Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 1:07:24-1:08:54

Should Phoebe have closed to give Essex an honorable fight?

An explicit tactical thought exercise asks whether honor required Hillyar to accept the fighting range most dangerous to his own crew.

Battle Of ValparaisoCarronadesNaval LeadershipNaval Tactics
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Question

Should Phoebe have closed to carronade range to give Essex an honorable fight?

Short answer

No. In this view, honorable command does not require accepting a fighting range that needlessly endangers the crew.

Notes

Phoebe's captain had to choose whether to accept the close-range fight Porter wanted. Porter's later accounts treated closing as the honorable course. That definition of honor is rejected here because it would expose the crew to avoidable losses. In this view, responsibility for the people under command supplies a reason to refuse the proposed terms of combat.