When the board convened in Ocean’s great cabin, a half dozen midshipmen and master’s mates were found to take it with Phillips. In light of his command of his own vessel, he was the first to be called. He was asked a myriad of questions concerning various naval subjects, some of them very pertinent, a few other concerned theories from decades past.
Sweating as heavily as he had when he had downed the admiral’s potion, he stumbled through the examination, sure that he had failed.
After the individual board members put their heads together at the end of the interrogation, the junior captain approached, held out his hand and congratulated him on his passing. Ocean’s captain came to him later and informed him Alert would be dispatched to Gibraltar soon to deliver mail and obtain fresh stores for the fleet. “You will have a chance to post a letter to your father about your good fortune.”
CHAPTER NINE
At Gibraltar, cattle obtained from across the Strait were loaded aboard. These were thin beasts, with little flesh covering their bones. Bosun’s Mate Rodgers was highly incensed over the filth his seamen needed to constantly remove. Mister Dale, having no one else to assign the task of overseeing the cattle’s needs, put young Midshipman Akers to the task.
Additional cargo was brought aboard. Bushels of onions, which, for want of another place to stow them, were loaded into the brig’s boats. Lieutenant Phillips contacted his banker’s agent at Gibraltar and found the prize he had left at Lisbon had already been adjudicated and the funds deposited to his account. The agent advised the Portuguese prize courts seemed to work faster than others he had known and it might be wise to consider sending prizes there when possible.
Flush with funds now, Phillips ordered his crew to raise anchor and the floating barnyard was headed out to sea and back to the fleet.
*****
Alert had almost managed to get the stink of the cattle scrubbed from her, when he was called to the flagship to receive dispatches he was to deliver to the blockading fleet at Toulon. It would be necessary to retrace their steps and sail up the eastern coast around Spain to the French coast.
He was advised, while his dispatches were indeed important, there would be no barrier to his harassing French commerce or naval vessels on the way. It was considered important to disrupt the enemy’s communications by sea as much as possible.
Phillips intended to be very careful about approaching any French naval vessels. While there were few French frigates or larger loose in the Med these days, there were any number of naval corvettes and smaller craft, including some fair sized privateers, some of which could be more than a match for Alert. The brig had never been a fast vessel and she never would be. She was designed to hold stores to last months at sea, as well as guns and enough men to sail and fight her. She was not intended to win races.
Although poking into the small harbors they came to down the Spanish coast and past Gibraltar, they found nothing until the lookout spotted a sail off Malaga. Young Mister Akers was thought to have the best eyes in the brig, so Dale sent him to the maintop with Phillip’s good glass to spy her out.
Akers reported with a note of disgust that it was ‘only a polacre’. The brig ran her down with as much dispatch as she could gather. Eventually, the strange looking craft heaved to and waited for the boat. Dale, with one of his Italian crewmen went aboard and found she was indeed an Italian vessel, sailing from Sicily bound for Toulon. Her manifest was brought aboard the brig and was examined by Phillips with the Italian seaman translating for him.
The vessel’s cargo was raw sulphur, a necessary ingredient for the manufacture of gunpowder. This would be a welcome commodity back home. Bosun’s Mate Rodgers, now used to captaining Alert’s prizes, was put in charge and ordered to take her in to Gibraltar. Phillips thought about sending her on to Lisbon, but was unsure how far Rodger’s expertise concerning navigation extended. The prize court in Gib might not be as speedy as that in Lisbon, but he felt there was a better chance for the polacre to make Gibraltar.
Making her way to Cape Sicie, Alert found one of Admiral Collingwood’s frigates that was keeping a close eye on Toulon. From her, she took a departure for the flag and found her at sea exercising with the fleet.
Mister Dale took the dispatches and mail over in the launch and received new bags intended for the Channel Fleet, then it was homeward bound.
After passing through the Straits and sailing up the Iberian coast, they met a much battered British sloop, HMS Amethyst, Captain Forrest.
