“Stand back, you scum! Stand back, I say! I am a King’s officer. Clear the way! Stand clear of the jetty!” The effect of these cries was reduced by the rather high pitched and feeble voice of the officer.
Giles realized that the crowd was not blocking access to the jetty in any way, though some of its members stood on the edge of the approach to it. He also noted that the lieutenant seemed to be accompanied by a laborer holding the handles of a barrow with a large sea-chest in it. Near the far end of the jetty, Carstairs was standing, a look of disbelief on his face.
“What seems to be the trouble, lieutenant?” Giles asked, coming up to the angry man. Giles had come ashore wearing his oldest uniform coat and ragged britches, not wanting to change his clothes before visiting the yard. The clothes were fine enough for a ship’s inspection that might well involve crawling around in the bilges or rubbing against tarred lines, but they made Giles look like one of the many still unemployed captains with no influence who often hovered around Royal Navy locations, even though no duty took them there.
“This rabble should not be in a King’s boatyard, and certainly not lounging around where naval officers are at work.”
“Lieutenant, this is a private yard, and I don’t see that these men are doing any harm.”
“They have no business here!”
“I don’t know about that. What is your name, lieutenant?”
“I am Lieutenant John Foster, first Lieutenant of the frigate Patroclus. I am told that she is here.”
Giles heart sank at the news that this was his new first lieutenant, but retained his civil manner, “Yes, your frigate is the one anchored out in the stream. One of her boats is at the end of the jetty. I imagine that you must be wanted aboard, Lieutenant Foster.”
“Yes, indeed. Some of us have pressing duties to perform. Come along, man,” Foster said to the laborer with the barrow, “I must get aboard.”
Giles suppressed a smile. Knowing Carstairs, Lieutenant Foster would be cooling his heels until Giles wanted to go aboard, unless Foster could be persuaded that he should pay for a wherry to take him out to the frigate.
Giles turned to the men who had been subjected to Foster’s harangue. They seemed mainly to be seamen, many of whom had their dunnage with them. He immediately recognized several faces in the crowd and the more he looked, the more faces he knew. The men he recognized were former shipmates dating back in one instance to when Giles was a midshipman.
“Humphries,” he cried to one of the men standing nearest to him and who seemed to be some sort of leader. “It’s a long time since I’ve seen you. And there’s Trevelyan, and Jones. And Weston. By all that’s holy, you all represent a catalogue of my past. What brings you here?”
“We heard that you had been given a new frigate, sir. We thought that you might need hands, so here we are,” Humphries replied.
Giles reflected that the secrecy of the Admiralty had not prevented the latest news being spread wide and far by the network of old tars. In this case the failure of secrecy seemed to have the best possible effect. He was nevertheless amazed that the news had caused these men to come to an out-of-the way place like Butler’s Hard. It never occurred to Giles that his own reputation, as a captain, was among the very best, or that seamen would rather serve under him than under any other captain.
“That accounts for those of you who have served with me, but what about the rest.”
“Why, sir, some are like my brother, Jed, there, who has heard my tales and wants to go to sea himself. Others gathered that you were a lucky captain as well as a fair one, and they’d do better with you than waiting for the press to take them. The seamen among us were all paid off at the end of the war, and many have had a hard time. We’d all prefer to sail with you than have the press catch us and then dump us in some bleeding ship of the line with hardly any prospect of prize money that doesn’t come with half the crew killed. A frigate under a bold captain promises much better rewards.”
“Well, you are all welcome, especially since you come willingly. I’ll arrange for boats to take you out to Patroclus – there she is, anchored out in the stream -- and we’ll get you signed in. I’ll arrange your money for signing voluntarily. I’m glad to have you all. We are rushing to sail as soon as possible, but I will make sure to take time to reacquaint myself with all who have sailed with me before and to get to know those who don’t know me at all.”
