I've got so many changes on my FotRSU right now, I'm not sure what yours is supposed to look like anymore...
Do you have four or seven sub school missions? If you've got four, that's the way it was in FotRS. I ~always~ get sunk in the artillery one. The Merchant is Elite, and the planes are super-duper-deluxe Elite ~AND~ they crash into you when you shoot them down. Needless to say, about the fourth or fifth shot your cannon crew would get off, and you'd be rocked bad, and your boat would be sinking - if you live that long... If you've got seven of the SubSchool missions, then you chose the "Difficult" version, SS05. Even still, I calmed it down some. In both cases, the first thing to do in those missions is to get your boat moving NOW! As soon as your computer will allow you, hit ahead full. You cannot be stationery in that one. If you do the cannon yourself, set a course and then go do the cannon. Maybe you'll make it, maybe not...
- Either way, don't use the artillery mission as an example of how to proceed with airplanes in FotRSU. It is recommended that you avoid airplane encounters altogether... The version of FotRSU that has the seven missions, we'll need folks to look those over good, and see if I've got all the key presses matching what FotRSU actually uses...