Frigates of War: A John Phillips Novel

by Richard Testrake

  However, Greyhound’s gun crews had been exercised constantly since leaving home, and were getting in three broadsides to the enemy’s two. Many of the Citoyen’s guns were aimed high, to disable the rigging of Greyhound, but the ships were really too close for that tactic to be effective now. For every shot from the Citoyen sent whistling through the Greyhound’s rigging, probably almost two hammered into Citoyen’s hull, armament and people. While her rigging was being shot to tatters, the Greyhound’s ball and grape, pounded rapidly into the enemy’s flank proved much more fatal, and only fifteen minutes after the fight started, she lowered her flag. It took a few more minutes to get the last of the gun crews to cease fire, but soon it was quiet.

  Sending the Marine officer to take charge of the Citoyen, Phillips surveyed Greyhound with Mister Fessler. The ship and its crew had suffered badly, but the two thought she could make her way back to Gibraltar safely. The captain was however dubious the ship could live through another engagement as deadly as the last. The second officer was sent to the prize with the bosun to satisfy themselves of her condition. While they made their inspection, Phillips noticed the French crewmen scrambling into the few boats left intact. When those were full, hatch covers, spars, and the like were thrown overboard; and men started throwing themselves over the side. Curious, Phillips examined the wreck more closely. A wisp of smoke was coming from an after hatchway. As they watched, the smoke decreased in volume, but heat-distorted air was rising above the hatch, indicating a hot fire below. Phillips immediately hoisted the recall, and watched as his Marines hurriedly dropped into their boats. Others, both Marines and French crew members began putting disabled men over the side. Reluctantly, Phillips ordered the rest of his ship’s boats towing at the stern manned and sent to the rescue.

  When the last maimed Frenchman had been rescued and brought aboard, the Greyhound set sail. She had only moved away a few cables length when the Citoyen disappeared in a huge eruption of smoke, flame and noise. The amazed survivors aboard Greyhound watched the mizzen mast of the Frenchman shoot out of the disintegrating wreck, before separating into its component parts.

  A stunned young French lad, an Aspirant, or the French version of a British midshipman, admitted the presence of the French invasion fleet, with thirteen Ships of the Line awaiting Nelson in Aboukir Bay. He also had an explanation of the fire aboard his ship. It seems the wardroom steward was warming an officer’s dinner over a spirit stove, when the order was given to go to action stations. With that, the fool of a servant left the stove burning to report to the gun crew he served on. The party striking the wardroom furniture below did not notice the barely visible flame from the alcohol fueling the stove. One of the crew picked up the hot stove, and immediately dropped it. As the men scattered, attempting to get help, they were caught up by petty officers with their own agendas, and the fire continued to burn. The limited amount of fuel present may have possibly burned out harmlessly, except that a small amount of the burning liquid apparently dripped through the deck into the pantry below. There it met a few bolts of Muslin fabric and a barrica of Spanish brandy the captain had purchased in Cadiz. The fabric flamed, the brandy cask exploded and the ship was lost.

  Phillips, with the news of the French landing, and the location of the French battle fleet decided it was time to leave. He could do nothing here, and the immediate need was to transmit the news to others as swiftly as possible. With his own ship severely damaged in the fight with Citoyen, he sent the able bodied Frenchmen into ship’s boats, and gave them the course to Aboukir Bay. The severely wounded of both ships were occupying any spare section of deck.

  Knotting and splicing, the rigging was put back into serviceable condition, and the ship began again its search for Admiral Nelson and his fleet. A day later, topsails of a fourth rate fifty gun ship were sighted. She proved to be the Leander, on a scouting mission for the fleet. With the news transferred, both ships sailed directly to the estimated position of the fleet. When Nelson’s ship HMS Vanguard was sighted, the ship’s captains were ordered to report on board Vanguard. As they discussed matters with Nelson on Vanguard’s quarterdeck, the Admiral noted the battle damage on Greyhound. With a clearer idea now of the location of the French battle fleet, the Rear Admiral ordered Greyhound to stay away from the forthcoming battle, with orders to leave and relay its results to Gibraltar after the battle. Greyhound would be permitted to remain after the battle to assist, should the outcome be favorable, but under no circumstances was she to engage another enemy without specific orders. Her duties during the conflict would consist of repeating signals and general lifesaving duties.

