PN's strenght 7 BC, casualties - 11 BC - quite inconsistent.--dotz 09:28, 16 January 2009 (UTC)
dead link[]
External Links[]
- David Weber's comments on ships of the wall and battleships in the infodump
--dotz 19:17, January 12, 2010 (UTC)
Manpower casualties described. --dotz 21:25, July 26, 2010 (UTC)
- link not dead, merely slightly rotted http://infodump.thefifthimperium.com/entry/Harrington/90/0 174.62.150.169 04:48, June 23, 2011 (UTC)
Outcome of the battle[]
One thing that I didn't see here is a discussion of the real outcome of the battle. The Battle of Seabring was a tactical *defeat* for Theisman -- his forces were reduced to wreckage or scrap, and he was flat out lucky to survive. Taking BBs up against DNs was a death ride worthy of Honor Harrington herself, with a similar cost in lives and ships.
The dreadnoughts did *not* withdraw simply because their screen took heavy losses and one of the DNs was destroyed, even if that DN had happened to be the flag ship. The Manticorans may have crushed the Havenites, but the BBs inflicted enough damage while dying that the remaining DNs would have been unable to hold the system against the inevitable Havenite counterattack, and *that's* why they withdrew from the field of battle.
It cost Theisman his ships, but he prevented the Manticorans from claiming the system. Thus he fulfilled his mission and thus his tactical defeat was also a strategic *victory*.
Despite their damage, the dreadnoughts could most certainly have wiped out the remaining battleships -- there were far more DNs and they each had to have been in better shape than the doomed-to-be-scrapped BBs. So the question is why didn't they finish the job and cut the BBs apart?
The answer, to my mind, is that the Manticoran commander knew they had to withdraw, that they had no hope of holding the system with the damage and magazine levels left to the surviving DNs, and with no pods and few if any escorts remaining. However humiliating it was for DNs to be have been held off by mere BBs, the Havenites certainly showed the quality of their courage, and the Manticorans spared them as a salute to their gallantry. With the battleships practically mission-kills already, there was nothing to be gained from further broadsides except the slaughter of valiant souls who could no longer fight back.
And, thus, even in defeat, the Manticorans hold to their ideals -- and their honor.~~
199.212.134.18 16:25, August 28, 2012 (UTC)