With the burden of her load of seawater, Athena was sluggish and slow, with an increased draft. Even so, Cartwright was able to guide the ship from the longboat, a leadsman measuring the depths as they went, through a channel he remembered from years before. The ship came to anchor in a shallow bay on the leeward side of the island. The master warned of coral heads under the surface, which could tear open the hull of the ship, but thought the beach they had approached might be safe.
After the boats surveyed the bottom in this shallow bay and determined it to be free of hidden dangers, they pulled Athena closer to shore until she touched the sandy bottom at low tide and the Marines were sent ashore to inspect for any human dangers. With the islet confirmed uninhabited, the emptying of the ship commenced. The first items brought ashore were the guns and ammunition. The lower level of the magazine had flooded and some powder was spoiled, but a small amount of powder in the upper barrels remained dry to respond to an enemy.
Once the guns were ashore, a temporary battery was constructed to defend the ship from a possible seaward attack. In the rear of the battery, sails were spread out in the hot sun and damp powder from some of the spoiled barrels was spread out, in hopes that it might dry enough to be used.
With the ship lightened as much as possible, cables were sent ashore and bent onto sturdy palm trees. Now men were taken from the pumps and set to work at the capstan. As the cables were tightened, the ship, now moored fore and aft in shallow water, began to incline, the damaged planking in the bow rising.to the surface. By stages, the ship was slowly rolled while men at the pumps were able to lighten her more, now that the sea was no longer rushing in.
With the damage now accessible, the carpenter and his mates working from the boats, removed the damaged wood and replaced it with new planking. Another day for the caulkers to seal the repairs and a coat of pitch to be spread over all, and it was time to get the ship ready to sail again.
With the men working at a feverish pitch, the stores began coming aboard, Mister Cartwright insuring every cask was stowed in its proper position and secured so it would not shift in a heavy sea. Despite the amount of work, two lookouts were spared to be posted in the now upright tops. Shouts from these two alerted the quarterdeck that a little gaff-rigged fishing boat had come around the point and was now plainly visible off-shore watching over their actions.
The craft flew no flag but Mullins had to suspect the worst. The hands remaining ashore in the battery were alerted and the guns readied for action. This was the absolute worst moment for an enemy to appear, with men at work both ashore and on the ship. However, after having a good look, the vessel put about and left on the same path that she had arrived.
The crew worked through the night and by dawn, the guns and remaining supplies ashore had been loaded aboard ship, although probably not in quite the order that the sailing master might have wished. As the exhausted crew were preparing to raise the anchor, the fishing boat that had inspected them the previous day came around the point again. This time, accompanied by a little sixteen-gun corvette, flying the tricolor, her guns already run out. Normally, it would seem presumptuous for a smaller vessel like this corvette to challenge a larger enemy. Today though, with Athena in her present condition, the enemy commander probably thought he had a good chance to take this foe.
With no time to gain her anchors, Mullins ordered the anchor cables slipped. The freed cables slid into the sea as the topsails were set and the jib flatted out to turn the ship. Other members of the crew forgot their exhaustion as they cleared the ship for action. Mister Cartwright conned the ship out of the twisting channel by memory. Despite touching bottom once, no damage was incurred and she reached a safe depth before meeting the corvette.
Mullins spoke to the gunner as he was leaving the deck to his post in the magazine. “Mister Flowers, what is the state of our powder?”
“Sir, I can give you a single broadside with good powder. I am afraid any charges we use after that will be suspect. Much of our powder is wet and will not fire. I do have some casks that were only dampened and partially re-dried. That powder may or may not fire. My plan, have I enough time, will be to make up charges of the dampened powder, supplemented with some saluting charges I have that are dry. My hope is the small saluting charge will ignite the dampened main charge.”
Mullins nodded, “I think you are telling me I must defeat this corvette using my first broadside.”
“That would be the best plan, Captain.”
The corvette approached with a bone in her teeth, the fishing boat wisely coming about and leaving the area. As soon as the corvette was within range, she began firing off her forward guns, six–pounders, it appeared.
Mullins warned Mister Farver, “As you know, we must husband our powder. We must only fire when a certain hit may be expected.”
The first officer nodded and repeated the message to Lieutenant Howard, who would actually be commanding the guns.
The enemy, seeing her enemy coming out with her guns silent, came about at close range and fired off her broadside. This was hurried firing and some shot missed, but even so, several balls came aboard, the foremast having a notch taken out near the deck, and two six-pound shot smashing through the bulwarks, sending men below with splinter wounds.
The corvette, her broadside expended and her port-side guns empty, glided alongside Athens. This was when Mullins gave the order to fire. At musket-shot range, every shot took effect, the big carronade shot especially so. The vicious shock of the multiple impacts almost stopped the corvette. The carronades, as usual, were the first to reload. Mullins was anxious to see the results of firing the guns with damp powder charges.
When the first of the carronades fired again, Mullins could see no perceptible changes. This one was loaded with grape, and the smoke of the discharge may have been a bit darker than usual. The effects were perfectly acceptable as far as he was concerned. The corvette’s portside foremast shrouds were shot through, and that mast was seen to slowly lean over to starboard and fall.
