I think the mechanic that you are trying to add to the game is reputation. From what I've read, i kind of feel like you are saying that a ship's effectiveness should increase with its use. I'm not sure if I agree with that, but if you are a commander that wins often against higher odds, I would think that your reputation as an effective captain and by extension, your ships themselves become regarded as better. Think of the Red Baron, a legendary air pilot in WWI. His reputation would obviously precede him and his airplane was easily recognizable. It's doubtful that any single plane would be better than another, but his reputation as a superior air fighter added prestige to his ship as well. So kind of working off of that same principle, I think that a good commander with ships that are a part of his fleet should be rewarded not in increased performance of his ships, but rather in how other ships react to his ships. If you think about it, if you're crushing the 50th pirate fleet in a row, that pilot is going to be thinking oh sh** its commander whatshisface and his legendary fleet! Oh noes we are doomed! So in practice, I think that your idea could be applied by using variables that cause ai shift, so if you have the 'superior commander' accolade, then the AI is more likely to retreat sooner, or it increases your chances of having enemy ships surrender after battle. A bit long-winded, but I think it would be a nice mechanic to see in the game. Of course, i think that this is more of an 'icing on the cake feature' than a necessary mechanic to game play.
