Richard Testrake - (Sea Command 2)

by Richard Testrake

  Chapter Fourteen

  It was a solemn faced crew that boarded HMS Felicia, a 28-gun frigate. Starting a new commission on a strange ship was always a chancy business, but in this case, the hands knew the man who would be their captain had already driven another crew to bloody mutiny.

  Of course, their previous captain had assured them this cruise would only be a trial one, of thirty days or so. The men had listened to promises before, and took as much stock of them as they did with rumors that the war was over and they could all go home.

  The new captain, splendid in his uniform stood away from the entry port, with the ship’s officers arrayed behind him. These officers were mainly from Valkyrie, as those of Felicia, not injured or killed in the recent mutiny, had been put on the beach, unlikely to be employed at sea in the future. None of her old crew was present. Since she had a somewhat larger complement than Valkyrie, some other people had been sent aboard, including another officer, Lieutenant Reynolds, junior to Lieutenant Danton and a Marine lieutenant, Mister Burns, in charge of two dozen Marines.

  The arriving men boarded in silence, with not the slightest hint of a greeting from their new captain. They formed up forward and the new lieutenant hesitantly informed them they had only minutes to draw their hammocks and other necessary gear and report back on the fore-deck.

  The men were hounded the rest of the day as they attempted to follow the orders of this captain.

  In the beginning, their own petty officers from Valkyrie were the ones enforcing prompt obedience, but Captain Peebles soon put a stop to that. Believing these old petty officers were too lenient, he dis-rated them on the spot, and chose new petty officers from the extra hands sent aboard to make up numbers. Now, everything was done at a run, with a petty officer with a knotted rope end slashing at them. When their watch went below, there was not a man without rope marks on his legs and back.

  The men had mostly endured trials like this from other captains in other ships but comforted themselves with the notion that in a month, they would be back on their own ship with Captain Mullins.

  The ship was made ready for sea in record time, and when the query came asking whether she was ready to sail, Midshipman Adolphus, acting as signal officer, was ordered to hoist the affirmative.

  Adolphus, when Captain Peebles learned of the connection to the Royal Family, was now one of the captain’s familiars, invited to his table on many days, while his officers were ignored. The prince personally handed the correct signal flags to the newly appointed yeoman, who had never before handled signal duty.

  HMS Felicia was to make only a single run across the channel, investigate a few ports on the mainland and question the masters of any shipping encountered. Any vessel with suspicious papers would of course, be escorted to a blockading ship or taken back to a British port for further examination.

  She had a skilled crew and the ship set out without a problem, with Mister Danton on the quarterdeck. As soon as the frigate entered the channel, she became livelier and the captain retired to his cabin. She sailed on course several hours with her sails drawing perfectly. Peebles had not been seen since leaving port and Danton wished to exercise the men in gunnery practice. He sent the midshipman of the watch to inform the captain of his plans. Then Mister Harris returned, his face white. Captain Peebles had verbally savaged the lad when he called through the door with his request.

  Danton questioned the midshipman, “Did the captain refuse permission for the exercise?”

  “No sir, he just damned me for a blundering idiot and told me to remove myself from his presence.”

  Danton was used to taking charge of routine matters when he had the deck, that was what first officers were for. Since the captain had not outright forbidden the evolution, he felt he was authorized to continue.

  Normally, he would have ordered the ship cleared for action, which should be done regularly in any event, but that would mean tearing down all the ship’s partitions, including those of the captain’s quarters, and Danton was not quite ready to face that storm just yet.

  Instead, he called the gun captains and asked them how many new men they had that were not familiar with the guns. All of the old Valkyries, of course, were very familiar with the weapons, but a draft of thirty hands had been sent on board, most of whom had never seen a gun fired.

  These men were called forward, where the gunner explained what firing the guns entailed. One of the forward nine-pounders was cleared away and loaded by her assigned crew, all old Valkyries. Danton explained to all of the men this crew would fire the gun while the new men observed. Afterward, the new hands would watch the gun prepared for firing again and would assist the regular crew in running it out again.

  The gun was loaded with a blank charge, no projectile being used. This would nearly eliminate any recoil and minimize possible injury. When the gun captain pulled the firing lanyard, there was a loud report and a cloud of smoke, quickly whipped away by the brisk wind.

  An instant later, there came an eruption from the cabin in the form of a furious Captain Peebles. He screamed at the top of his lungs for minutes, informing one and all this was blatant mutiny. He was nearly foaming at the mouth when he assured all he had expressly forbidden the firing of the guns, but what did he find coming on deck? A gun wreathed in smoke that had just fired.”

  The uproar brought a confused Lieutenant Burns up from the wardroom. Burns had not bothered to don his splendid Marine uniform and appeared clad in ordinary slops.

  Peebles stopped his tirade and began a new one at this officer for appearing out of uniform, then thought better and halted in mid-sentence. Beginning anew, he informed Burns that Mister Danton was under arrest for mutiny and was now confined to his cabin. He was directed to have his Marines escort Mister Danton below immediately.

