As happened in 2003, only one returning Laurelist from 2003, defending champ Robert Paul, set sail in Naval War 2004. Players were randomly assigned to seven tables for a single elimination round to 75 points. The best at each table advanced to the final.

Table 1 with GM and two-time champ Jim Fleckenstein and defending champ Rob Paul was a close-fought battle. Tom Richardson led the first two rounds, then got hammered. David Brooks jumped into the lead in the third round, and held on for two more rounds to win with 85 points. Fleckenstein was second with 76, Paul finished third with 74.

Table 2 saw Neil Fedin jump out to a huge round 1 lead with 52 points. All guns swiftly turned his way, and though he hung in for second place in the next two rounds, he ultimately lost to Greg Crowe, who sealed his victory with a 49-point final round surge to 88, holding off Brian Nolan, who never led a round but nevertheless finished second with 72 points.

Table 3 for some reason ends up being the "sink 'em all" table. There were five fleet wipeouts in four rounds (versus six lall of ast year). Roy Pettis made a strong second round surge, garnering 52 points, but it only bought him the attention of the table. He finished fourth with 65. Bob Hahn went from fifth to first, scoring 62 points in the final round to finish at 108, easily surpassing second place Bill O'Neill with 82.

Table 4 had Steven Raszrovski take the lead in the first and third rounds, only to be edged out by a consistent Bill Place who garnered 38 points in the final round to win with 86 points to Raszrovski's 81.

Tom Agostino recovered from a first round wipeout to carry Table 5 over a determined Keith Schoose. Schoose made a strong bid with 43 points in the second round to total 62, but couldn't get across the line, netting a minus one over the next two rounds. Agostino came from third to first with 34 points in the final round, winning with 86 points over Reiko Brooks' 71.

Table 6 saw Jonathan Lockwood score a huge 51 points in the first round, but as always, he became a target, finishing third. Alex Vye had a 48-point second round, and came within five of winning in the third, but ultimately finished second to a hard-charging Bruce Monnin who racked up 54 points in the fourth round to edge out Vye, 97 to 92.

Table 7 was another Cinderella story as Chris Greenfield rebounded from a first round wipeout to win the table with 108 points, thanks to a 62-point fourth round. Pat Mirk led for two, and Nick Evinger had a 63-point third round, but Greenfield would not be denied. Rob Schoenen finished second with 81.

The five-round final, as always, saw very conservative play. Tom Agostino played smoke for five consecutive turns in the opening round. Chris Greenfield used air strikes to collect both Yamato and Tirpitz and jump into the first round lead. Bill Place got wiped out in round 1, but played hard, gaining 29 points off air strikes in round 2. Agostino and Greenfield both were wiped out in round 2, while Greg Crowe surged into the lead. Agostino came back to lead in round 3, only to be wiped out again in round 4 while David Brooks took the lead at 66 - close, but not quite. Agostino then garnered 23 points in the fifth and final round to defeat Brooks for the 2004 World Championship, 81 to 78.

Due to a busy work schedule I must relinquish GM duties in 2005 to another admiral willing to chart the course. Please volunteer bfore the February deadline.