There was no time to admire the shot though as the other guns began to fire. There was a discrepancy with only one gun. Number 4 gun fired with a weak report and its ball bounced from the side of the corvette, without penetrating. The other rounds did their duty though and the corvette was visibly shaken.
It was now obvious the small corvette had no business engaging the more powerful Athena. Her captain probably thought the British warship had been damaged and he could take her before she was repaired. He was almost right. Had he encountered Athena a few hours before, he could probably have made her his prize.
The after carronade, also loaded with grape, when fired, took out most of the enemies’ quarterdeck people and soon after that her flag came down.
The ship’s Marines, as well as an armed boarding party, went aboard to secure the prize. They went with empty weapons, since all of the small-arms powder had been used to prime the big guns.
Mister Flowers went over with the first boarders, sword in hand, and returned with a report the prize’s powder supply was intact and ready to be transport to Athena.
Mullins, with limited facilities aboard Athens, did not wish to take aboard the numerous prisoners, so sent them to the barren shore with sufficient stores to last them a few weeks. By that time, someone, either Briton or French, would doubtless rescue them. The corvette, Mullins judged, had been barely serviceable before the action. She was an elderly ship, in poor repair, having received little maintenance since coming to these islands. Now, with her foremast down and her hull shot through with holes, Mullins believed she was not worth the effort to repair. Her powder was brought aboard Athena, while her dis-armed crew watched from shore, and then she was set afire. When fully alight, Athena set sail.
Chapter Eight
HMS Athena had been prettied up as much as possible for her entrance into English Harbor in Antigua. The admiral and much of the fleet had left to avoid the hurricane season but some smaller craft were in
harbor, specifically a thirty-two-gun frigate, HMS Harpy with her captain acting as commodore for the remaining smaller craft.
Mullins ordered the salute fired to the flag and boarded his gig before the summons came. He took with him his log and some letters Captain Cockburn had given him before parting. Aboard Harpy, he learned Captain Janders had gone ashore but would surely soon be back since the arrival of Athena would have made a stir in the town.
Sure enough, a smartly appointed captain’s gig was seen coming at speed toward Harpy. Mullins stood back as Harpy’s officers welcomed their captain. Upon introduction, Janders invited him into the great cabin and offered him wine and fresh island fruit. His journal on the desk in front of him, Mullins explained his presence. He recounted the actions with the French ships that had attempted to take the treasure ship and the near crippling injury that Athena had received.
The commodore grimaced when told how the French corvette had nearly caught them unaware at the island, and again when he learned they had fought an action with much of their powder spoiled.
“However”, Mullins recounted, “the French crew is now marooned on the island in the Caicos where we careened our ship. We left them two weeks of provisions. Maybe they are still there, if you would like to collect them.”
Athena was able to secure a new mainyard at the dockyard and managed to renew her powder supply, although he was warned the fleet had drawn much of the powder before leaving. The amount remaining was finite and he was warned to be sparing with what he had.
Captain Janders was not able to give Mullins any orders governing his future activities. “Probably your best course would be to complete your refit here, then proceed up to Halifax to see what they may want you to do there.”
“On your way north, perhaps you would take care to watch out for evidence of enemy activities. Since the fleet left us for the hurricane season, French privateers staging out of St. Martin trouble us. Those ships under my orders are too few to patrol the area and we are losing local shipping that are not sailing in convoy. If you could catch one or two of them, it would be of great help.”
Mullins allowed his men to have a run ashore before leaving. Only five did not return. Since these five were all landsmen, they were no great loss to the ship. Captain Janders was able to obtain a like number of men incarcerated in the local gaol. Their merchant ship had left port without them and the men had been causing trouble with the local populace until taken into custody. These men were now sad looking specimens, but they claimed to be able-bodied seamen. Despite their claims, Mister Farver put them on the books as landsmen, to be rated as ordinary seamen once they had demonstrated their ability.
HMS Athena left English Harbor sailing leisurely up the chain of islands. In addition to the official Navy issue of powder, he still had that which he had taken from their prize. The superintendent of the powder wharf explained that it was not possible to issue that powder to a Royal Navy ship unless it had been first re-manufactured and brought up to British specifications. There were no facilities to do that locally, so the simplest plan would be to sell it at prize auction. With no British privateers in port at the time to bid the price up, Mullins, as the only bidder, purchased the entire lot at his own expense and at a good price. He could use the powder as he saw fit without answering endless questions from Admiralty. He would now have the needed munitions to drill the crew with live-fire exercises.
While the post ship was still in ordinary, back in England, a party of French adventurers, venturing out to sea in small boats, boarded and seized the American merchant brig, General Washington, off the coast of Guadeloupe. The ship, laden with sugar and bound for Philadelphia, was easily overcome since yellow fever had afflicted the crew. Her captors, in a more settled part of the world, would have likely been judged pirates, since they had no letter of marque. Here though, a group of local businessmen purchased the prize for a pittance and all irregularities in her capture were forgotten.