Alert was flying the signal for ‘Carrying Dispatches’, but Amethyst displayed ‘Require Assistance’, so Phillips brought Alert to and sent the launch over with Mister Dale. On his return, he reported the frigate had been in action with a French line-of-battle ship and had been badly battered. Captain Forrest being wounded but still in command.
Men were required, skilled seamen especially. The frigate had many casualties and damage aboard the ship was extensive. Amethyst requested a carpenter’s crew to assist with repairs to the frigate. Phillips went in the launch with Alert’s carpenter and crew to assess the damage himself.
Captain Forrest had been badly wounded in a leg with a musket ball and an oaken splinter had mangled his arm. Losing much blood, the frigate’s surgeon had the officer wrapped, lying on a layer of hammocks on the quarterdeck, still in command.
His first officer was dead and the second was badly wounded. Phillips sent the boat back for more seamen to assist in repairs and offered his first officer to assist the frigate’s remaining officers.
Captain Forrest thought the carpenter and his crew were all that was necessary. He advised Phillips that his destination was the Bay of Biscay, off the Charente River estuary. He was to join the blockade of some French liners who had been penned up there by units of the Channel Fleet. Forrest thought he could get needed assistance and repairs there.
Phillips was not so sure. Amethyst was rather knocked about, with important members of the crew disabled. In his own opinion, he thought it would be better if the frigate returned to Gibraltar. However, he was only a lieutenant in command of a brig and his opinion was not worth much.
Passing La Coruña, the pair entered the Bay of Biscay making their course north east. They met Pallas near Rochefort who told them the flag was off the anchorage of Basque Roads.
Admiral Lord Gambier saw Captain Forrest, who had to be pulled over to the flagship strapped to a carrying board lashed athwart his gig. Midshipman Akers delivered the dispatches but Phillips was not asked to appear until the next day. He learned, while Forrest had received plaudits for the defense of his frigate, Lord Gambier had not deemed him fit to continue in command because of his injuries and ordered him back to Britain for necessary medical care.
Amethyst herself was given to a young commander out of a sloop, who now became a post captain. Phillips was anxious to turn over his dispatches, so he could resume his voyage back home. The voyage home was not to be, however. The transport ship carrying the wounded Forrest could also carry the dispatches. Alert would be needed here. When he did get to meet Lord Gambier, he was questioned closely about his religious views and was told his brig would be assigned to the blockading fleet for a time.
CHAPTER TEN
HMS Amethyst had her crew reinforced and dispatched to Gibraltar under her new captain for repairs. Alert got her carpenter and most of his crew back. After a few days patrolling the seaward approaches to the Basque Roads, Alert was called back to the fleet. On board the huge first rate Caledonia, he received orders to report to Captain Cochrane commanding HMS Impérieuse, who had taken station offshore of the Roads, watching the enemy ships he was monitoring.
Cochrane was an affable, capable appearing officer who called him aboard his frigate. There, he learned something of what that frigate captain had in mind.
Cochrane began. “A French fleet was driven into this anchorage earlier this year by ships of the Channel Fleet. Some French ships of the line escaped from Brest during a storm that drove off the
blockading fleet. Their Admiral Willaumez then joined with more ships escaping from Lorient. They were driven into Basque Roads where they have been penned up since.”
“You have met Admiral Lord Gambier already. He commands this fleet, of course. The Admiralty is concerned the enemy fleet may escape and stir up mischief elsewhere. I have been tasked by the First Lord of the Admiralty to destroy this enemy fleet by whatever means. I intend to do just that.”
“Pardon me, Captain Cochrane. I seem to be missing something. Should not Admiral Gambier be giving me this information?”
“Aye, there is the rub, Captain Phillips. It seems that the Admiral is content to simply blockade the enemy, to prevent them from getting to sea. Their Lordships at the Admiralty, on the other hand, want them destroyed, so they may not haunt us in the future.”
