[COR-FB2] HMHV Athena

[Bregir]

Cooke was in high spirits - This was the kind of sailing he was made for - Cracking on through the waves at nine knots two fathoms under every conceivable scrap of sail.

The HMHV Athena was heeling over, and the frequent spray of sea water reached as far as her main mast each time she broke a wave. Cooke we driving her hard, just this side of reckless, and he loved it.

So did the crew - After weeks of lying moored in King's Harbour, keeping harbour watch and working hard on shore, they were now back were they felt at home. Familiar duties, meals, and watches that to most landsmen would seem insufferable, was their way of life - and they loved it despite Cooke constantly calling for sail trimmers to get that extra half a knot.

Currently, most of them had a respite. It was nearing noon, and Cooke was occupied with his sextant, measuring the angle of the sun at its highest, a daily ceremony that would mark the start of a new naval day and allow him to lay down his latitude with the utmost accuracy. A landsman might have remarked that with the coast of Cocovia clear on the starboard side, this was perfectly superfluous. One had simply to keep it there, and they would invariably reach Quinnsville, their destination, in due time. In fact, Montoya had done so, but surprisingly (to Montoya), Cooke had not attended to his arguments and instead suggested that he should retire to the main-top from where he might spot some curious birds.

Right ahead, some wreckage had been spotted, and some of the crew where now exercising the chasers, running out the starboard nine pounder to fire at an empty barrel. This was a procedure they had done countless times, and they were already expert gunners, yet they never seemed to tire from the joy of the great guns firing and hitting true to their mark.

On the fore top-gallant yard, a midshipman and a seamen were in the progress of shaking out the last reef in the top-gallant as the wind had dropped slightly, and Cooke believed she would carry it.

The HMHV Athena is a snow-rigged sloop-of-war, formerly of the Royal Navy. Originally built in Oleon, but captured at the onset of the last war, she had been Cooke's first independent command and allowed him a small fortune in prize money, as well as several chances to distinguish himself as an enterprising commander, none of which he had passed over. However, during the peace, the Athena had been sold out of the service and Cooke set ashore on half pay.

Recently, Montoya had inherited a considerable sum and purchased the Athena, and had now outfitted her for an expedition to the new world. The crown had caught news of this expedition and offered its support, assigning a contingent of Royal Marines, protection from impressment of its crew, and access to ports and supplies, in return for claim to any land discovered. Therefore, the Athena now carried the designation HMHV: Her Majesty's Hired Vessel.

She is armed with four 18 pounder carronades per broadside and four long bronze nines for chasers. The long range chasers enable her to harass an enemy from afar with swift and accurate fire during a chase, often allowing her to take weaker enemies, or escape from stronger, without significant damage. And while the carronades are ineffective in long range engagements, they give her the punch of a much larger vessel, if she manages to close with the enemy.

Cooke had recently received orders from the Crown, which was the reason for all this cracking on. Not only had his appointment as military governor of King's Harbour been confirmed, but he had also been appointed Military Commander for Cocovia. A rank in navy terms comparable to commodore, and only in very few cases bestowed upon a mere commander, not yet even of post-rank yet. It should be of no surprise that Cooke was both excited and nervous to do a good job. This might well be his best chance for a promotion to post-captain, and perhaps the command of a frigate he had always seen as the pinnacle of naval enterprise. Currently, this new command included only a few forts, a gunboatand the HMHV Athena, plus whatever the mayor of Quinnsville had at his disposition, but his orders had also told him that a mixed battalion of cavalry and infantry was despatched for Cocovia.

Therefore, the Athena was stretching out towards the East-coast of Cocovia and Quinnsvilleto discuss military dispositions with Sir Thomas Smaugton, the mayor of the settlement, and to get at better insight in the tactical situation there. At the same time, he would circumnavigate Cocovia to survey all possible landing sites and vantage points, as they may prove to be of tactical importance at a later time.

_____________________________________________

Thanks for looking and reading - I hope you enjoyed it - I am quite happy with how this vessel came out, but C&C is always welcome - I would like my next one to be even better.

The pictures are a bit potato, but they were taken in the rush of pacing everything up and moving out. I would have preferred a better background and I struggled abit with the sunlight, but I hope you can still enjoy the moc. There are a few more detail and overview shots in flickr.

While the landsman might take her for a brig, she is actually snow-rigged, due to the small trysail-mast just abaft the mainmast.

I think the Athena is best fitting for a 4A, but thoughts on this is welcome too. I am not going to license her for quite some time, as I will be using her for story purposes, rather than risk losing her in the MRCA. Plus, having her sail around wouldn't fit with my story.

