Could the 44-gun United states defeat the 64-gun Africa in 1813 or 14? I'm not exactly an expert in Naval warfare at that time, so I have no idea.
Thanks in advance.
Thanks in advance.
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Probably not. The Africa is a 3rd Rate Battleship, and has 2-3 times the firepower and about 2-3 times the armour.
It would be like putting a 1890 Pre-Dreadnought against a 1914 Cruiser. HMS Africa is in a higher weight class but it is 50 years behind the times (which is why it was in the America's rather than part of the Blockade against France). I would say that USS United States should win on paper but the Royal Navy was generally a more experienced and better trained force. so HMS Africa would make it a very close fight.
However Africa had the advantage in Long range firepower with a battery of 18 Pdrs on her upper gun deck. She also carried 20 more guns than the the United states including a 68 pdr Carronade on both sides of the focsle. The Americans had no guns heavier than a 32 pounder Carronade.
On the other hand, as a frigate, the United States had advantages in speed and manouevrability, but was also more lightely built and not designed for a protracted engagement against a ship as durable as a ship of the line. The American frigates were much like RN Battlecruisers of
WW I & II in that they weren't capable of going toe to toe with their own equivilent, when a US 24 Pounder Frigate went up against a British one, the Americans had their asses handed to them over the breech of their own bow chasers.
Didn't the British give a standing order to all their ships of the line -not- to engage any US frigate or warship 1v1 because of the tremendous losses they were taking in such engagements?
Didn't the British give a standing order to all their ships of the line -not- to engage any US frigate or warship 1v1 because of the tremendous losses they were taking in such engagements?