  In preparation for battle, Nelson split the squadron up into three sections. Two were to attack the French battle fleet, while the third was to pay its attentions to the transports and eliminate as many as possible. That evening, Alexander and Swiftsure, both 74’s, were sent in to scout out the French dispositions. Actually, it was Zealous who first saw the enemy battle fleet the next day, and immediately signaled its position to Nelson’s fleet. Nelson recalled the Swiftsure and Alexander then. There were thirteen ships of the line anchored near the shore of Aboukir Bay, in addition to other smaller vessels and some shore mounted guns and mortars. The enemy ships were lined up at single anchor just out of the shallows, and it appeared at first glance to be an almost impossible formation to break. However, Nelson realized that, since the enemy was at single anchor, there must be room for each ship to swing around its anchor. In addition, each ship was anchored far enough apart that British ships could pass between. There had been plans by the French admiral to connect each ship to the next by heavy cable, to prevent this from happening, but the ship’s boats that were necessary for this evolution were being used to set up shore defenses. Further, General Bonaparte had demanded the ships land their water and provisions to sustain the already landed soldiers, so many seamen were searching for provisions and digging wells for water, preventing necessary preparations for the fleet’s defense to take place.

  While going in to the attack, Nelson ordered cable roused through his ships stern ports, and led forward and bent on to each ship’s anchor cable. Nelson’s idea was, where there was room for one ship to swing at anchor, there was space for another ship to anchor next to it. Nelson ordered the fleet to divide. Five ships; the Goliath and Zealous, initially were to lead the way through the enemy line, followed by Orion, Audacious and Theseus, each anchoring beside an opponent. The other British ships took up their places on the outside of the battle line and anchored. Each anchored British ship had a spring on its cable, so that by pulling in or letting go on the spring cable, the ships guns could threaten different fields.

  The cannonade began about sundown on the first day of August, and lasted much of the night. In full darkness, the flash of the firing guns was vivid in the extreme. Early in the evening, the French flagship L’Orient exploded with the loss of most of her crew. At daylight, Greyhound approached the scene and sent her boats probing in the waters, looking for survivors. She did find a few men clinging to spars and debris, but there were few of them, indeed. There were hundreds of dead bodies in the water, though.

  Admiral Nelson was anxious for news of the victory to reach Britain. HMS Leander was dispatched to deliver the news. She was to report to Admiral Earl St. Vincent off Cadiz. The brig HMS Mutine was sent a few days later with dispatches for the Admiralty. Greyhound, needing dockyard repair, was then dispatched with copies of the previous reports to Gibraltar. A few weeks after the battle, Leander met the Genereux off the coast of Crete. Genereux was one of the French escapees of the Battle of the Nile. With much difficulty, the third rate French liner defeated the fifty gun 4th rate Leander and she never completed her mission.

  With carpenters and bosun’s crews working double tides, Greyhound’s hull was made a bit more watertight, and the rough rigging repairs made during battle were made a little more professional appearing. The two new midshipmen were learning their profession by leaps and bounds. One m
orning they spent with the cooper in the bowels of the ship, extracting the component parts of barrels that had been impacted by an errant twelve pound ball. That afternoon was spent on the bowsprit of the ship, renewing the injured woolding. All this time, pumps were working constantly. The ship had taken several balls below the waterline, and it had proved impossible to seal them completely. Tarred patches were taken overside and fastened into place, but they never lasted long. The ship finally reached Gibraltar, and the ship put into the hands of the dockyard.

  Told it would be several weeks before the ship was ready for sea, Phillips put the men in barracks, setting his junior lieutenants and the warrant officers to keep an eye on them. He relaxed the rigid ship’s discipline, but assured all that any seaman causing embarrassment to the ship would have cause to regret it. What to do with the young mids in the midshipmen’s berth? Granted, two of them were over the age of twenty, and supposedly capable of governing their own actions. However, he had half a dozen lads under sixteen, two under the age of twelve. He had left Britain in a hurry, with no time to engage a proper schoolmaster. When he mentioned his problem to the wife of the dockyard superintendent however, she had a suggestion.