The brig was taken into port, armed, and refitted as a privateer. For several years, French naval ships and privateers seized American ships and cargoes in retaliation for the cessation of war payments to France from the United States. Known as ‘The Quasi-War’, war at sea between the two countries continued for those years. While that war had been concluded by treaty before the new private warship could put to sea, the war between France and Great Britain had recently resumed and the new owners of the brig decided to send her to sea to attempt to make a return on their investment.
Given a crew of hard-bitten seamen, familiar with war at sea, the former American brig, now renamed Reynard, set out to find her prey. She was initially successful and was able to return her owners a significant return. She was armed originally with whatever guns could be found, but now her owners felt better artillery might allow her to take more strongly defended ships and bring more profit.
Another privateer brought in a transport, delivering among other items, a dozen 12-pounder long naval guns originally destined for English Harbor. These weapons were purchased and installed on the Reynard, replacing her old mixed-caliber guns. A professional naval officer might have warned the owners of Reynard of the dangers of overloading the lightly built merchant hull with the heavier ordnance, but no such advisor was present. Reynard’s captain, the former second officer of a French merchantman damaged in a storm, had not the experience necessary to advise the owners.
Reynard put to sea with additional crewmembers to serve as boarders. Her captain’s plan was to attempt to avoid damaging valuable hulls and cargo by swarming the victim with overwhelming manpower. She made her next capture without firing a shot. Having gained similar experience from the previous cruise, Captain Gougeon thought it unnecessary to expend expensive ammunition on practice when it was so easy to overawe a victim with hordes of screaming boarders at the rails.
One disadvantage of the strategy was the difficulty of remaining at sea for extended periods with this number of people on board. Consequently, it was necessary to return to port often to take on new supplies and replace those hands who wished to go ashore to spend their booty.
When Reynard left port on her third cruise, she had few members of her original crew still on board. Captain Bourgeon found it easy enough to leave word at waterfront bars that Reynard was taking men on as boarders. These men would receive no pay, as such, but would be recompensed by shares in any captures. Waterfront hangers-on with few skills as seamen, flocked to the ship. She rarely stayed at sea for long and had thus far returned with a valuable prize on her heels after each voyage. A boarder, with few other skills, could receive a pocket full of silver, with perhaps a gold piece included, for a short voyage. Everyone, owners, captain and crew was happy with the plan.
The hands aboard HMS Athena were not having an easy time. The people not on watch were expected to keep busy with normal ship’s maintenance as well as hours spent every day at the guns or on sail drill. Amos Senders aloft in the maintop, felt himself lucky to have, what many acknowledged were, the best eyes in the ship. Thus, Mister Farver usually sent him aloft when clear weather gave the ship the opportunity to spot another ship at long range. While the hands on deck were straining at the guns, Farver had made a nest of a studding sail and was comfortably working on his chew of tobacco. The most trying part of this duty was keeping one’s mind alert and ready to note the smallest blemish on the horizon that might prove to be a hull-down ship’s tops’ls.
Senders was ruminating over the possibilities of getting a share of Ira Patterson’s grog ration. Patterson was that rare bird, a seaman who did not drink spirits. Patterson did not offer up his ration easily though. One had to do him a respectable service, competing with the other seven men in the mess. As his mind explored the possibilities, his eyes caught a tiny notch on the horizon ahead as the ship rose on a wave.
The notch disappeared as the ship dropped into the wave’s trough, only to return as the ship rose again. Senders hesitated to call the sighting down to the quarterdeck.
If that miniscule notch was a flaw in his vision, he might face ridicule. Considering the matter for a few minutes, he decided if he did not report the sighting, he would likely face worse from Mister Farver.
Gathering up his courage, he shouted to the quarterdeck. “Deck there, sail ahead, just off the starboard bow. Hull down.”
He had to repeat the call a second time before anyone took notice. Someone was not paying attention to his duty on number-eight gun and both Mister Farver and Mister Flowers were letting the guilty party know of his inattention. Captain Mullins was observing this scene and failed to hear Sender’s report. Lieutenant Howard was alert though and informed the captain.
Shortly after, Howard came clambering up the ratlines, and awkwardly gained access to the top by transferring to the futtock shrouds. Out of breath when he arrived, he could only ask, “Where away?”
With Senders silently pointing to the sighting, the target dropped below the horizon when the ship dropped into another trough. Mister Howard, unable to catch sight of the minute target through his wavering glass, impatiently asked Senders if he had not reported a bird by mistake.
Offended by the officer’s doubting tone of voice, Senders merely answered, “Nosir” and shrugged. If the officer would not listen to him, it was no skin off his ass!
As soon as he recovered his breath, Howard made his way down and reported the sighting was merely Sender’s imagination. Mullins was curious. Senders had always been a conscientious lookout. He felt it necessary to discover whether he could continue to count on the man. Regretting his silk stockings, he had donned earlier this morning, he made his own way up the shrouds. Before reaching the halfway point, his stockings were indeed ruined.
HMS Athena: A Charles Mullins novel (Sea Command Book 4) Page 5
