HMS DREADNAUGHT: A John Phillips Novel

by Richard Testrake

  It struck the thick oak scantlings and did not penetrate. Dreadnaught continued on for a minute, then turned to use her starboard broadside. Her heavy guns did reach the corvette, and their shot did penetrate her hull. With serious damage done to her hull and rigging, the corvette tried to escape.

  Two more raking broadsides were pumped into her helpless stern, and enormous damage was done to the ship and crew. The mizzen went over before the smoke had cleared, and her main had an alarming list.

  Normally, Phillips would have expected her to surrender shortly with her damage, but the two frigates were coming up with bones in their teeth. Deciding to wait for them, Phillips calmly walked along the main deck and spoke to some of the gun crews.

  The smaller enemy frigate was to the fore. Still at long range, he thought his well exercised gun crews could reach her even now. Apparently the frigate’s captain did not think so, since she was in a perfect position for a raking shot.

  Deeming the moment right, he nodded at Mister Watkins. He shouted, “As your guns bear, Fire!”

  The gun captains had been instructed to fire high, because of the longer range. Firing high was a relative term though. Some shots were very high, and several knocked down spars. Others smashed through her bow structure causing serious damage to the ship. The balls then went careening through the ship, from bow to stern. Guns were knocked out and people maimed or killed.

  When she put about to flee, the crew of Dreadnaught also saw the larger frigate give up the battle and put the wind on her quarter. Phillips ordered Mister Jensen to make good a course for Gibraltar.

  CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

  On the way down the Iberian Peninsula, during a calm spell, the ships came together to transfer supplies. The tender was getting low on salt meat, and Dreadnaught had taken aboard a quantity previously from a French prize. While the labor was going on, the wind became very fitful, often dying out altogether.

  The casks of beef were being transported by the two launches, and the work was well on its way to being completed, when the main lookout yelled, “Sail off the starboard beam.”

  Every officer rushed to get his glass, and as the sail approached, the consensus was that it was a xebec. A common enough rig in the Med, it was also a favorite among the Barbary pirates. In trail behind was one of the small trading brigs common around the Med. Her fore had a hole in it that looked suspiciously like one made by a large ball passing through it, and up forward what looked like blood had run from the scupper.

  Phillips had had dealings with pirates before, and was determined to show this one no mercy. He ordered the ship cleared for action and signaled the tender to remain close by. The launches were brought up and tethered to tow in tandem behind.

  The brig sheared off at long cannon shot, but the xebec dowsed her lateens, switched to oars, and came around astern of the now becalmed liner. Unlike the older galleys this xebec had a broader beam, allowing her to mount broadside guns.

  These were of small caliber, and Phillips did not fear them a bit, but they were an irritant. He could not quite fathom what the pirate commander was trying to accomplish. He must know there was no possible means he could take a ship of the line. The pirate was going to kill or injure some people to no purpose if something were not done.

  There had been mounting hardware for gun tackle on two of the stern gallery windows when Phillips took command. He had never had guns mounted there, since he had felt they would be of little use in that position.

  In these new circumstances he called his gunner and arranged to have two quarterdeck nine pounders moved to those windows. The carpenter, in the meantime disassembled all the ornate wood and glass fittings, and stowed them in the hold.

  The pirate was now close aboard the big ship’s stern pounding shots into her stern post and rudder. Phillips was beginning to think the pirate wanted to disable his steering. This would just not do.

  The gunner and carpenter had made quick work of their tasks, and now two nine pounder guns had been trundled up to their new ports. With all secure, he ordered the gun captains to open fire on the pirate.

  The xebec was close up to the liner’s stern when the guns poked their snouts from the ports, giving consternation among the pirate crew. Before they could react though, each gun fired, putting balls right through the sides of the lightly constructed xebec. Not being able to withstand such treatment, it used its oars to turn in its own length and beat a retreat. The stern chasers kept up firing until the battered craft was out of range.

