The Battle Of The Red-Mouthed Gun

I'm not sure when I first came across this naval action, but the lovely painting above, by Herb Kawaínuí Kane was certainly inspiring enough that I felt I had to put together a game based around it.

This battle, called Kepuwaha’ula’ula in Hawaiian, was fought on 1791 off the coat of the island of Hawaii, and was the climax of nearly ten years of civil war in the islands. It was notable for being the first sea-battle fought by the Hawaiians in which cannon and firearms predominated - hence the rather colourful name.

The two forces involved were those of Kamehameha, who would go on to unify the islands under his rule, and those of the Western Islands, predominantly Maui and Kauai. Both sides fought in double-hulled canoes, some with cannon in the bows, but Kamehameha also had a commandeered American brig, the Fair American.

There's a nice summary of the conflict HERE

I set up the two sides for Galleys & Galleons, taking an awful lot of liberties with the depiction of vessels based on what I had available. Both sides had a mix of catamarans and groups of canoes, whilst Kamehameha's force included the Fair American. All of teh canoes and catamarans were filed with fierce warriors and had bow chasers, whilst I ran the Fair American as a slightly more powerful vessel. In reality I suspect its armament would have been very limited and in game terms it wouldn't be much better than the catamarans, but I liked it as an oddity in the game, so overstated its capabilities.

The stats for the vessels were as follows:

Canoes - Q2 C2 - Boats, Intimidating, Bow Chasers

Catamarans - Q3 C2 - Lateen Rig, Bow Chasers, Unarmed, Intimidating, Shallow Draft, Yare

Fair American - Q3 C3 - Square Rig, Bow Chasers

Both sides had four Canoes and two Catamarans. The Western Alliance also had a Catamaran flagship, whilst Kamehameha had the Fair American as his flag.

Here's Kamehameha's fleet arrayed for battle.

And the two forces facing each other off the coat of Hawaii. The wind was blowing from the south (bottom of the picture), but drifted to the south-west during the course of the action. However this didn't really affect the course of events.

The fleets close, Kamehameha's on the right and the Western Alliance on the left. The Alliance was moving forward cautiously and with its vessels keeping station, whilst Kamehameha made moved to concentrate vessels against the Alliance's left.

Opening shots.

The Alliance decided against a shooting match with the catamarans, and went straight in, grappling and boarding Kamehameha's vessels. They got the best of the initial combats as well. To the south the canoes of both sides were exchanging shots and Kamehameha's took the first damage.

The Fair American fired a broadside and badly damaged an Alliance catamaran. Fierce fighting continued on the other catamarans, whilst Kamehameha tried to send canoes around the fight in support.

A damaged Alliance catamaran moved away from the fight. Meanwhile Kamehameha's canoes were holding their own to the south.

Kamehameha's canoes join the melee to the north.

The Alliance canoes and a catamaran turned in pursuit of the Fair American, and inflicted some damage with gunnery.

A series of fierce counter-attacks by Kamehameha's catamarans (combined with some awful activations by the Alliance) saw the Alliance vessels overcome in the melee. This included their flagship; not a fatal result, but a further blow to their already shaky command and control.

A catamaran collided with the Fair American. The Fair American took damage, as did the catamaran. It was enough to sink the latter vessel.

To the south Kamehameha's canoes had the upper hand, as reinforcements from the northern part of the battle arrived. One group of Alliance canoes has sunk and another was losing a boarding action, whilst the third group was being pounded with artillery from two directions.

The Fair American fired a broadside at some canoes, badly damaging them, whilst another group to the south was overwhelmed in melee. The Western Alliance were now reduced to to two canoe groups, both damaged. Kamehameha had the victory. His fleet didn't lose a single vessel.

I'm certain that my depiction of the canoes and catamarans isn't remotely accurate, but this setup made for an interesting action even if only loosely based on the actual battle. The mix of bow guns and boarding capability on the relatively weak vessels in play opened up some nice tactical choices, whilst Kamehameha had a vessel with decent gunnery but whose maneuver capabilities were not easy to coordinate with the rest of the fleet*.

* Some sources call Fair American a schooner, so the fore-and-after Lateen Rig of the game might be more appropriate - no change in cost - and would see it able to sail the same as the catamarans.