  Burns was a new officer, this being his first commission. He had no idea events like this actually occurred at sea, and was unsure of his responsibilities. He was close enough to Mister Danton to hear him whisper to just follow his captain’s order, all would be well.

  Captain Peebles stepped forward to discover what was occurring here, when Marine Corporal Rogers, wiser than the ordinary Marine, loudly began ordering his men to secure the prisoner and take him below. Soothed by the display, Peebles grunted and went below.

  It was then Mister Reynolds the second officer came up, as bewildered as all. When he asked the former first lieutenant what was going on, Danton informed him he was under arrest and Reynolds should be careful to follow his captain’s orders exactly.

  The uneasy crew maintained their routine, changing watches by the bell. Reynolds remained on deck the entire night. When the wind changed, making it necessary to come about on the other tack, Mister Adolphus was sent to obtain permission from the captain, as he seemed to be the only person on board, the captain could address in a civil manner.

  The rain came back and visibility was greatly reduced when Captain Peebles appeared on deck again. He smelled of brandy and appeared to be intoxicated. Mister Reynolds approached him warily and informed him the ship was approaching the French coast and their position was uncertain since sights had not been taken, because of the overcast sky.

  Peebles was in an almost jovial mood at the moment and gave Reynolds permission to take the ship back out to sea, informing him at the same time he should assume the duties of the first officer, replacing Mister Danton.

  There was much quiet discussion of the matter in the wardroom. On one occasion, both Gunner Weems and Mister Ralston were present. Ralston had been privy to the plan since the beginning and Weems had his suspicions.

  At a pause in the conversation, Ralston produced two log books. One he said was a copy of the one he had kept himself since the beginning of the voyage, the other was Lieutenant Danton’s. In the pages of Danton’s log was placed the Admiralty orders he had been given when assigned this duty.

  Ralston explained Danton had passed the book on to him when his Marine guard had to answer a call o
f nature and Ralston offered to stand guard over the prisoner, himself.

  Gunner Weems was concerned about the ramifications if they were found to be conspiring against Peebles. Of course, it would seem they were covered by the blanket of the Admiralty orders, but one never knew how a court martial might see matters in the future. In the end, it was decided, since the cruise was to end in a few weeks, it might be better to just live through the problems and present their evidence once they returned to port.

  HMS Felicia carried no orders assigning her to the Channel Fleet, she was still under Admiralty orders officially giving her a thirty-day cruise to test the capabilities of ship and crew. She had no mandate to report her presence to the Commander of the Channel Fleet, but that worthy thought it a gentlemanly deed when Captain Peebles did salute HMS Queen Charlotte, flying the flag of Admiral of the White Bridport. Invited to the flag, he was pulled over in his gig and was entertained by Sir Alexander himself.

  During their conversation, Lord Bridport mentioned how short he was of dispatch vessels and needed one to deliver intelligence to the Baltic. At once, Captain Peebles volunteered his ship to carry the messages. The admiral wondered about the propriety of sending a ship not under his command on such an errand. Peebles explained the ship was merely being tested to ensure she was capable of active service, and no one could surely object if he extended the mission a few extra weeks. He was certain a note signed by the admiral would serve to pacify any objections raised on shore.

  With that, Lord Bridport endorsed Peebles’s orders to extend his cruise to include a voyage to the Baltic and return.

  The first the conspirators aboard Felicia heard of the matter was when Captain Peebles called Mister Ralston to his cabin and asked if he had the proper charts for the Baltic. Ralston, of course, did and had the courage to inquire how they might be needed. Peebles was in an expansive mood. Sometimes he was quite capable of distinguishing right from wrong and was aware that he sometimes skirted troublesome areas too closely. On those better days, he knew the day of reckoning might come upon him when he returned to port and had the idea if he could only prove his worth on this new mission, he might yet escape his downfall.

  Instead of verbally savaging Ralston for his effrontery, he merely informed him that Lord Bridport had dispatched them on an important mission to Stockholm.

  Ralston left the cabin, telling the captain he would get his Baltic charts in order. The Felicia set her course up the Channel toward the North Sea and the Skaw, at the entrance to the Baltic, while Ralston began to impart his news to the others.

  There was gloom when the news registered upon the others. Instead of a month-long voyage, this could extend to one lasting many months. Of course, the Admiralty would soon become aware of their absence, but the action it might take was problematic.

  The question was, how were they to inform the Admiralty of the difficulty? Someone suggested signaling the next British warship they encountered. This could be done through the auspices of Midshipman Adolphus, in his capacity as signal midshipman. However, there was the strong probability of discovery by their captain, who it must be believed, was acquainted with the signal flags they carried. Then, there was the matter of how to make their recipient ship believe what they were saying.

  In the end, it was decided, some men must go over the side at night, preferably in bad weather, into a boat towing behind. If they carefully prepared that boat before, they should have enough stores to last its small crew for days.

  There was still the matter of convincing authority they were not mere deserters. In one discussion, Midshipman Adolphus was present and volunteered to accompany the rest. It was felt by the others that a ship’s captain taking them on board, would not be likely to lock a Hanoverian prince in chains. Presumably, his word along with the logs of the master and first officer should gain them some credence.