Giles set off at once for the end of the jetty. John Foster was sitting in the stern sheets of the boat along with Midshipman Correll. From the look on Correll’s face, and of the rest of the crew, the introduction to Foster had not gone smoothly.
“Mr. Correll, we have some new shipmates to ferry out to Patroclus. We can take a couple now, and you will have to return to the jetty to get others as soon as you can. We’ll use the other boats as well. Carstairs, we can take two people right now. Can you get them?”
When they reached Patroclus, Giles went up the side first to the twitter of the bosun’s call, “Mr. Davis this is Mr. Foster, our first lieutenant – Mr. Foster, Mr. Davis our second. Mr. Correll will show you to your berth. Report to me when you have settled in. Mr. Davis, there are some recruits on the jetty. Send all our boats for them. And I want a meeting of all officers in my cabin at seven bells.”
Giles proceeded to his cabin. There was already mounds of paper work to be dealt with. The ship had yet to raise anchor and already all the demands of the Admiralty clerks were threatening to overwhelm him. He badly needed to find a clerk, since the previous one had been one of the men who had been drafted to another ship. He would also need a servant, but for that he would rely first on Carstairs’ judgment. Any lieutenant worth his salt would try to foist his most useless seaman on the captain as a servant. He wondered if Foster was such a lieutenant.
That thought alone seemed to produce the announcement by the marine sentry that the First Lieutenant was at the door. Foster had changed his uniform, but the new one, though somewhat worn, was again of the finest quality and most flattering cut. Giles decided to ignore the misunderstanding when they first met.
“Mr. Foster. Welcome aboard! Tell me about yourself.”
“I was most recently first lieutenant on Thunderer, thirty-two, Captain Pritchard, a fine captain, though his enemies malign him. I expected to sail with him again while waiting for my step, but somehow the Admiralty fouled their anchor in making his appointment and also in appointing me here. I trust that they will clear up the error in short order.”
“Be that as it may, you are welcome here. We load our guns tomorrow and our powder and shot the following day, and then we can sail. I want to get to sea as soon as possible.
“You’ll find the other officers willing and helpful, though Mr. Miller has only recently been promoted from midshipman. They have been with me in the past. As have the warrant and petty officers. We are getting a new middy tomorrow. He’ll be green as grass, so go easy on him to begin with. We probably do not have a full crew, but we’ll have to see how many have joined today and whether there are any other eager souls to come along. The surgeon is not here yet. Hopefully, he will arrive before we sail.
“The most urgent task is to make the watch and station bills. Mr. Davis, the second lieutenant can help there, he knows all the crew who were already on board. Carstairs, my cox’un, can also help, he knows many of the new men, I believe.”
“I am quite capable of making up the bills myself, sir.”
“No doubt, but it never hurts to have help.”
“When I am going to be responsible for the results, I like to keep the process to myself.”
“Of course, Mr. Foster. You can be held responsible for results. But like all of us, you will have to rely on the strengths of your subordinates. Just as I am ultimately responsible for everything that happens on this ship, including the watch and station bills. An officer is foolish who does not use the capabilities of others to perfect his own endeavors.”
“Aye, aye, sir,�
�� Foster responded in a rather surly tone. As he left, Giles reflected that it would not be easy to like Foster, but for the sake of the ship he would have to try.
The next day the lighters with the guns and their carriages arrived. The guns would have to be brought aboard one at a time, with the tackles rearranged each time. Davis was in charge, with the gunner and bosun also coordinating the work. Giles saw that the task was proceeding without problem and switched his attention to other matters.
“Mr. Foster, we need to bend on the new sails.”
“Aye-aye, sir,”
Giles was distracted by a call from the side announcing a man of some importance coming aboard. He hurried over, before giving Foster any more instructions, but surely any first lieutenant didn’t have to be told that the sailmaker and the master would want to examine each sail carefully as it was put in place.
The arrival turned out to be a Mr. Timothy Hughes from the Ordnance Board, a large, rather jolly- seeming, red-faced man, who greeted Giles with gusto, after saluting the quarterdeck.
