Ships you have commanded and left, and in a built battle the captained ships of your side, sail in your squadron: they take their orders from your flag signals and keep station on the ship you are in.
Your squadron
A ship is in your squadron when you were the last to command it and you're no longer aboard. That is usually the ship you left to take command of a prize, or a prize you left in turn. In a built battle from the Battle Builder, every captained ship on your side is in your squadron from the start. In a room, that squadron belongs to the first player in the side's line.
Ships in squadron are captained, and they fight on their own. With no enemy to fight and no order given, a ship in squadron lies to and waits for you, so you can come back to it in your boat.
Hoisting a signal
Press G to open the signal list. It shows the six signals with their flags. Press 1 to 6, or click a signal, to hoist it from the ship you are in, which makes that ship the flagship. G or Esc closes the list without a signal. The game goes on while the list is open, and the helm stays yours.
| Key | Signal |
|---|---|
| 1 | Form line abreast to starboard |
| 2 | Form line abreast to port |
| 3 | Form line ahead |
| 4 | Form line astern |
| 5 | Engage at will |
| 6 | Heave to |
The first four give each ship in squadron a station on the flagship: about 185 metres off on the side named, the next ship twice as far, and so on down the line. Engage at will lets them go to fight as they choose. Heave to stops them where they are: they take in sail and lie to, and their guns still fire as they bear.
A signal takes time
Nothing happens at once. It takes five seconds to bend the flags on and run them up, at the leeward mizzen topsail yardarm (the brig's main, the brigantine's fore, the cutter's masthead). Then each ship in squadron answers, after five seconds plus a second for every 100 metres it lies off. It only counts while it can see the hoist, so a ship behind land doesn't answer until it's clear. When a ship answers, it repeats the hoist and obeys. Until then it keeps its old order.
Five seconds after the last ship has answered, the flags come down, and the repeats with them. So flags still flying mean somebody hasn't got the order yet. The order stands after the flags are down: the signal list shows it as In force.
A signal is lost if another signal overtakes it, or if the flagship strikes or is taken.
Keeping station
A ship ordered to a station steers for it, makes or shortens sail to hold it, and fires whichever broadside bears while staying in the line. On a steady course it keeps within about 15 metres of its station. If the flagship turns 90 degrees, the line is thrown out by a couple of hundred metres and takes a few minutes to re-form.
A few things a squadron can't do:
- Catch a flagship of the same hull under full sail. Sail the flagship under topsails if you want your squadron in company.
- Work up to a station to windward of a close-hauled flagship.
- Tack in line. Ships in squadron wear, so a line that tacks breaks up.
A ship whose boat is away stands by its boat instead of keeping station.
In a room
Signals work in multiplayer rooms too. Each player signals only the ships they were the last to command. A passenger or a captain in a boat can't signal.