Before considering how to disengage from a boarding action, I think you have to consider the difficulties and risks of bringing about a boarding action in the first place. To evade a boarding attempt by manoeuvre was relatively easy. It was in practice very difficult to get near enough to a ship to attempt to board her unless it was also her intention to settle the matter hand to hand. A ship could be forced into a boarding action but this required some measure of heroics. Fighting at Sea in the Eighteenth Century , S. Willis (Boydell, 2008) pg. 148 If you've disabled the enemy ship's ability to manoeuvre, so that it cannot escape a boarding action, it can actually be a better option not to board. You just position your own ship across the bows or stern of the target and use your guns to rake them, until they surrender. Another possibility for creating a boarding opportunity (and the one naval - Was there a way for ships to disengage from boarding actions? - History Stack Exchange History Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for historians and history buffs. It only takes a minute to sign up. Sign up to join this community Anybody can ask a question Anybody can answer The best answers are voted up and rise to the top Teams Q&A for work Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. Learn more Was there a way for ships to disengage from boarding actions? Ask Question Asked 1 year, 4 months ago Active 1 year, 4 months ago Viewed 2k times 14 2 I was doing some research about Naval tactics in Age of Sail - especially in boarding tactics. I read several personal diaries, letters and accounts of these battles written by combatants. From captain perspective to landsmen's. In near every account the narrator talked about how everything got tangled together and ships became "as one". Does this mean that boarding action was irreversible move in battle which could end up only with victory or loss? It seems like once it started it was near impossible to disengage. I am asking because there were several battles where Captain hid his crew in compartments and managed to bait enemy Captain into boarding action - which backfired (thanks to the ruse) and battle was won by the losing side. Was there any way to disengage from boarding action or there was not any and that is reason why historical seamen accounts do not talk about it? naval 18th-century age-of-sail Share Improve this question Follow edited Jun 22 '20 at 8:26 gktscrk 10.4k 1 1 gold badge 45 45 silver badges 73 73 bronze badges asked Jun 22 '20 at 8:18 Prahara Prahara 243 1 1 silver badge 6 6 bronze badges 3 1 Welcome to History:Stack Exchange! Could you bring the specific examples of these ruses and where they were used for more context? – gktscrk Jun 22 '20 at 8:27 A serious issue could be if one ship started to sink while attached to another. I imagine it involved cutting a lot of ropes, which might not be possible during a fight – Henry Jun 22 '20 at 9:56 In the general case, a boarding action is the result of one ship's inability to control the conditions of battle, so by definition, every attempt to disengage has failed. Combat is about controlling the terms of engagement. – MCW ♦ Jun 22 '20 at 10:20 Add a comment | 2 Answers 2 Active Oldest Votes 24 Before considering how to disengage from a boarding action, I think you have to consider the difficulties and risks of bringing about a boarding action in the first place. To evade a boarding attempt by manoeuvre was relatively easy. It was in practice very difficult to get near enough to a ship to attempt to board her unless it was also her intention to settle the matter hand to hand. A ship could be forced into a boarding action but this required some measure of heroics. Fighting at Sea in the Eighteenth Century , S. Willis (Boydell, 2008) pg. If the ships come together too quickly, the collision can cause severe damage to the hull and rigging, cause crew to fall (possibly from a height) and can dismount the guns. A dismounted gun is both a offensive loss and a risk the crew around it (great guns could weight over a ton). A successful boarding action was only likely in a calm sea. If the ships are rolling in a strong swell, the risk of collision damage increases as does the difficulty of getting men from one deck to the next (which can be difficult enough in a flat calm). I will buy the book - it seems like very well written – Prahara Jun 23 '20 at 4:23 Add a comment | 2 The typical boarding action in the age of sail included grappling hooks being thrown, to pull the two ships together. Once connected, additional means to connect the ships together included boat hooks and similar implements. Once in close proximity, the rigging of the ships could also become fouled, i.e. tangled together. In either case, the way to disengage from such a boarding action was primarily to disengage from (or hack through) the boarding implements, and unfouling (or cutting lose) the rigging. (Which still meant you had the enemy boarding party to contend with.) For either activity the cutlass was rather well suited, which is why it was so popular as a sidearm at the time. 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