  A Spanish lady here in Gibraltar was in difficulty. Her family in Spain, in trouble with government, had sent her to Gibraltar for safety. Several problems occurred. First, funds ceased to arrive, and her duenna developed a sad case of dropsy, making it difficult for her to get around. It was necessary for the lady to earn a living. The suggestion put to Phillips was she could teach his mids a little Spanish during their vacation.

  Interviewing the young woman, Phillips discovered a very serious problem, indeed. The woman was entirely too attractive to be teaching anything to a group of enthusiastic boys of a certain age. Telling Senorita Consuela Diaz y Sanchez that he would get back to her later, he shouted for his orderly. Young Paul Onsely was filling that role today. Captain Phillips had taken the idea of one of the garrison army officers to have some lad in his entourage fetch and carry. He asked if the boy knew where the two older mids were located presently.

  “Yes Sir, Misters Webley and Scot are at the Inn.” Phillips was subsidizing his mid’s costs for food and lodging here at the Rock.

  “Good, will you go fetch them, please?”

  The gangly midshipmen appeared before him, minutes later. It was evident neither had expected a summons from their captain. There were food and wine stains aplenty on their clothing and the unsteady gait and slurred speech suggested more than a little wine had found its way to their stomachs.

  These lads were twenty or a bit more. Neither had done anything to become noticed, and Phillips knew of no one apt to bring influence to bear to get either promoted. If one of these prerequisites were not satisfied for each, neither was likely to be elevated to the glory of a lieutenancy. He knew both men had passed their necessary boards, but neither had been blessed.

  “Which of you young gentlemen would be most likely to have a clean uniform for tomorrow?” he asked.

  Mister Scot looked embarrassed, while Webley admitted that he did indeed have a clean uniform in his chest. Well, fairly clean.” he amended.

  “Very well, Mister Webley. You will report to me in this room tomorrow at eight bells of the morning watch, clean and presentable.”

  Phillips did not know at what time young ladies became active in the morning, but thought eight o’clock an appropriate time to instruct Mister Webley. When Webley arrived directly at eight the next morning, Phillips walked around him slowly. After a thorough examination, he decided the lad would do.

  “Mister Webley, I know how hard it is for a mid to become noticed. If you do a task for me, I will do what I can for you. After we complete our refit here, I rather expect we may go on a cruise by ourselves. This news, by the way, will not be passed on to your friends. Should I be happy with the service you do for me, I will undertake to give you command of a suitable prize to sail back to Britain.”

  “Now, the task. I have engaged a Spanish lady to teach as much Spanish to our young gentlemen as they can absorb. She happens to be a rather attractive young woman. I will not have her students, or anyone else, making any improper remarks or antic gestures that she might notice. It will be your task to accompany the class and maintain discipline. Should any student misbehave, or treat the lady with anything but the utmost respect, they should be immediately sent to me.”

  “Sir, Mister Scot is senior to me. He may not care for my telling him how to behave.”

  “Hmm, we may be able to do something about that. Do you know that pawnshop on the way to the dockyard?

  “Yes Sir.”

  “I have it in mind to temporarily appoint you to acting lieutenant. Mind that I said ‘temporarily’. Navigate to that pawn shop and buy a used lieutenant’s uniform, complete with sword.” He pulled out his purse and fished out a few coins and handed them to the lad. “If you find something that you can make presentable, report to me and I will give you a certificate entitling you to wear it.”

  An hour later, Webley was back, wearing the garb. The coat was a trifle tight, but Phillips thought moving the buttons might correct that. The whole uniform was worn, but well within the parameters expected from an officer spending months at sea.

  Senorita Diaz y Sanchez came to the door at ten. She was indeed a most lovely woman. She apologized for being without her duenna. Phillips called in Mister Webley, now looking most professional in his officer’s garb. “Senorita, Lieutenant Webley will be your escort while you are with your students. It will be his task to maintain order. If you become dis-satisfied with the way you are treated by anyone, please alert either the lieutenant or myself.”

