickness62 cm
Stern Armour Thickness25 cm
Sail Hit Points4100
Mast Thickness112 cm
Rigging TypeSquare
DraughtDeep
Cargo Capacity491
Cargo Slots16
Crafting Level30

 General Description

A well armed and armoured 18-pounder frigate with good speed with a good amount of crew, she's a good sailor, but a bit sluggish in turn rate in comparison to other frigates.

Armament

The Essex is a 18pd frigate, thus on her gun deck she can mount 18pd cannons or she can mount 32pd carronades. On her weather deck she can either mount 12pd cannons or 32pd carronades

Deck Cannon Count Cannon Size Carronade Size
Gun Deck 28 18pd 32pd
Weather Deck 12 12pd 32pd

Characteristics

The USS Essex is a good frigate out gunning the regular Frigate and getting close (due to having 12pd on weather deck instead of 9pd) to the Trincomalee. The Essex has good speed (being faster than the Frigate but slower than the Trincomalee) and good turning (beating the Trincomalee but loosing to the Frigate).

The Essex is currently a bit of a problem ship however. Her lack of bow chasers make her difficult to PvP and to keep merchant ships tagged in the battle instance. Although just a minor problem, the entirety of her upper deck guns is on her quarter deck, which may make accurate aiming difficult for the early part of her main lower guns for a front rolling broadside. As a result of this the Essex serves better as a support ship rather than a hunter or a fighter, supporting other larger ships in battle.

SailingProfileESSEX.png

Here is the Sailing Profile of the Essex. She handles much like the Belle Poule and Frigate, in the manner one would expect a ship-rigged vessel to handle. She performs best on points 135-150 and loses speed slowly as you turn towards a beam reach. Turning upwind from there yields a more rapid increase in speed. Compared to the Frigate and Belle Poule, the Essex is notably weaker sailing at around point 30, but otherwise, she handles much the same. Unfortunately for her, however, her lack of chasers means that her low(ish) maximum speed is even more of a hindrance than for the Frigate. Only with very cunning positioning are you likely to catch a decently commanded fleeing opponent with the Essex.

History

The USS Essex was an American built frigate that fought in the War of 1812, but was captured by the British off the port of Valparaiso. She faced the 38-gun HMS Phoebe and the 18-gun HMS Cherub, and was soundly defeated. Essex, to the dismay of her captain only carried carronades, whilst her foes carried long guns; throughout the battle, Essex was unable to fire upon her enemies.

The USS Essex also spent time attacking British whalers; her exploits are rumored to be the inspiration of Master and Commander's Acheron.

How to get the Crafting recipe

The Essex you can get by crafting either Belle Poules or you can get her by crafting Frigates. Though the probability is extremely low, the blueprint can also be dropped by breaking up an Essex.

Image Gallery

Last Verified Name
18/09/2017 bobk