Edited April 12, 2016 by Bregir

[Garmadon]

Excellent ship Bregir, beautiful shaping and color-scheme here, and the rigging and sails are great as well! Some of my favorite details are the cannon and their ports (though I would support tiling the bottom of those if you had the pieces), and the anchor's position. I'm looking forward to that frigate like Captain Cooke!

[Kwatchi]

Lovely ship and story.

Could you add a picture of one of your 9 pounders if you get a chance? I've been struggling to create a build for a small weight gun that I like and what I can see of yours is promising.

[CelesAurivern]

Interesting way of mounting the sails. I can't help but notice a snowflake like design on the sails. An allusion to the 'snow' rig? :D

[Bregir]

Just a quick picture of the guns:

And for the record, nine pounders are not small guns for the classes of vessels part of the MRCA so far. Historically at least, they are more likely to be top of the range!

And the four pounders for the Otter

I will respond to the comments later

[Asgon]

Beautiful ship!

I especially love the rigging. The string you used somehow looks perfect, and the shape of the sails are brilliant, it gives the impression of being stretched by the wind. And the markings on the sails somehow helps with the illusion of it being cloth.

And the details like the chain holding down the... eh... bowsprit?

A tiny thing, with such a beautiful rigging, I would love to see it used more actively. Perhaps, the yards filled with people, as all sails are set? Or with your obvious knowledge about sails, perhaps examples of different sailplanes(Is it a real word, or did I just make it up?) on different angles of wind?

Hope you get my point, Shippish isn't my first language, and English Shippish certainly isn't.

[TitusV]

Oh, that's just lovely

I'd give more CC if I knew more of ships, I hope you can forgive me

[Franco Clarke]

Very nice, I like the way that you have managed to angle the hull at the front, a lot of lego ships have that area vertical.

[Tomsche]

Fantastic ship, she looks like a brawler.

Seems I got to widen the harbour to accomodate for her if she arrives

[Tezclatipoca]

Excellent ship.

I love this snowflake on your sails !

And I also like your cannons.

My two cents about them : 8 pounders from the french classification could also be a good compromise between the (too) heavy 12 and the smaller ones.

Historically found in many horse regiments from the french army during the Revolution, and also frequent in its Navy Fregates from that time.

Perhaps you could consider those cannons instead of the english 9 pouders... Just my two cents

Otherwise great Snow ! Good job !

[BrickOn]

Looking impressive, I especially like the rigging, need to look at that in more detail. And very nice guns!

[Kai NRG]

A really nice ship here Bregir, the shape towards the front especially is great and good work on the sails! Keep up the good work!

[Fuzzy MacFuzz]

Lovely ship Bregir, shown off very well through your clever story. You have made excellent use of your expert naval knowledge throughout to create an awesome build. The rigging and sails are indeed superb. I love the different cannons as well; examplars for others to follow.

But for future builds, please note that Corrington marines wear red uniforms and shakos!

Edited April 13, 2016 by Fuzzy MacFuzz

[Legostone]

Lovely ship Bregir, shown off very well through your clever story. You have made excellent use of your expert naval knowledge throughout to create an awesome build. The rigging and sails are indeed superb. I love the different cannons as well; examplars for others to follow.

But for future builds, please note that Corrington marines wear red uniforms and shakos!

I believe this ship is actually a private ship owned by Bregir, not a ship of the Royal Navy;)

As you know more about ships than I do, I would usually not criticise the rigging and instead just ask a question if it is typical that the foremast is so far backwards. While I think the overall ship is good, I think there is still a little bit of a tumblehome missing in the centre of the ship - the inwards angled front looks great, why didn't you continue that towards the stern? How did you connect the sails forward on the ship btw? I've seen that a few times now and I think it could replace my current holes quite well.

[Ayrlego]

A great looking ship Bregir, I really like the way the bow is raked back, makes her look very sleek and aggressive. I love the use of the chefs hat! Also I can't help but notice Mr Baker seems to be preparing for a dive!

[Puvel]

A fine vessel indeed! Looking forward to its adventures

Great job on the cannons too

[Bregir]

Excellent ship Bregir, beautiful shaping and color-scheme here, and the rigging and sails are great as well! Some of my favorite details are the cannon and their ports (though I would support tiling the bottom of those if you had the pieces), and the anchor's position. I'm looking forward to that frigate like Captain Cooke!

Thank you, Garmadon! I agree about the tiling - and I am actually pretty sure I tried it (its been a while since I built her) but that it made the gunports too small for the guns. (Alternatively, I forgot.... Actually not sure )

This my first full-size vessel and I learned a lot, that I will incorporate in my next builds, but it will be a while before I venture this way again, since I am away from my bricks.