“The First Lord, Lord Mulgrave, asked me if I thought a fireship attack might be successful. I did and have submitted a plan to send in fire and explosion ships, manned by volunteers and myself to see what we may accomplish. I was ordered by the Lords to attempt just such an attack, under the supervision of Lord Gambier.”
“Admiral Lord Gambier is a fervent Methodist though, who disagrees strongly with the fireship plan, feeling that is not a Christian means of destroying the enemy. He may wish to prevent our success if he can.”
“But sir, if there are orders from Admiralty to use fireships, I fail to see how he can prevent it.”
“Captain Phillips, you are a young officer in command of a brig. I am a frigate captain. Admiral Gambier commands this fleet and is a former Lord of the Admiralty. With a seat in Parliament and many influential friends there, as well as in the Navy, he moves in circles much more elevated than the likes of us. He has much more leeway regarding orders than you or I do.”
“The fact remains, I have my instructions from on high and I will do my best to obey them. As for you, the good admiral has placed you under my orders and no blame should come to you in regard to any disagreement between myself and Lord Gambier.”
“For now, I want you to remain as close to the French ships at anchor as you can be, without taking undue risks. I will soon be taking HMS Impérieuse out to the offshore fleet for any last minute instructions that Lord Gambier cares to give me. You will signal the fleet, via the repeating frigates, of any movement of the French. Are you clear?”
“Yes Sir.”
Alert patrolled just outside the enemy anchorage. One of the French frigates seemed to be preparing to put to sea. She was exercising her crew in sail drill, as much as she could at anchor, of course. When Mister Dale reported the activity to Captain Phillips, he ordered the alert signal hung out. The big liners were out of sight to seaward, but a frigate close enough to see the signal repeated it to the ships in the rear. A squadron broke away from the main fleet and approached the threat,
The frigate that caused the alert then stepped down and the tension eased.
Occasionally, one of the enemy ships saluted Alert with a gun, just to see if the brig had wandered within range. Several enemy ships did have the range, but missed. After a few near misses, Alert moved out a few cable lengths and all seemed well.
While this was going on, the master had the lead going, checking the accuracy of their charts. At night, when the enemy gunners could not see them, he took the launch inshore to get depths closer in. This was difficult, since vision was limited. He had a dark lantern in the boat and with the fitful light from this and using his sextant, he took bearings from known lights on shore and enemy ships in the anchorage.
When HMS Impérieuse returned from the fleet, Cochrane conferred with the officers of the Inshore Fleet, asking for volunteers to man the fire and explosion vessels. Both Phillips and his first officer, Mister Dale, volunteered their services to command explosion vessels. After Cochrane’s clerk had listed every volunteer, Cochrane called Phillips away from the others.
“Tell me about your first officer, Captain. Is he capable of handling your brig and can he be relied upon to follow orders?”
“Yes to both questions, Captain.”
“Very well, I will have the volunteers board Alert and we will return to the fleet to collect the vessels we will use in the attack. They should be preparing right now, loading the powder and incendiaries. We will board our individual ships and come back. You will be on an explosion ship with me, as my second in command, to take over should I fall.”
“A floating log boom protects the anchorage, protecting the ships inside from attack. Our explosion ship will proceed toward the boom. When certain the ship will close it, we will ignite the fuses and escape in our boat. We will have only a few seamen with us. Your first officer will command Alert and will accompany the explosion ship until coming one half mile before the boom. ”
“A second explosion ship will be moored alongside Impérieuse, which will remain behind at a safe distance with some other frigates. I will use the second explosion ship as the occasion arises. These ships are former transports loaded with hundreds of barrels of gunpowder and other munitions. After we have the objective within reach, we will light the slow match and go over the side into our boat. Hopefully, the explosion ship will continue on course until it fouls the boom and then explodes.”
