let field = [
    'xxx   x   ',
    '        x ',
    'x         ',
    'x   x     ',
    '    x    x',
    '    x    x',
    '          ',
    'x     xxxx',
    '          ',
    ' xx      x'
]
... write your code below

We’ll use the following pattern to count ships:

//  .
// .x => +1

Solution:

let field = [
    'xxx   x   ',
    '        x ',
    'x         ',
    'x   x     ',
    '    x    x',
    '    x    x',
    '          ',
    'x     xxxx',
    '          ',
    ' xx      x'
]
let ship_counter = 0
for (let i = 0; i < 10; i++) for (let j = 0; j < 10; j++)
    if (field[i][j] === 'x' &&
       (i === 0 || field[i-1][j] === ' ') &&
       (j === 0 || field[i][j-1] === ' ')) ship_counter++
console.log('ship_counter = ', ship_counter)

Output:

ship_counter = 10