  Expecting it to have learned its lesson, Phillips was surprised to see it come around and approach the tender. The tender was a simple brigantine built for hauling cargo around the Mediterranean. She now had a captured twelve pounder gun on each beam, as well as four little four pounders.

  As the xebec approached her, the wind, which had been calm while the previous action occurred, now began to blow fitfully. The tender took advantage of a prolonged gust to get under a semblance of control, bringing her starboard beam to bear on the enemy.

  The brigantine’s previous owner had been miserly when it came to paint, and the whole ship had a single coat of a red ochre hue. The ports were not distinguished in any way and it was difficult at a distance to see she was armed. As the ports opened and guns emerged, Phillips could see the people on the xebec’s deck scurrying around. A twelve pound ball from the tender hit the xebec right in the bow, doing desperate damage.

  Now, the wind had reached Dreadnaught, and she slowly brought herself around. Her broadside, began slowly pounding away at the lightly build pirate. When that broadside was finished, the enemy vessel was a sinking wreck. Not wanting to approach too closely, Dreadnaught remained at a distance, and the Marines went into the boats to board her. Musketry fire from the wreck killed one of the Marine privates, and seriously injured a corporal. Enraged, the remaining, Marines swarmed over the xebec in a flood, making full use of their bayonets.

  Somehow, all the pirates died in the action, but nearly twenty galley slaves were rescued. These people were from all the nations of Europe, even a British sailor. Britain had been paying tribute to the Barbary States to prevent this type of occurrence, but some corsair emir had apparently not got the message.

  With the xebec removed from the field of battle, Phillips noticed the tender approaching the brig. Knowing Mister Andrews had only a few people on board his brigantine, he signaled ‘discontinue the action’ hoping he would understand he should wait for Dreadnaught, and not precipitously board the brig.

  The rescued slaves had now been loaded aboard, and Dreadnaught took the Marines in their boats in tow. The wind had picked up, and Dreadnaught had a bone in her teeth.

  The prize brig was trying to get sail on, but it seemed some of the rigging had been cut, and the Moorish sailors, not being familiar with the rig, were making heavy weather repairing it. Somehow, the pirate crew got one of the brig’s guns slewed around and fired off the six pounder. The charge was probably old and damp, since there was a muffled explosion, and a cloud of brown smoke. The ball barely reached the tender and did not penetrate her hull.

  Andrews, aboard the tender, had the few members of his crew lay the big twelve pounder gun right on the brig and fire it off. The ball struck the brig at the water line as a swell heaved it up. There was a commotion on deck as the pirate crew ran around, some trying to get to the leak, others trying to point a gun.

  The Marines in the launches cast off and proceeded to the brig. Again, few of the Moorish prize crew survived the bayonets of the Royal Marines. When Phillips boarded, all appeared to be in hand, at first.

  A troubled Captain Wallace approached him and reported some of his Marines had discovered a woman below in the hold hiding in the cargo of raw jute. She appeared to be English or American, but was unable or unwilling to speak, other than a few words when first discovered. She had been very roughly handled. What little remaining clothing she was trying to cover herself with, while of good quality, was nothing but tatters. H
er face was bloody where she had apparently been struck multiple blows, and bruises and scrapes were all over the visible portions of her body. Wallace felt the doctor should be brought over to examine the woman, and Phillips so ordered.

  The other members of the brig’s former crew were dead. Their throats were cut, and some of their bodies cast overboard.

  The xebec was sinking, and the brig was in not much better condition. From a perusal of her papers, she was of French registry. The vessel was taking on water rapidly through the hole in her waterline, and while his officers judged it could be handled, time would be lost, and neither the vessel nor its cargo was of great value. Accordingly, the ship’s papers, and the woman patient were brought aboard Dreadnaught. The injured woman was lashed to a wide board, and lowered to the launch waiting below. With a speaking trumpet Phillips ordered his sleeping cabin aboard Dreadnaught prepared for its new inhabitant and the brig allowed to slip below the waves.

