HMS Vigilant: A Charles Mullins Novel (Sea Command Book 5)

by Richard Testrake

  The Impress Officer shook his head gravely. It was not possible to supply just any men to another ship. They were now intermingled with several hundreds of others and impossible to separate. He would however bring up the proper number on deck and undertake to deliver those hands to Vigilant in due course.

  Mullins held up his orders again, and read aloud a paragraph which the First Sea Lord had ordered inserted, which allowed Mullins to take onto Vigilant the entire former crew of Juno, save for the standing officers.

  The Impress Service officer was adamant that this would be impossible. Mullins must take the run of the lot. The first of the men to come out of the hatches were his, the remainder would go to some other captain.

  This was not Captain Mullin’s first dealings with Impress Service officers. He well knew if he were to offer the officer an adequate bribe, he could indeed secure his own men. Mullins had sufficient funds available to secure his needed men. He was just not willing to fatten this fellow’s purse in order to do this.

  There followed an impassioned discourse between the two officers, the Impress Officer refusing to believe that the First Sea Lord had actually signed the order allowing Mullins to have the men.

  Sighing, Mullins lifted his hat and made his way to the accommodation ladder, the Impress officer following. “Sir”, the officer began, “I am sorry I could not accommodate your wishes. If you wish to come back later, I can have the proper number of men paraded on my deck for you to take to your ship.”

  “Mister Roberts, I believe you may be more knowledgeable on this subject than myself. What is done these days with naval officers who attempt to defraud their government? Are they simply transported, or do they take the high jump at Newgate Prison?”

  Roberts was aghast that he could be suspected of fraud. Mullins expounded, “Mister Roberts, we both know that you sell men confined to this hulk to naval officers desperate for seaman, the price being determined by their rating. I have shown you orders signed by Lord Mulgrove himself to supply me with the entire crew of HMS Juno, save for the standing warrants. This you have refused to do.”

  “I will visit the Admiralty this day to report your disobedience. I suspect it will not be difficult to find officers in this anchorage who have paid you to supply needed hands. I do hope your affairs are in order.”

  Roberts asked for a moment to confer with one of his men. A grizzled old bosun’s mate came forward. Mullins recognized this man, he had been a petty officer on Mullins first ship, years before. Mullins did not have fond memories of him. The bosun’s mate approached and requested that he examine the relevant orders.

  After careful perusal, the cautious petty officer said, “These appear to be genuine, sir. I recognize Lord Mulgrave’s signature. We have seen it often enough.”

  This petty officer, although a willing party to Robert’s little frauds, was well aware of the difficulties that might be encountered when dealing with knowledgeable post captains.

  Alerted now by his petty officer’s. caution, Roberts was ready to make one last try. He was aware this captain had just received the command of the Vigilant frigate and was willing to wager he was not familiar with the roster of hands taken from that ship.

  “Sir, I am most sorry for the misunderstanding. You will understand we have many officers come aboard and attempt by various subterfuges to obtain men. We will immediately begin to send our people on deck, where you may select the hands you want.”

  The hatches opened and men began pouring out. Mullins had been aboard Juno for only a short time and his memory was hazy with some of the hands. Almost immediately though, ratings and petty officers he knew well approached him to thank him for rescuing them from the receiving ship and he gathered up some of these hands to help him sort out the men.

  By the time he was ready to return to his ship, all of the worthy hands had been sorted out and were awaiting transport to their old ship.

  As soon as he had enough hands to fill out a boat crew, he sent them to Vigilant on his harbor boat with a note for them to bring back one of the ship’s boats. What with all of the confusion, he thought he would certainly lose many of his men through desertion, but that did not happen.

  Two days later, most of his people were aboard, with the exception of Mister Jones, the gunner. Jones, it was explained to him by the bosun, was an opinionated old man who often went adrift when the ship was in port. As a warrant gunner, this had never been held strictly against him, and besides there was little a captain could do about him save send him to a court. His previous captains had declined to do this, so long as the gunner was present and correct when his ship sailed and kept his guns in order.

  Mullins had no wish to ruin an old man, but it appeared this warrant was on the verge of ruining himself. The warrant gunner had gone ashore without permission of a senior officer and had absented himself for days without any attempt at explanation, so it appeared he would, at the least, lose his warrant and his livelihood.

  Although one warrant officer seemed to have been lost, another had been gained. In the turmoil of retrieving his crew, Captain Mullins had not realized he was missing his ship’s surgeon, until Mister Heyward diffidently put the matter to him.

  According to Mister Hakes, who had been on Juno at the time of the trouble with the previous captain and his first officer, Mister Turner, ship’s surgeon, had tired of the constant discord on board ship. He tendered his resignation in writing, handing it to the Marine sentry at post guarding the drunken captain’s quarters and left the ship, not to be seen again.

  With his sailing date imminent, Mullins doubted he would receive a duly warranted ship’s surgeon at this late date. But soon after the surgeon’s absence was reported, a shore boat delivered a slender man of perhaps thirty years, wearing a blue coat and an old-fashioned bob wig.

