Oh, and I completely forgot my favorite sailing convoy story:
USS Experiment was a sister ship of the third USS Enterprise, a schooner built in 1799. She was escorting four merchantmen in the caribbean when they were attacked by pirates in small boats.
http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclop...periment-(1799)
What the story doesn't say is that it was dead calm, and Experiment fought the pirates by rowing after them. Small warships in that day also carried oars for just that purpose.