  The new lieutenant retrieved the mids, who were amazed at their former associate’s elevation. After introductions, the group left for their first class. Consuela planned for them to walk about the area, where she would tell them the Spanish word for something and they would repeat. Acting Lieutenant Webley followed the group closely, growling at any student he felt was not giving their teacher the attention she deserved. When a pair of petty officers made, what Webley felt were inappropriate remarks to the woman, the new officer faced them down, his hand on his new sword. Their ship’s name was embroidered on ribbons flowing from their hats. He offered to call on their ship’s captain with the lady and inform that captain of his petty officer’s remarks before the lady. He felt that Vice Admiral Earl St. Vincent might be interested, also. The Petty Officers apologized. They knew if St. Vincent heard about this, they would necessarily lose their rates. A strong probability existed after dis-rating, they would be lashed to a grating and each receive a dozen of their bosun’s best.

  Work proceeded slowly on the Greyhound through the fall and winter. He was in intermittent contact with his wife Sarah, during that period. For a few months after the Battle, she was enthusiastic in her love and support for her husband, but now, since the hue and cry had died down, she had done back to her old refrain about his leaving the service. Mail packets came and went frequently, so at least he was not out of contact with those important to him for long.

  He learned from his prize agent another old prize had finally been adjudicated and his finances were replenished. Not having need of the money at the moment, he wrote to the shipyard in America where he had had his merchant brig constructed, and asked about a duplicate being built. He also wrote to Captain Haynes, the skipper of his own ship, in care of his agent and asked if he had any suggestions for a captain for that new brig if and when she was built.

  The day came when he heard someone thundering at his inn door while shaving. It was again Midshipman Lynch’s turn to be his orderly that day, so he answered. It was a Marine messenger from the Flag. Captain Phillips was to report to Earl St. Vincent within the hour.

  St. Vincent was jovial when Phillips was admitted. “How is the Greyhound, Captain? Are you ready to put to sea again?”

  “I am Sir. Although, I wish I had some men to replace my losses i
n the action with Citoyen.”

  “Ah yes, I have read your request. The most recent packet from Portsmouth tells me that a transport was supposed to sail at the same time. Of course, we can’t expect an old worn out transport to sail at the same speed as a new mail packet, but as soon as it gets here, you can be sure you will get your fair share of people. Of course, you will understand these will be the run of the lot from the Impress Service.”

  “Yes My Lord, however at this time, most of my present people I have rated, if not able, then at least ordinary seamen. We always can use some landsmen for pulling and hauling, so these new people will fill the need.”

  “I understand you are storing ship, now?”

  “I am, My Lord, although only for Plymouth. I am told I will need to obtain more stores there.”

  “There we have them, Captain. Your destination will be the Eastern Mediterranean. My clerk is writing the orders now. You may take them to the Victualing Yard and insist upon a full store for foreign duty.”

  “Now, things have changed a bit since your last presence there. Troubridge is presently handling the blockade of Alexandria, however by the time you get there, Commodore Smith will probably have taken over. Our old friend General Napoleon Bonaparte seems to be alive and well in those parts, and shows no sign of giving it up. We understand he has set his sights on Syria, so we wish to insure he does not take Acre. Sir Sidney Smith has orders to strengthen the place so the General cannot get by.”

  With the extra work involved in getting the ship to sea, there was no longer time for the mids to follow Consuela around, conjugating verbs. He thanked her, and gave her a full purse, contributed to by some of her more prosperous students. He called Mister Webley to his quarters privately.

  “Mister Webley, as you know, I have a full wardroom, and just cannot use another lieutenant. However, the part of the world we are going to is a dangerous place, and we may soon need another officer. At any rate, we may well take prizes, and you may elect to take one of them in to port, possibly to England. You have done well on Gibraltar, and I will keep my eye on you in the future. Now, you must take your Midshipman’s togs from your sea chest, and resume your space in the mid’s berth.”