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HMS Surprise?

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drannkirk

Landlubber
As I think you guys can now tell, I'm a huge fan of Patrick O'Brien, and I was happily surprised (pardon the pun) when I saw, under the features list on Pieter's page:

"Updated Surprise - By Merciless Mark
Now Surprise has opened lower gunports and less polygons."

I thought this might imply that Build 13 might contain the HMS Surprise. How do I get her? Is it a side-quest, a purchasable ship, what is it?

Kudos, in particular, to the Light Frigate 2 model which looks (in my mind) a lot like what the Surprise should look like!

Anyone know?

Thanks!
 
Yo, brother!!! Master and Commander rules!!!

well, the Surprise can be bought in the shipyard....it is the British Ship, if you see it in the shipyard, its the Surprise....it has 42 or 44 cannons, depends of the build mod....i got the latest version of the Surprise, from B14A8 or B14A7 i guess, dont remember....i just hate the fact the my guns are white, but the ship isnt that bad at all <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="xD:" border="0" alt="laugh.gif" />
 
<!--quoteo(post=274427:date=Aug 21 2008, 08:20 AM:name=Andyintore Falcus)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Andyintore Falcus @ Aug 21 2008, 08:20 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=274427"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Yo, brother!!! Master and Commander rules!!!

well, the Surprise can be bought in the shipyard....it is the British Ship, if you see it in the shipyard, its the Surprise....it has 42 or 44 cannons, depends of the build mod....i got the latest version of the Surprise, from B14A8 or B14A7 i guess, dont remember....i just hate the fact the my guns are white, but the ship isnt that bad at all <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="xD:" border="0" alt="laugh.gif" /><!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Wait, so I'll see it listed as "Surprise" in the shipyard? I'm running Build 13, by the way, so I'm not sure if it's in there yet.

I'm so in love with the series that I've actually edited the ship values so that the French sail faster and turn faster, but carry lower caliber cannons/carronades as per the series; the English don't sail particularly fast or slow but they carry ridiculous caliber of cannons.
 
No, the Surprise name in the shipyard is "British Frigate". You will see that the cannons are 12 pounders, there is no other frigate with so weak cannons, only the Surprise, so thats the one.
 
42 guns? Isn't that too much? I'll have to read HMS Surprise again.. but I thought she was a Jackass frigate. 42 guns is far heavier than she was.
 
<!--quoteo(post=274438:date=Aug 21 2008, 04:38 PM:name=Dr. Maturin)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Dr. Maturin @ Aug 21 2008, 04:38 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=274438"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->42 guns? Isn't that too much? I'll have to read HMS Surprise again.. but I thought she was a Jackass frigate. 42 guns is far heavier than she was.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

You mean the M a C Surprise! is in the real life the HMS Rose and a Jackass.
i would say that the game surprise looks like the Ancheron.
 
Exactly, she's too heavy, she was a lighter frigate <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cool.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="8)" border="0" alt="cool.gif" />

There is a more detailed account with regards to the Patrick O'Brian HMS Surprise <a href="http://wiki.hmssurprise.org/index.php/HMS_Surprise_%28ship%29" target="_blank">here</a> Officially described as a 28 gun frigate, she was between an unrated post ship and a 32-gun.
 
Ops, i forgot to mention that this Surprise isnt based on the Patrick O'brian's one <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="xD:" border="0" alt="laugh.gif" /> I discovered it too, when i was trying to discover why there were twice the guns in the Surprise than its original number.
 
I think the ingame Surprise is supposed to be the "real" version and not the film version.
 
Well the information at the link I posted listed the various armaments that the surprise had been outfitted with. If you take the maximum for each it does add up to 42, but you have to remember many of those are small caliber guns and in any case ships were never armed to the teeth like that as it killed their speed and maneuverability. I'll have to re-read HMS Surprise from Patrick O'brian, but I think Jack describes the Surpise as having 20 and 8 guns at that time.
 
Maturin, I haven't seen the Surprise in-game, but I have seen the Light Frigate 2, which is a beautiful model of a frigate with a large flag flying at the stern. That looks and feels a lot like ol' Surprise.

My books are in storage in the states (I go to boarding school), so I can't check, but the Surprise is absolutely not a ship armed to the teeth. As it is, I think Jack mentions she throws more weight than she should, pointing out that most British ships did too. The French prefer smaller guns to augment their beautifully designed hulls that makes them faster and more maneuverable. Jack prefers carronades because he likes going yardarm to yardarm; "damn the maneuvers, go straight at them" remember?

A ship with 42 guns in the Napoleanic era wouldn't be on cruises, it would be serving line duty on the Channel. 28-32 is already a fairly heavy cruiser.
 
<!--quoteo(post=274655:date=Aug 22 2008, 01:00 PM:name=drannkirk)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (drannkirk @ Aug 22 2008, 01:00 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=274655"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Jack prefers carronades because he likes going yardarm to yardarm; "damn the maneuvers, go straight at them" remember?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

I thought it was Nelson's style only....but i just started to read the first book yet, so i cant be certain....
 
I can't say I agree, Jack likes to outmaneuver and outgun, he's big on accurate gunnery ( which is not at all important in Nelson style engagements) and he hated the Polycrest, partly because of it's all Carronade armament.

But I have only read Desolation Island and the preceding novels. I'm reading Fortune of War right now. There's many more to go, so maybe he changes his preferred tactics <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sleep.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="-_-" border="0" alt="sleep.gif" />
 
That's what Jack professes to like anyway. In the Mauritius Command, Jack tries to impress upon the captains under his command the importance of accurate gunning. In Post-Captain, Jack weaves around the French admiral's ships only barely losing out in the end because of bad luck.

But Jack respects Nelson a lot.
 
the Surprise is modeled after the plans of the real ship. And to explain why she looks like a French ship. She has always been a French built corvette named L'Unite and armed with 24 nine-pound long guns, she was designed by M. Forfait and was built at Le Havre. Captured in 1796 by HMS Inconstant, L'Unite was rechristened HMS Surprise and converted by the British into a 28-gun sixth-rate, carrying 24 32-pound carronades on her main deck, eight more of the same on her quarter deck and forecastle, as well as 4 six-pound long guns as chasers.

She gained fame for the cutting-out expedition in 1799 of HMS Hermione. Hermione's crew had mutinied, and had sailed her into Spanish possession in Puerto Cabello. Captain Edward Hamilton of the Surprise led a boarding party to retake the Hermione from the mutineers and, after a sharp action, sailed her out of danger under Spanish gunfire back into British control. She was sold out of the Service in 1802.

<img src="http://www.jotika-ltd.com/KitPics/LRG/Surprise_Plan1_lrg.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
 
Thats the real Surprise....

thanks for remembering us that history, Inzane <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/happy.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="^_^" border="0" alt="happy.gif" />
 
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