  Captain Mullins had always had experienced medical officers on his ships, but had very little knowledge of their particular field himself. He spent little time with this man, simply welcoming him aboard and assuring him he was always willing to discuss any problems, before sending the surgeon to his den below.

  Later, that same day, Mister Midshipman Broadhurst came aboard, accompanied by six other mids who would fill out the midshipmen’s berth. These latter had all been sent down on admiralty orders. All were scions of important families that were owed favors by the Navy. Mullins did not concern himself to welcoming these youths aboard. Some would prove themselves to be valuable members of the crew in coming days. Others, would be encouraged to leave the ship. Sailing Master Weatherby would tend to them for the time being.

  Despite his appearance, Mister Burns was no physician. He had completed his apprenticeship with an apothecary, then read medicine at Edinburgh for a brief period. After satisfying the Sick and Hurt Board of his qualifications, he was given his warrant of assistant surgeon and sent to his first ship, HMS Vigilant.

  In the conversation with his new captain, Mister Burns related his intentions of serving with the fleet for a few years until he became financially secure, when he hoped to return to Edinburgh to resume his medical studies.

  Wishing him luck, Mullins called for the midshipman of the watch to show the surgeon to the wardroom.

  Chapter Three

  The supplies were coming in rapidly and the final orders arrived. Vigilant would visit the inshore fleet off Brest, where she would deliver mail and dispatches to the squadron commander there. Then, it would be off to the Mediterranean.

  A few more hands were sent aboard, specialists of one sort or another. One young man, Jason Cooper, reporting to the quarterdeck, was a civilian, whose specialty was correcting the accuracy of old charts, many of which were uncertain copies taken from the enemy. It would be up to the first officer to decide where to stow this man. Mister Heyward had come over from Juno, along with Hakes, the second officer and Hammond, the third. Mister Baker, the Marine lieutenant, would also sail with them, but he was ashore at the moment, trying to collect his Marine detachment.
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  Some of the warrants, the standing officers, would all be new to the former Juno’s, since they remained with the ship. Some of them had been aboard Vigilant for years. One of these, the gunner, had been adrift for the past few days, but just moments before winning her anchor, a shabby, fisherman’s skiff delivered Mister Jones to the port ladder. The single oarsman did not stay to answer questions and Mister Jones was incapable, being overcome with drink. His friend, the warrant bosun, with the help of some seamen, got the gunner aboard and lashed into his hammock. Later, Bosun Fletcher informed his captain that sometimes drink got the better of the gunner, but he would soon recover, once free of the unlimited grog to be found on shore.

  It would be two days before Mullins was able to interview the gunner and by then they were at sea. Jones had cleaned himself as best as he could, but he had lost his extra clothing while ashore, including his blue coat, that was his badge of office. Of apparent greater concern to Jones however, was the loss of the large quantity of gin which he had purchased to bring to last him through the commission. He had purchased kegs of the spirits, only to leave it behind when he became incapacitated.

  Master Gunner Jones appeared to be a very sick man. Dressed in seaman’s slop clothing, he seemed emaciated. His hands trembled constantly and he had a nervous tic on his face. With no sympathy at all, Mullins listed to his gunner recount his adventures, those he remembered. Besides his clothing and liquor, he had also lost his purse, containing all of the money he had.

  After he finished with his list of woes, Mullins reminded Jones he had been adrift for the better part of four days. Had he not been delivered to the ship, just minutes before departure, he would have been logged as ‘’Run’ on the ships’ books, and would surely lose his warrant.

  The sailmaker would no doubt, run up a reasonable coat for him to wear on the ship, but his private liquor was gone. Mullins informed the gunner he would not receive any grog issue from the ship and he would notify the other officers and warrants they must not share their liquor with the culprit. For all intents and purposes, Gunner Jones would have no access to strong drink aboard this ship for the remainder of the commission.

  Mullins informed Jones he was expected to perform his duty while on the ship. If he was not able to do so, he would be put ashore and one of the gunners’ mates put in his position. Jones seemed more concerned about the loss of his drink than any punishment he might receive.

  On the way to their rendezvous off Brest, Captain Mullins took the opportunity to drill his crew. The men had been badly treated in their former ship, HMS Juno, before Mullins had taken command. He was pleasantly surprised how these hands had come together on this new ship. There had been opportunity for many of the men to run during the confusion with the transfer of men to Vigilant, but there had been no instance where this happened.

  After the short voyage across the Channel, Vigilant found elements of the Channel Fleet off Le Havre, but the commander, Lord Gardner was absent. Captain Hamilton was temporarily in charge and invited Mullins to his liner for a visit. After exchanging gossip with Hamilton, Mullins received a mail bag for the Brest blockade squadron and Vigilant set sail for that station.

  Vigilant stood out to sea to round the Cotentin Peninsula and make good her course for Brest. As she rounded the headland, the masthead lookout spotted a ship standing in for Cherbourg. As the ship closed, Mister Heyward identified it as a French 32-gun frigate of the Magicienne class, armed with 26 twelve-pounders and an additional half-dozen six-pounder guns.

  “Near enough to our own armament”, Heyward speculated, “save we have the carronades which they do not have.”

