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