With the close-in work Phillips had the brig doing, investigating the inlets and bays along the coast, her armament was satisfactory. Should Amy encounter something she could not handle, Resolve was always nearby to lend a hand. Most of the encounters were of unarmed fishing boats or of island coasters, either unarmed or lightly armed. The fishing boats, he let go, providing their crews were not carrying arms. Some such boats, he had learned, were not always averse to snatching a larger vessel if it came along and the crew thought they could get away with the deed.
Coasters, he invariably burned. Their cargoes were generally island produce, not worth sending back to port and he did not want to lose crew members manning such prizes. After two weeks, traffic dried up. Ship owners were reluctant to send their vessels to sea with such predators in the neighborhood.
Deciding to seek greener pastures elsewhere, the pair went out to sea. Weeks went by with no significant sightings and it would soon be time to make port again. One morning, at dawn quarters, the lookout in the maintop reported sails on their starboard beam.
Running down the sighting, it proved to be a convoy of twenty cargo vessels escorted by a post ship of twenty twelve pounders and a small gun brig armed with carronades. Phillips thought this convoy would be in danger if the French frigate on the loose should happen across her.
Since his ships needed stores themselves, he elected to join the convoy and accompany them to port. The captain of the 6th rate HMS Camilla was junior to Phillips, which made matters simpler. Captain Bowen of Camilla came over to Resolve for dinner, where he and Phillips discussed their possible actions in case of attack. Bowen had not heard before of the presence of the French forty gun frigate Siréne. After discussing the signals apt to be used in case of an encounter, Bowen was pulled back to his ship.
Phillips was not at all enthused by the presence of Camilla. Her twenty guns would not be all that much of a factor in a fight with the forty gunned enemy. He believed if Siréne was alone if or when they met, she would make herself scarce when she saw what she was faced with. Any actions would depend on what, if any consorts the frigate might have with her.
Next morning, Camilla, on the far side of the convoy signaled, “Enemy in sight.” By the time Resolve’s lookout had spotted her top gallants, Camilla was reporting she had a corvette in company. Much depended upon the size of the corvette and what the enemy’s tactics might be.
As the enemy approached, Resolve stood out to meet her. Without orders, Camilla followed, but Phillips ordered her to return to the convoy. Soon it was seen the enemy also had a schooner accompanying them. The corvette was what the Royal Navy would call a ship-sloop. As she came closer, she was seen to be pierced with sixteen ports. The schooner appeared to be an island built trader which had been armed with eight guns, of unknown size.
On the face of it, the enemy appeared to have the stronger force. The two frigates were of approximately equal force, at first glance, although Resolve, with her eighteen pounders should be able to see the Frenchman off. The enemy corvette and schooner themselves should be able to give Camilla a certain amount of trouble. Much depended upon how the enemy commander used his force.
As the two frigates closed, the smaller French vessels sailed wide around Resolve toward the convoy. Apparently the enemy’s intentions were to distract the big British frigate, with the frigate while the smaller craft went after the convoy.
Accordingly, Phillips ordered the convoy’s original escort to protect the convoy, while he held off Siréne. After giving the matter a little thought, he also ordered Hastings in Amy to join the escort. He felt the three could repel any determined attack.
The two frigates spent the morning jockeying for position. By noon, the convoy, escorts and enemy assailants were out of sight. Phillips had the idea Siréne’s commander did not really want to fight. He suspected the reason was she had been in the tropics several years now, with no access to a well-appointed shipyard. She probably had few, if any spare parts, such as spars. Her cordage had no doubt seen better days and Phillips wondered about the state of her hull.
As the two ships maneuvered for position, they were becoming close to a pair of islands the sailing master said were supposedly uninhabited. Surrounded by shoal water, he recommended they stay away from them.
Siréne got the first shots away. Her guns fired in a ripple pattern, from bow to stern. The shot splashed all around, with one shot, apparently a twelve pound one, putting a notch in the mizzen topmast. A bosun’s mate and party of seamen went aloft to ‘fish’ the wounded spar. They would splint the topmast with narrow oak boards and wrap all together tightly with windings of one inch line.
The range was longer than Phillips would have wished for, but he disliked absorbing French shot without reply, so he told Mister Scott to fire as the starboard guns would bear. The guns began going off in ones and twos, as each gun captain determined the time was right.
Observing through his glass, he saw two balls impact the hull, then the frigate’s fore topmast staysail collapsed. The enemy was being struck repeatedly. She fired another broadside, with three balls coming aboard. Two were inconsequential, but one took the leg off one of the landsmen at the braces.
Their own broadside erupted almost immediately and again Captain Phillips witnessed shots going aboard. Resolve’s guns were firing as fast as they were loaded and soon guns were constantly firing. His gunners were firing at the hull of the enemy and the results were evident.
Siréne’s hull was becoming pockmarked with shot-holes and it appeared several of her guns had been silenced. Resolve was firing much faster than her opponent and if he had been asked, Captain Phillips would probably forecast Siréne to lower her colors soon.
Then a ball hit Resolve’s mainyard and it collapsed. While seamen swarmed over it, Siréne got some sail set and began moving toward one of the islands to the south. Having enough on his plate repairing the present damage, Phillips let her go.