I have had to content myself with drawing plans for the frigate for now, but I already have a pretty good idea how she will look!

Lovely ship and story.

Could you add a picture of one of your 9 pounders if you get a chance? I've been struggling to create a build for a small weight gun that I like and what I can see of yours is promising.

Glad you enjoyed it - and done!

Interesting way of mounting the sails. I can't help but notice a snowflake like design on the sails. An allusion to the 'snow' rig? :D

Erhm, yes, that was the idea - it wasn't just because I had some paper lying around from a school project with a multitude of similar figures on the other side... *cough cough*

Mounting the sails like that is very much a simplification, but it really makes everything easier.

Beautiful ship!

I especially love the rigging. The string you used somehow looks perfect, and the shape of the sails are brilliant, it gives the impression of being stretched by the wind. And the markings on the sails somehow helps with the illusion of it being cloth.

And the details like the chain holding down the... eh... bowsprit?

A tiny thing, with such a beautiful rigging, I would love to see it used more actively. Perhaps, the yards filled with people, as all sails are set? Or with your obvious knowledge about sails, perhaps examples of different sailplanes(Is it a real word, or did I just make it up?) on different angles of wind?

Hope you get my point, Shippish isn't my first language, and English Shippish certainly isn't.

Thanks alot! Those chains are actually what is holding the entire rig up - if they are removed, the bowsprit will raise up, and the masts will fall backwards. I doubt it is historical, but it was a way to distribute tension of the rigging to the hull!

More different sail plans would have been nice - however, she lacks the proper stays to carry staysails between the masts, so it would mainly be different pictures of her carrying the same square rig.

And you are not the first to struggle with "shippish"...

Oh, that's just lovely

I'd give more CC if I knew more of ships, I hope you can forgive me

You are forgiven, Titus - However, don't feel intimidated - I am sure there are some things you can comment on - if anything then from an aestetic point of view Often that has a direct relation to something technical anyways! Form follows function!

Very nice, I like the way that you have managed to angle the hull at the front, a lot of lego ships have that area vertical.

Thank you, sir! It was actually struggling quite a bit with that part, so I am happy you noticed!

Fantastic ship, she looks like a brawler.

Seems I got to widen the harbour to accomodate for her if she arrives

Under Cooke's command she has proven her abilities as a brawler several times in the last war, so you are most likely right!

But... what do you mean "if" she arrives?

Excellent ship.

I love this snowflake on your sails !

And I also like your cannons.

My two cents about them : 8 pounders from the french classification could also be a good compromise between the (too) heavy 12 and the smaller ones.

Historically found in many horse regiments from the french army during the Revolution, and also frequent in its Navy Fregates from that time.

Perhaps you could consider those cannons instead of the english 9 pouders... Just my two cents

Otherwise great Snow ! Good job !

Thanks, Faladrin! However, were she to be armed with Olean (French...) 8 pounders, the Corlander 9 pound ball would not fit, and custom cannonballs would have to be forged, making resupplying rather complex!

Looking impressive, I especially like the rigging, need to look at that in more detail. And very nice guns!

Glad you like it - I had a lot of fun rigging her! And actually rigging a moc to support the masts gives you a deeper understanding about the challenges of rigging!

A really nice ship here Bregir, the shape towards the front especially is great and good work on the sails! Keep up the good work!

Thanks Kai! Technically, though, she is not a "ship" as she isn't fully rigged! (Square rigging on three masts )

Lovely ship Bregir, shown off very well through your clever story. You have made excellent use of your expert naval knowledge throughout to create an awesome build. The rigging and sails are indeed superb. I love the different cannons as well; examplars for others to follow.

But for future builds, please note that Corrington marines wear red uniforms and shakos!

Thanks Fuzzy - and yes, like Legostone suggests, her status as a hired vessel is why the marines are not in their traditional uniform. It was not deemed fitting for a non-navy vessel to carry proper marines. (At least, that is how I will explain it! )

I believe this ship is actually a private ship owned by Bregir, not a ship of the Royal Navy;)

As you know more about ships than I do, I would usually not criticise the rigging and instead just ask a question if it is typical that the foremast is so far backwards. While I think the overall ship is good, I think there is still a little bit of a tumblehome missing in the centre of the ship - the inwards angled front looks great, why didn't you continue that towards the stern? How did you connect the sails forward on the ship btw? I've seen that a few times now and I think it could replace my current holes quite well.