  Once aboard his own ship, Phillips stood by the patient and gave his orders. Only the doctor and the steward were to be allowed access to her quarters for the time being. Seeing her eyes were open, he asked his officers to repeat what he had said in French and Spanish. Aboard the brig, she had muttered a few words in English, so the thought was she might be either American or British, but there was no evidence of that as yet.

  Dreadnaught and her tender put the wind on their quarters, and set sail toward Gibraltar. That evening, Phillips had a hammock slung in the dining cabin and slept there. Several times the steward crept into the sleeping cabin to check on the patient. Once the doctor did the same. The steward had nothing to report except the patient was sleeping. The doctor was rather nonchalant, stating the woman was young, and aside from her recent injuries, of good health.

  The ship’s cook put one of the captain’s chickens in a pot, along with some crumbled ship’s biscuit and let it simmer all night. Next morning, the steward carried a bowl of the chicken broth into the patient’s quarters, along with a bottle of claret and a glass furnished by the wardroom. An hour later, checking on the woman, the steward emerged with the empty bowl, and reported the wine was half finished.

  The doctor was called, and he went in to the sleeping cabin. When he emerged, he reported the woman was conscious, speaking and capable of moving around by herself. She wondered if there might be clothing she could wear.

  Phillips was too large for any of his garments to fit, and the same was true of his lieutenants. The midshipmen were paraded in the dining cabin, and Mister Harding was judged closest to her size. He at once offered his best uniform for her use.

  The doctor escorted the woman out onto the quarterdeck, now clad as a Midshipman of the His Majesty’s Royal Navy. Doctor Persons introduced her, “Gentlemen, may I present Madame De Beauvoir, formerly Miss Jane Stewart of London, England?”

  She limped to the deck chair that was produced for her, and voluntarily furnished her particulars. She came from a good family, but her father, due to an unfortunate run at the gambling tables, was no longer able to provide her with a substantial dowry. This would ordinarily make it difficult for her to marry well. She found employment as a translator for a French official who was in London in regard to the prisoner of war exchange process. In due course, the official proposed marriage to her, and she married him and went to France.

  Later, the husband was appointed to the embassy of King Joseph; the new King of Spain, who also happened to be Napoleon’s brother.

  Since overland travel in Spain was so perilous, due to the activities of the Partisans, it was decided to go by sea to Cartagena, where it would be decided how best to travel to the Spanish Court.

  On the way though, the brig they were sailing on was attacked by the pirates, and her husband was killed defending her.

  No one felt it necessary to comment on her ordeal, and she soon went back to her cabin. Later, Midshipman Phillips approached his father, and asked how he should write up the events in his journal.

  This question persuaded Captain Phillips he needed to give some direction to the accounts of the incident. In addition to the ship’s log, which was basically copied from the master’s log, each of the ship’s officers kept an account, which would go to the Admiralty when the ship paid off. Each midshipman also kept a daily account.

  Phillips called the relevant officers to the quarterdeck in groups, where he gave guidance on the subject.

  “I know some of you have been talking with each other about the subject of rape. You all know how society ashore treats women who have been subjected to that atrocity. What we need to understand is that we do not know what happened to Mme. De Beauvoir. She has not said, and we will not ask. Thus any conjectures we might make will be purely speculative, and official papers, such as your daily reports, have no place for speculation.”

  “All we know is, her ship was stopped by pirates, who killed her husband and members of the crew. We have two pirates in custody, who will be turned over to the governor at Gibraltar. We will report what we know, and refrain from making comments on what we do not know.”

  “When we make port, I for one, will discourage any man on shore who makes any negative connotation of the woman’s ordeal. This discouragement may well be at the point of my sword!”

  The enslaved men rescued from the xebec were given a few days’ rest, then brought up on deck to be questioned. All had been taken from one ship or another over the past ten years. Most were former seamen, although one had been a passenger on a captured ship.