Mister Scott was not happy. A successful ship to ship action between equals would often provide promotion for her first officer. Phillips ignored the wry look and ordered Scott to see that repairs were coming along as they should.
Siréne had entered shoal water on the lee of an uninhabited island shown on the master’s chart as ‘Johnson Cay’. Little information was to be gathered from the chart. The enemy frigate had her boats out now and they were towing her on a winding course through the shallows.
With night coming on, the ship was becoming fit to sail and fight. However, Phillips did not fancy attempting to make his way through shoal waters so he could get at the foe. Accordingly, Resolve spent the night cruising off the island, ordering extra lookouts on deck to observe any attempts of Siréne to leave her anchorage.
The morning wind was very light and variable and Resolve slowly crept into the shallows the enemy frigate had traversed the prior evening. Finally, she dowsed the sails and her boats began towing her. Mister Andrews led the way in the jolly boat, sounding every few fathoms, searching for the deepest parts of the channel.
Several times, the ship was pulled down false leads, causing some cursing among the tiring boat crews as they had to reverse course. Phillips had climbed into the main top with his glass to get the best view possible of the enemy.
Her people had done a lot of work over the night. She was anchored near the shore, broadside to the channel. Her port broadside was pointed right at the route Resolve would need to come.
In addition, guns from her port battery had been removed from the ship and emplaced on the shore. The ground here seemed to be of crumbling coral and the work must have been excruciating during the night for Siréne’s crew.
Phillips paced the windward side of the quarterdeck, stopping now and again to examine the quarry. The other officers as was proper, stayed to leeward. Coming to a conclusion he went over to them.
“Gentlemen, we seem to have a problem. The enemy lies at the end of a narrow channel right close to land. Her broadside is aim
ed right down the channel. In addition, she has used some of her portside guns to make a shore battery. If we try to tow Resolve down that channel, we are going to get the snot pounded from us.”
“Therefore, I think we are going to have to find other means of getting at the enemy. Mister Andrews is our weather prognosticator and if he agrees that we have nothing bad coming our way, we will leave the ship here and take to the boats tonight. This island is small and if we land on the western shore, we can march overland to the site of the enemy battery.
If feasible, we will storm the battery and turn the guns on the ship. It will be strange if she does not see the light and lower her colors.
During the day, Phillips and his first officer sat together and planned the attack. Phillips wanted to leave his first officer in command of the nearly empty Resolve while he went ashore to capture the battery and hopefully the frigate.
However, this might be Scott’s big chance to win distinction and promotion. He could stay aboard himself, but felt he should be close to the action in case sudden changes in strategy needed to be taken. For his other officers, he had Mister Andrews, the sailing master, Mister Whiting, the second officer, who had been a midshipman a few months before and Mister Spencer, still a mid who was holding the position of third officer.
Mister Andrews was a bit elderly to be climbing around on the rocks ashore and besides was the best navigator of any of the other officers, so he was left to command Resolve. He put Mister Scott in charge of the assault force that would march across the narrow key during the night and attack the battery at first light. Two of the ship’s boats would be armed with carronades and would open fire at any attempt to tow enemy frigate to a safer anchorage.
Mister Spencer he would retain with him as a sort of aide de camp. At Spencer’s suggestion, Seaman Roberts, a fifteen year old topman would serve a runner, delivering messages.
In late afternoon, those told off to leave the ship were ordered below to get as much rest as possible. That evening, as the sun dropped below the horizon, the boats began loading and set out. At the last minute, Phillips sent Roberts to his cabin to retrieve a weapon he had not used in a long time.
This was an expensive, long barreled rifle that Phillips had inherited when its owner had fallen at a failed invasion of the French coast. It was an extremely accurate weapon, deadly at two hundred yards, useful at twice that distance.
The captain’s gig was the last boat to leave the ship. When the cox’n ordered his men on the oars to catch up with the other, Phillips had him belay. He wanted no people too exhausted to function properly when they landed.
The Marines, on landing, had formed up on shore and were protecting the landing beach. With the people ashore, the two launches with the carronades set out under sail to close the area where they were to support the landing. The jolly boat went with them to carry extra ammunition for their guns.
The Royal Marines leading, the landing force proceeded on their mission. The sharp coral was brutal to march over. A stumble could mean severe lacerations. Soon, the entire party seemed to be walking wounded.
It was an almost crippled party that reached their assault positions in the pre-dawn darkness. The loom of the enemy frigate could just be seen offshore. The embers of a fire glowed near the battery. The only sounds came from the usual noises of sleeping men, overlaid with the whispers of two men on sentry duty.
The assault party assembled quietly and led into place by their petty officers. The Marines, as usual, were already prepared, with their bayonets fixed. There had been discussion before setting out whether the muskets should be loaded. There was fear that a loaded musket might discharge, alerting the enemy camp.
Therefore, Phillips had ordered the muskets should be loaded, but not primed. It was thought forty Marines charging with fixed bayonets should terrify any defenders and cause them either to run away or to surrender. His men had been ordered not to pursue fleeing defenders, but to take control of the guns.