  Vigilant had six eighteen-pounder carronades mounted on foc’s’le and quarterdeck. Although these light guns fired the heaviest projectiles of all the guns aboard Vigilant, their range was limited because of their reduced powder charges. Although deadly weapons indeed at close range, they were all but useless at longer ranges when an enemy could stand off with impunity and bombard her with her own long guns.

  The Marine drummer set his instrument to thundering the call to clear for action. Mister Burns had to be assisted by his two loblolly boys to his post in the cockpit, where the mids sea chests had been arranged to serve as an operating table.

  With the movable parts of the ship’s fabric being struck below to assure a clear firing platform, Captain Mullins noted an anomaly. In all of his previous actions, one prominent feature when the ship cleared for action, had been the gunner, striding along the deck, peering at each gun and its accessories to insure its readiness for action. Today, Gunner Jones seemed to be absent and one of the gunner’s mates had taken his place.

  When Gunner’s Mate Gainer reported the ships guns ready, Mullins asked about the gunner. “Sir”, Gainer pronounced, “Mister Jones has been taken poorly and is now in the hands of the surgeon.”

  Mullins had not seen Gunner Jones since his interview with him and wondered the cause of his ailment. He had a rather good idea of what it might be. Now, with an enemy frigate coming up on their forward port quarter, there was no time to investigate. Instead, he asked the acting gunner how much powder was available.

  “Sir, I had no access to the magazine until quarters was sounded and I found the keys and reported there. Very little powder was bagged, ready for issue. Barely forty cartridges in total. I put the remaining gunner’s mate to work, and drafted several of our gun captains to help fill cartridges. By the time we are in range of this fellow, we should have sufficient charges prepared.”

  Wondering to himself how many other lapses would present themselves, Mullins eyed the approaching frigate. Many French warships he had dealt with in the past had been poorly prepared for combat, having sat idle in a harbor for months or years. The same could not be said about this fellow.

  From all appearances, this frigate had been at sea for a lengthy period, allowing time for proper training of her people. The question might be; in just what condition might this enemy frigate be?

  Her sails were weathered and patched, and her standing rigging was not quite as taut as he liked to see on his own ships. Mullins thought she might be returning from the Caribbean or the Orient, low on stores and perhaps ill-manned.

  Telling himself this was no time for wool-gathering, Mullins set his mind to deciding how he was going to crack this nut.

  With the enemy frigate coming toward his forward port quarter, Mullins thought he would just see what this French captain was made of. Both ships opened the dance at almost the same moment, firing the forward guns that would bear. At long musket range, the main armament of both ships opened. The crash of the big guns was overwhelming, but not as terrifying as the impacts of the heavy balls crashing into ship and men at the speed of nearly a thousand feet in a second.

  Impressive as the damage was the enemy frigate was dealing out, it could not compare with that sent at him. Vigilant was armed with six eighteen pounder carronades, half of whom were firing at the enemy. The first shots had been round ball, which caused an inordinate amount of damage to men and ship. Reloads were alternating grape and case shot, and this also proved to be deadly to the enemy gunners and ship’s crew.

  By now, Vigilant had passed down the length of the enemy ship and he asked his sailing master to turn the frigate to port, to lay Vigilant across the fellow’s stern. This was done, even as several charges of grape severed some of Vigilant’s fore topmast shrouds. The ensuing wreckage fell to the deck hampering the operation of the forward guns.

  There was no hindrance to the aftermost guns though, and the carronades and twelve-pounders thundered away into the stern of the Frenchman. The eighteen-pounders caused impressive damage and when the two ships drifted apart, the Frenchman showed little incentive in pursuing the conflict.

  This was not true on Vigilant. Maximum effort was expended on clearing away damage and making what repairs were possible. In the midst of this activity, the acting-gunner, who had taken over in the magazine came up on deck, reporting t
o Captain Mullins.

  “Sir, Mister Jones just reported to the magazine. He says he is returning to duty now and I should resume my duties with the guns.”

  This angered Captain Mullins. He should have been notified when Jones reported sick and he should especially have been notified before the gunner returned to duty. Looking around, he saw Mister Hakes assisting the gun crew on one of the quarterdeck six-pounders. Hakes, Mullins had noticed, was not shy about soiling his clothing. He had obviously been involved with firing some of the guns since his hands and face were stained with powder fouling.

  In addition to being second officer, Hakes also served as gunnery officer and would have normally been closely associated with the gunner. Calling him over, the captain relayed the difficulties Mister Jones was causing.

  “I do not know whether Jones is capable of duty or not but he has shown little inclination of performing that duty since he has been aboard. I want you to take Gainer here to the magazine. He is to take charge there and resume the duties as gunner. Mister Jones should be escorted below. If he will not go willingly, he should be placed in arrest.”

  “As soon as the surgeon is free, he should examine Mister Jones and supply me with a statement of his ability to resume his duties.”

  After the damage to the fore topmast had been repaired, Vigilant set out to see if she could bring the now fleeing French frigate to heel. That ship had been severely injured during the action and was riding low in the water. Damage to important spars limited the amount of canvas she could set and there was no difficulty in overtaking the warship.