  Accordingly, the plan was put into motion. It was one of the duties of the bosun to keep the ship’s boats in good condition, and to that end, he favored occasionally towing individual boats behind the ship to ensure their seams would swell and be more leak-proof. The launch was put into the sea and towed behind, while its future crew began to hoard food and supplies.

  Members of the wardroom provided their own sustenance, if they wanted food better than the galley cook provided. A few wardroom sheep were slaughtered, ostensibly to be consumed in the wardroom and gunroom. The cuts of mutton were headed up in small casks with a copious amount of salt to prevent spoilage. Breakers of water were surreptitiously wrestled to the upper deck and dropped overboard, where the floating containers were loaded aboard the trailing launch. The hands engaged in this activity were in dreadful danger now, since if the captain or one of his cronies spotted the activity, it could appear as nothing less than attempted desertion. It was obvious to those in the crew something was in progress, but by now, all knew better than to comment on unusual events.

  Toward the end, the conspirators decided to have a little amusement especially for the captain. They knew well that members of the watch on deck were bound to face the wrath of Captain Peebles when he learned of the escape, so at the moment of release of the launch and its crew, an alarm would be made on deck of a possible plot to take over the ship. Much ado would be made about perpetrators skulking below decks, and it was hoped by the time the absence of the launch was noted, the men would be lost to sight.

  None of the more senior men opted to make their escape. Mister Ralston felt he was too old for such antics and Mister Reynolds felt he must stay to attempt to temper any action against the men Captain Peebles might take. Midshipman Adolphus, of course, was a necessary member and a senior master’s mate was selected to load onto the launch. A dozen hands, men well used to the conditions likely to be encountered, also dropped into the boat. Hardly had they assumed their seats on the thwarts and cut the painter than Mister Reynolds sounded the alarm, ordering the midshipman of the watch to notify the captain that conspirators were plotting to take the ship. As the boat drifted silently out of sight, they heard the commotion as the Marines were alerted to search the ship.

  Once well away from the frigate, Master’s Mate Gainer ordered the lugsail raised and a course set to cross the channel.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Four days later, the crew of the launch was barely alive when HMS Naiad nearly ran them down. The boat was often on the verge of swamping and the hands could never get dry. The constant drenching in frigid temperatures were almost more than their bodies could take. The frigate came alongside and with the boat in her lee, she was able to put men into it to get everyone on board. The boat was a valuable craft which the frigate’s captain would have liked to salvage, but with the seas the way they were, he felt it too dangerous to take it aboard. Cut adrift, she was soon lost to sight.

  The men were taken below to warm up around the galley fire and the questioning began. At first, Captain McIntire of Naiad thought these men were deserters who had stolen a boat to make their escape, but several troubling details spoiled that theory. First, several of the rescued hands identified Midshipman Adolphus as a relative of King George III. Of course, the men could be lying, but it would seem to be a strange story to fabricate. One must tread very warily here. Then, two log books and some orders were produced. These were waterlogged and must be carefully dried before anything could be made of them.

  However, after listening to the stories, McIntire decided his best option was to deliver these refugees into the hand of the Admiralty. He was headed to Portsmouth to provision anyway, so he need not go out of his way. He was careful in his report to make no pronouncement of guilt or innocence, deciding to leave that in the hands of the authorities on shore.

  Captain McIntire could not abide hangings and hoped to be well away should that come to pass. With no ability to escape, the seamen were placed on duty and assigned messes. Midshipman Adolphus, in view of his possible royal blood, was placed in a vacant wardroom cabin, just to be sure, while Master’s Mate Ga
iner went to live in the gunroom.

  Captain Mullins had gone home for a few weeks to visit his father but returned to Portsmouth to check on Valkyrie. She was riding high in the water out in the harbor, ready to take on stores. All she needed was her crew, who were expected to arrive any day on Felicia. After arranging rooms, he decided to call on the flag to see if anything had been heard of her.

  He was surprised at the commotion made when he boarded. He was immediately shuttled off to the flag captain’s office, where he heard the story. The survivors had reached shore and word had arrived that very day from the Admiralty that every resource was to be expended to find this rogue captain and his ship and bring them in.

  Mullins was asked how soon it might take him to get HMS Valkyrie to sea to hunt this pirate down.

  Apparently, Valkyrie was presently the only ship capable of sailing in short order, always supposing she had a captain and crew, of course. He reminded all that his crew had been taken from his ship to man the missing Felicia, against his wishes and recommendations.

  These comments were swept aside as unimportant. He was told of the necessity of his sailing forthwith to apprehend what was now regarded as a pirate ship. It was felt his old crew serving on Felicia would find it easier to give the ship up to their former captain.

  He found Midshipman Adolphus outside the admiral’s office, being used, more or less, as a decoration. There was some anxiety on the flagship about the view the Palace might have about the wisdom of placing the prince on a ship commanded by a deranged captain.

  Adolphus informed Mullins of the log books from Ralston and Danton, which were now being carefully dried, page by page, and deciphered. He also found there were other hands that had escaped. Captain McIntire, always able to use skilled seamen, had kept these men aboard Naiad.