Space Viking by H. Beam Piper

It was like finishing a word puzzle. You sit staring at it, looking for more spaces to print letters into, and suddenly you realize that there are no more, that the puzzle is done. That was how the space-battle of Marduk, the Battle _off_ Marduk, ended. Suddenly there were no more colored fire-globes opening and fading, no more missiles coming, no more enemy ships to throw missiles at. Now it was time to take a count of his own ships, and then begin thinking about the Battle _on_ Marduk.

The _Black Star_ was gone. So was RMNS _Challenger_, and RMNS _Conquistador_. _Space Scourge_ was badly hammered; worse than after the Beowulf raid, Boake Valkanhayn said. The _Viking's Gift_ was heavily damaged, too, and so was the _Corisande_, and so, from the looks of the damage board, was the _Nemesis_. And three ships were missing -- the three independent Space Vikings, _Harpy_, _Curse of Cagn_, and Roger-fan-Morvill Esthersan's _Damnthing_.