  The men reported all men captured were either put to the oars, or sent to the slave markets. Few lasted long on the oars, but those accustomed to hard work at sea tended to last longer. When the overseer deemed a man unfit for the labor, he was usually cut free from his shackles and thrown over the side.

  All the former slaves spoke and understood the lingua franca used on the pirate vessels, so Phillips appointed the lone Englishman to be the interpreter. He spoke to all the ex-slaves, pausing every few sentences so John Clark could translate what he said.

  He told them Britain was at war with some of their countries now, but he would not take them prisoner, or otherwise abuse them. He would turn such men over to some neutral ship to be returned to their homeland. Of course, any man that wished was welcome to join the Royal Navy.

  Of the twenty freed slaves, a dozen accepted the offer. Some of the others were in poor physical condition after their years of labor. Phillips assigned the volunteers to what light duty was available on a ship of war. One such duty was the supervision of the two Moors that had been captured on the prize brig. Phillips thought those prisoners would be glad to see Gibraltar, even if it would be the place of their execution.

  CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

  After saluting the flag of the Acting Governor, and swearing to the port doctor there had been no infectious disease aboard Dreadnaught, Phillips went ashore, accompanied by those who could convince their superiors it was absolutely necessary for them to do so.

  Doctor Persons had tried to convince Mme. De Beauvoir to go ashore also, but she absolutely refused to do so in the uniform of a boy. After the boarding of the xebec, a purse filled with coin from about Europe had been found, and turned in. Looted, no doubt, from now dead prisoners, if the purse had been found by a seaman or Marine, the problem of present ownership would have been immediately resolved. The coin would have been parceled out among some of the man’s mates, and would soon be gone and forgotten. As it was, one of the midshipmen supervising the loblolly boys, when they began sorting out the bodies on the deck of the brig, found the purse under a fat pirate wearing ornate dress, and turned it over to the first officer. With no way of determining ownership, Phillips had intended to distribute it as prize money, but he considered.

  If he did declare it so, the prize court would no doubt take months or years before distributing it. In that time, many sticky fingers would pick out a guinea here, a Napoleon there, until in the end, little would be left. A delegation from th
e wardroom suggested the money go to Mme. De Beauvoir.

  Accordingly, one of Lieutenant Watkin’s first stops was at a dressmaker’s shop. A few minutes conversation produced a tiny Spanish seamstress who agreed to accompany Watkins back to the ship. In front of Mme. De Beauvoir, he gave her orders to produce a complete set of ladies attire.

  Phillips had received notification of an appointment he was to have with the acting governor that afternoon. Not knowing how rigorous Governor Drummond was about punctuality, he made sure he was in the outer office a half hour early.

  To his surprise, a young Army lieutenant sitting at a desk outside the door went in to announce him at once. A swarthy looking, rather unkempt little man departed, and Phillips was ushered in.

  The lieutenant poured wine for both, then left. Drummond looked at Phillips thoughtfully over his spectacles. “Captain, are you familiar with Admiral Lord Gambier?”

  “I wouldn’t exactly say ‘familiar’, Governor. He and I move in different circles. However, as a professional sea officer, I do know him by reputation.”

  “Very well, Captain. I do have some information for you. An agent of mine has just informed me a French fleet is expected off the Tagus estuary sometime this month. Furthermore, a dispatch cutter came in this morning from Admiral Gambier, telling us a few French line of battle ships evaded the blockade ships and departed Brest last week. Their mission apparently is to disrupt the flow of supplies to British forces in Portugal.”

  “Admiral Gambier has asked me to gather as many ships of force as I may find to defend against a French incursion by sea. Of course, you are under Admiralty Orders assigning you to the Mediterranean Fleet. Admiral Collingwood is not at hand, however, so I am asking you to bide a while off the Tagus estuary to do what you can against any French incursion.”