As the sun edged up over the sea, a drummer in the camp began thundering away to wake the French troops. Mister Scott looked at Phillips questioningly and his captain nodded. Scott stood up and drew his sword. Shouting ‘Charge’, he ran forward into the attack. The disciplined Marines came forward at the double, their Brown Bess Sea Pattern muskets poised. The seamen, simply ran forward yelling and shouting, brandishing their weapons.
The defenders had barely a chance to stand up before they were overrun. Aboard the ship lying offshore, a drum began to sound, the drum on shore having been silenced by a Marine’s butt stroke to the drummer’s head.
One of the defender’s presumably a sentry, managed to fire off a shot. That was the only weapon that was fired. In moments, the individual guns in the battery had been secured. There were six of them, all of them French eight pounder guns. With the captured battery under control, Mister Scott removed his coat and unwrapped the British colors he had wound about his body. The banner was bent onto the halyard on the battery’s flag pole and the British colors hoisted.
There was much activity aboard Siréne. Phillips could see one of his launches along the shore, almost hidden behind a point. He wanted to send her under a flag of truce to Siréne, to explain the facts of life, but could not locate his signal yeoman. The lad had taken a bad tumble, severely injuring his leg and was only now being carried to the encampment.
No matter though. He spotted a small boat hidden behind a makeshift jetty along the shore and had Mister Spencer locate a boat crew for him. Phillips had a shirt under his woolen jacket that was almost white, so he hoisted it on the point of his new sword and had the boat crew pull him out in the little harbor. One of the oarsmen had brought along the drum the French soldier had been pounding on as they attacked, so Phillips had the man beat on it as they approached Siréne. The bowman hooked on to the mainchains and someone dropped a line. It had been a long time since Phillips had boarded a ship in this manner, but he grasped the line and walked his way up the side of the ship.
At the entry port, he took off his hat to the quarterdeck and to the officer who met him. That officer spoke English fluently and asked him what he thought he was doing.
Phillips replied that he had just taken their battery and was now ready to open fire upon the ship, unless of course it surrendered immediately.
The French officer removed a big watch from its fob and informed him he had ten minutes to return to shore. After that, he would be either shot or taken prisoner. Phillips could take a hint as well as anyone, so he slid down the line to the boat and told them to make for shore.
The guns on shore had been prepared for action and Mister Scott was ready to open fire. Phillips was reluctant. On his short visit to the enemy, he has seen the ship was much knocked about. He hoped to take her without causing her much more damage. As he thought about his options, Mister Spencer came to him, carrying the long rifle and bag of accoutrements. A seaman had carried them across the cay and everything seemed to be in order.
The rifle had already been loaded, but not primed. A quill had been pressed into the vent to keep out water. The captain of Siréne took this moment to start the ball. A gun on his port side fired, just missing one of the guns in the shore battery. Mister Scott gave the order to fire back and all six guns exploded. Phillips primed his weapon with a pinch of powder in the pan, after removing the quill. Getting down on his belly on the rocky shore, he saw a man aboard Siréne lean out of a gunport to swab the barrel of his gun.
It was a good two hundred yards distant, so he used the middle of the three rear sights. This one was set for that range. Lining his sights carefully, he put the front sight on his man’s back, moving it then to starboard a bit to account for the breeze.
Touching the set trigger brought the cock with its flint slashing down on the frizzen. The powerful spring gave the energy to produce a shower of sparks which flared the powder in the pan. Instantly, the flash carried through the vent into the bore of the rifle, firing the main charge and
sending the conical ball on its way. The target dropped his swab over the side, as his mates pulled him back inside with a ruined shoulder.
Return fire from Siréne hit a gun carriage, ruining the trucks on one side and injuring two crewmen. The five remaining fired, doing their own damage. Phillips continued loading and firing, changing now to officers visible on the quarterdeck. Recognizing the captain who he had just talked to, he sent a ball into his chest. After the shore battery sent another five balls aboard the frigate, one of the launches came from behind its point and discharged the twelve pounder boat gun at close range into Siréne’s hull.
This was apparently the straw that broke the camel’s back, since the guns stopped on board the frigate and her colors came down.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Siréne was much beaten about, but Mister Scott was certain he could get her back to English Harbor. Phillips spent a few minutes with the French frigate’s third officer, who had lowered the colors. The young officer’s superiors had all been killed or badly wounded. Captain Phillips explained to the young man the dire consequences that would happen should the crew try to retake the ship.
Mister Scott was given command and the remaining crew of Resolve was split, sending men to Siréne to get her back to port. The captured crewmen were struck below, except for the officer who had surrendered the ship and an aspirant, the French version of a midshipman. These men had given their parole and were permitted to remain in their cabins and have the privileges of the quarterdeck.
Phillips allowed the prize crew the rest of the day to get the frigate in order. He felt dreadfully exposed in this shoal water among a multitude of small islets. Early next morning the boats began towing Siréne out to sea. With her in deep water, they returned to Resolve and got her out, also. About three bells into the afternoon watch, the wind shifted enough for her to get under sail, providing relief for the exhausted oarsmen.
HMS RESOLVE: A John Phillips Novel Page 10
