Ship Log Overview

This guide outlines the three basic sections of the standard Battlefleet 1900 ship log, how to fill it
out and how to use it during a game. In order to conserve screen space on your computer
monitor, the ship log has been split into two sections with an individual summary for each
section.


The figure at upper left shows the left side of a sample ship log for the British battleship
Majestic. The ship's name, size, vital-upperworks armor values and stability rating are all entered
in the correct places. The "Boat Guns Manned" box has been left unchecked, which means that
the Majestic's boat gun crews are below the armored deck (ships with unmanned boat guns avoid
multiple losses from any one shell hit). The three left armament boxes have been filled in to
show the status for the Majestic's three types of guns: main, secondary and tertiary. The main
guns are 30cm (12"), the secondary guns are 15cm (6") and the tertiary guns are boat guns (12
pounders). Along with each gun is recorded the pertinent data from the ship value section.,
including the gun size, rate of fire (ROF), armor piercing penetration (Pen) and the type of gun
position or pattern (Pos).

In the right half of each box is a diagram depicting the layout of the guns and their distribution.
A very important detail to note is how these diagrams are drawn. Guns grouped in lettered
positions always appear as individual entries down the center of the box, and each value is fully
marked off if damaged or destroyed. Guns located individually in patterns instead of positions
are recorded as single entries which are then sequentially reduced as their numbers decrease. In
this case the Majestic's main guns are in positions (A and Z), and her secondary and tertiary guns
are in patterns (type 1 and 0 respectively).

Also on the chart are recorded the Majestic's five torpedo tubes. She has four tubes using beam
pattern 0, which means she has two on each broadside, and one torpedo tube in her bow. The two
patterns are entered separately for convenience, although they could also be entered in a single
box to save space.

The figure at right shows the same part of Majestic's ship log after some battle damage has
occurred. Her boat gun crews have been mobilized for use. Her aft main gun turret has been
permanently put out of action (destroyed). Her port side secondary guns have received several
hits, one of which was repaired, only to be hit again. At this point there are only three secondary
guns left in action on her port side, with two of those out of action having been completely
destroyed. She has also lost two boat guns on the same side of the ship. The port side torpedo
box shows that the ship has either fired one torpedo or that one launcher has been damaged.


The figure at upper left shows the right portion of the Majestic's sample ship log before a battle.
The Upperworks Protection and Flood Protection ratings are entered into the correct areas along
the top data line. The flood compartments are blank for now because there not yet any damage to
the ship. The propulsion boxes beneath the Speed header have been filled in based on data from
the Master Scale Table and shows the ship's maximum available speed as 8.1 inches. There is
nothing else to enter in the Damage & Hits section at the start of the game, because its sole
purpose is to help track damage to the ship. The lower portion of this section is composed of
boxes which can be checked off as those features sustain hits. The number of boxes are also
indicators of how many of a certain item are available for use. For example, there are six DC
dice available for use each turn, and there are six boxes on the DC line of the log. There are two
searchlights (LT) available on the ship, each with its own box in the log. A ship can only suffer
two funnel hits worth of damage, so there are only two FU box. Note that at the same time the
FU box is checked off, the player must also destroy one propulsion box. The FU box is merely to
remind players that a ship has already suffered FU hits. Next to the check boxes are three rows of
checkable reference hits that are associated with certain types of damage or conditions. These are
Steering (ST), Rudder (R) and Uneven Flooding. At the right side of the log is a stylized cross
section of the ship for recording external (e) and internal (i) fires

The figure at right shows how this part of the Majestic's log might appear with battle damage.
The ship has suffered two propulsion box hits, one of which has destroyed a box and one more
which has damaged a box. These two hits reduce the ship's maximum available speed from its
original maximum of 8.1 inches per turn down to 5.4 inches per turn. The ship also suffered a
light flooding hit on the port (left) side, and then later suffered a severe flooding hit in the same
compartment. Note that each compartment only records the worst level of flooding current for
that zone. So the previous light flooding entry was crossed out when flooding on the port side
became severe. Because of the severe flooding, the Majestic's commander ordered
counterflooding in order to prevent the ship from capsizing. He counterflooded the starboard
(right) section with light flooding, which was just enough to prevent a stable ship like the
Majestic from turning over. Later in the game, the starboard section suffered battle damage in the
same zone of the ship, bringing flooding on the starboard side to medium. At this point, the
Majestic had a total of six points of flooding present on the ship: four points for the port side
severe flooding, and two points for the starboard side medium flooding. The ship has also
suffered one damage control die destroyed (DC). Both searchlights (LT) are out of commission,
with one of those having been destroyed. The uneven flooding that the ship suffered earlier in the
game (recorded in the flooding compartments in the left side of the log) was originally shown as
having both TR and MM hits (turning radius extended and all main guns silenced). After the
uneven flooding was reduced, the MM underline was erased, leaving only the TR hit due to a
slight uneven flooding condition still existing. There are also two external fires burning on the
ship, and sometime earlier in the game there had been an external fire that was extinguished.