I will use it on lightly armed/unarmed ships & I always keep a fair distance away from the target ship (at least 1800-2,000 metres) if it's armed. I never engage MTB's (nasty little things
) as they're just too fast & the risk of casualties and damage far outweighs the renown that I might gain by sinking them. Empire-type freighters & large merchants can be extremely dangerous so I never attack them while surfaced.