Correct! Hence the HMHV

And no, it is not typical - I am infact not sure why it is that far back, but I suspect her Olean constructor was used to designing cutters, with a heavy emphasis on headsails, and carried that over to the Athena. She does rely much on her massive headsails, which makes her fast in stays and good sailing on a bowline (close to the wind). Having her square sails so far back also makes her a bit apt to griping, but with an expert helmsman and a loving captain this can easily be handled. On the upside, she turns in her own length! The spritsail (below the bowsprit) does give her a bit extra stability, though.

As to tumblehome, this was actually my first vessel on hull-pieces so I decided to skimp out on that for being too complicated. However, for my frigate, a full tumblehome is planned.

The headsails simply have a fold (and a small pieces of tape to hold it in) "hooked" over the stays. You should be able to make it out on the lowest staysail.

A great looking ship Bregir, I really like the way the bow is raked back, makes her look very sleek and aggressive. I love the use of the chefs hat! Also I can't help but notice Mr Baker seems to be preparing for a dive!

Thanks, Ayrlego - I really liked how the bow turned out too, and I see what you mean about the aggressive look! And yes, sailors have to eat

Mr. Baker is indeed getting ready for a dive - well spotted! Hopefully, Cooke will stop to survey some interesting landing places, allowing Montoya and Baker to go exploring the reefs a bit!

A fine vessel indeed! Looking forward to its adventures

Great job on the cannons too

Thanks, Puvel - glad you like it!

[Elostirion]

Fantastic colourscheme, the sails are great too.

I really like how the ship looks like some kind or swimming fortress - just so strong. Great job.

[Captain Genaro]

A very nice ship you've built for one of my favorite duos, err, I mean a completely unique duo that some might say happens to represent another famous Napoleonic-era duo (you mentioned it in my topics, I'm just returning the favor). In all seriousness, this is a very nice vessel you've built. A very clean build with some nice lines and I really like that you've incorporated a tumblehome. Furthermore, you did an excellent job with the great cabin's profile. Oftentimes prefab hulls lead to the cabin towering above the deck, and I'm glad you were able to avoid that.

If possible, I recommend using some more hinge pieces to smooth the bow. It looks fine right now, but I think you could make it look even better by creating a smoother transition.

I can't wait to see what problems Don Maturin Montoya causes on his new ship.

[Captain Braunsfeld]

Very good - I like the guns and the sails!

[Bregir]

Fantastic colourscheme, the sails are great too.

I really like how the ship looks like some kind or swimming fortress - just so strong. Great job.

While she is only a lowly sloop, her scantlings are tough, as she is built for the high seas, and her guns hit hard!

Glad you like the sails - while the elaborate cloth sails of some of the more expert builders are fantastic and looks much more realistic, I think these paper sails do their job pretty well.

A very nice ship you've built for one of my favorite duos, err, I mean a completely unique duo that some might say happens to represent another famous Napoleonic-era duo (you mentioned it in my topics, I'm just returning the favor ). In all seriousness, this is a very nice vessel you've built. A very clean build with some nice lines and I really like that you've incorporated a tumblehome. Furthermore, you did an excellent job with the great cabin's profile. Oftentimes prefab hulls lead to the cabin towering above the deck, and I'm glad you were able to avoid that.

If possible, I recommend using some more hinge pieces to smooth the bow. It looks fine right now, but I think you could make it look even better by creating a smoother transition.

I can't wait to see what problems Don Maturin Montoya causes on his new ship.

I have, obviously, absolutely no idea who you might be referring to! I did, however, hear that some copycats wrote a whole series of books and made a movie based on a combination of Captain Genaro and Cooke's life!

Glad you like the vessel, captain - I might try your tip about more hinges for another vessel, although the design in my head for a frigate will be build quite differently.

As to the cabin, I am happy you think I succeeded! (And I too have been commenting on the high cabins of some vessels on BOBS...) Should I build her again, though, I would have taken away the top part of the rear hull piece and integrated the cabin even more in the hull, so that her poop deck would hardly be raised from the main-deck at all. Brigs/Snows of this size were typically almost flush-decked, I believe.

Nonetheless, I have grown quite attached to her, and doubt I will take her apart anytime soon.

Very good - I like the guns and the sails!

Thanks, Captain! I am quite happy with both too! And with th size of the Lego guns, I prefer brickbuilt ones for anything but the largest vessels.

[Captain Dee]

Very nice snow, and a fine addition to the fleet. The colors are nice and the sloped bow looks good; too bad the tumblehome doesn't continue to the sides. I like the low cabin, and agree that removing the upper stern piece would permit the cabin to be lowered even more for a flush-decked design. The guns look great, the rigging looks fine, and I'm all for paper sails unless the final model is intended for permanent display or something. Good work - and I look forward to eventually seeing that frigate.