“Alert, with some other non-rated vessels nearby will take the crews on board, after we complete our mission. Should another explosion vessel be needed, I will return to our spare and take her in. With the boom out of the way, the fireships will come through the gap we made and attack the enemy fleet at anchor.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
There was a strong wind that evening, with heavy seas. Caledonia’s flag captain wondered if the attack should be postponed. Cochrane assured him that his people could still do their mission. There were two dozen vessels of various sorts to be manned and got under way.
A dozen transports were fitted out as fireships. They carried tar and pitch as well as all of the various ship’s slush they could obtain. The slush was the congealed skimming’s of the cooking pots after the beef and pork had been boiled. This, as well as the tar and pitch, when ignited, would burn furiously.
Gunpowder charges were judiciously spread around the ships. Some of it was meant to help to get the incendiary material burning quickly. Some containers were spread about the fireships intended to explode and spread fire to the intended targets.
In addition to the transports, three captured chasse marées, or ‘tide chasers’, already loaded with highly inflammable tar and resin were available, as were three explosion ships filled with barrels of gunpowder. Their decks covered with fused shells and grenades, would spew exploding shells and grenades upon any target within range when the main charges fired. A few bomb and some Congreve rocket vessels rounded out the inventory.
HMS Impérieuse was anchored at the edge of the Boyart Shoal. An explosion ship was made fast to her stern, in case Cochrane felt it might be needed. Near the HMS Impérieuse were anchored the frigates Aigle, Pallas and Unicorn, prepared to receive the boats of the fireship crews after they had finished their mission. HMS Caesar with the boats of the fleet, was also available to assist.
Once the crews were prepared, anchor cables were cut and the various craft of the assault fleet began sailing toward the anchorage. Aboard the first explosion ship, Cochrane paced the quarterdeck, judging the moment when the slow match should be lit. Phillips stood by with a dark lantern to provide a light. Should the flame inside the lantern be extinguished, he had two pistols in his sash that were primed but not loaded.
The wind was fair for the task and the old transport seemed to be steady on course for the boom. The night was black as pitch and they now had no sight at all of their target. Cochrane was navigating solely by dead reckoning. Knowing the distance to the target and the approximate speed of their ship, he felt he could bring the ship right onto the barrier they intended to destroy.
Looking to port, Phillips could just make out the loom of Alert, with sometimes the faint glim of her binnac
le light to give her a little substance. Towing behind Alert, he knew, was the launch, which the fireship crew hoped to find if something happened to their own boat.
Cochrane almost caught Phillips by surprise when he ordered him to start the ignition sequence. First, it was necessary to light the port fire which would be carried around to light the different lengths of slow match about the transport’s deck. Phillips dropped down behind a bulwark to shelter himself from the wind. He cautiously pulled back the shutter of the dark lantern and the flame inside promptly blew out.
All was not lost. He pulled out one of his pistols and held the port fire he wanted to ignite with his left hand. Ready to thrust it into the burning powder in the pan, he pulled back the cock and pulled the trigger.
There was the usual commotion of a flintlock trying to fire and this one almost did. There was an initial spurt of fire from the pan, which promptly died out. A bit of spray had probably dampened the priming.
A seaman saw his difficulty and handed him a wad of tow. The seaman slashed open one of the bags of gunpowder on the deck, obtained a handful of the deadly substance and sprinkled it on the tow. Phillips laid the wad of fibrous material on the deck and held the second pistol over it and fired. Sparks from the pistol’s pan fell on the tow and it ignited in a furious flare. Thrusting the port fire into the flame that was ignited also. A second port fire was lit from the first then Phillips went to work, lighting the various lengths of slow match that terminated at the quarterdeck.
Some of the slow match, judiciously cut to the proper length, led directly to the charges they were meant to ignite. Others, led to lengths of quick match that in turn were connected to more distant charges. The quick match burned extremely fast, a fathom would flash from end to end at the speed of an eye blink. The various charges were calculated to explode nearly simultaneously.
His Magesty's Brig Alert: A Tim Phillips Novel Page 5
