Quote:
Originally Posted by pdf27
There's a difference between cases like that (and for example the defence of convoy JW51B) and a Constitution-Victory fight. In the first two cases the defending force had a more-or-less fixed target of high value it had to protect. In the theoretical Constitution-Victory fight, the Constitution wouldn't have anything to protect and so isn't forced to fight - running away won't cause the US to lose something more valuable than the ship itself.
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Precisely. There's a difference between a man ankle-tied to a post that is being menaced by a 300-pound prize fighter trying to defend himself, and walking into a precinct house and kicking the desk sergeant in the nuts during shift change.
I'm not saying that if Constitution can't get away for some reason while Victory is bearing down on her that she must immediately strike her colors; certainly, she'd fight back until all hope was gone. But if Constitution's skipper CAN avoid the engagement, he should, and the question of being court-martialed for it is just plain silly.