“Captain Giles. Good to meet you, sir. I apologize for being late. Damn horse lost its shoe. I see that you have started. Excellent! Let me see!”
Hughes bounded over to where the guns were being unloaded, stopping just clear of where the latest one was being lowered gingerly onto its carriage.
“Excellent, Captain Giles. Your men know their work. Excellent! If I might make one small suggestion, the slings for the cannon could be positioned just a little differently so that it would be easier to position the gun and to remove the slings when they are no longer needed. I hope you don’t mind my pointing it out to the men.”
Presuming Giles acceptance, Hughes promptly went to the bosun and made his suggestions in the most diplomatic and even deferential way, even though everyone knew that this interloper had to be obeyed. The suggestions actually were good ones, and Giles filed away the better way of cradling guns for use in similar circumstances. He had been afraid that Hughes’ presence on board would be an irritant, the man himself a self-pretentious busy-body with no knowledge of ship-board problems and procedures. He was pleasantly surprised to find that the expert wanted to use his expertise to help rather than just to impress.
“Very good, Mr. Hughes. If I can be of further assistance be so good as to let me know.”
Giles turned back to the other aspects of readying his ship for departure. When he looked aloft, it seemed that Foster was trying to raise every sail on every mast at the same time. There was no sign of either the master or the sailmaker.
“Mr. Foster, what is going on?”
“We are bending the sails to the yards.”
“All of them at once?”
“Yes, sir, that was how we did the drill on Thunderer.”
“You do realize that these are new sails on a new ship, don’t you?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Did it not occur to you that the sailmaker and the master would want to examine each sail as it was first unfurled to check its cut?”
“No, sir.”
“Well then, you should have considered it. Indeed, you should make sure that you inform the master and the sailmaker about what you are doing, and that the sails are bent on one sail at a time, so that those officers can examine them. We can’t have the sails all flapping about and catching gusts of wind while loading the guns”
“Aye, aye, sir. Mr. Miller, you heard the Captain. See too it.”
Miller quickly started to issue a string of orders to halt further sails being sent aloft and to furl the ones that were already bent on. The orders came so quickly that Giles suspected that the greenhorn third lieutenant had already been practicing in his mind what orders he would give if he were in charge.
“Mr. Foster,” Giles turned back to the first lieutenant, “I asked you to get the master and sailmaker here. Please do so, since we can’t proceed without them.”
“Aye, aye, sir. Mr. Miller, my compliments to the sailmaker and the master. They are to come on deck immediately.”
Giles was starting to wonder what was the point of having a first lieutenant if the man simply passed on any orders which he was given without amplifying them or taking any action himself. This reflection was broken when Giles noticed the situation that had developed on the main yard. Among the string of orders which Miller had given was one to clear those yards where the sails had not yet been raised. One such yard was the main yard, and Giles saw that one man was frozen.
“Mr. Foster, I see that you have mixed some landsmen with the seamen on the yards.”
“Yes, sir. I thought being at anchor would be a very good time to get them some experience.”
“A good thought, Mr. Foster. Did you consult with Mr. Davis or Carstairs as I suggested?”
“No sir, I am quite capable of making up a station list.”
“Are you? Look at the mainsail yard, starboard side.”
“Yes, sir?”
“What do you see?”
“Four men, apparently idling. Ahoy…”
“Belay that! I am talking to you, Mr. Foster. I asked you, ‘What do you see?” I didn’t ask you to yell at people. Now, what do you see?”
“Four men idling and disobeying orders.”
“Do you? Do they look puzzled to you? As if they do not know what to do?”
“Possibly.”
“Do you know who you have up there?”
“Let me check my list…yes there are two landsmen who joined yesterday and one able seaman and one topman.”
“What do you know about them?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing. Would it surprise you to know that the seaman has only recently been rated able, at the end of his last voyage? Or that the topman is known for acrophobia?”
“Acrophobia? What is that?”
“Fear of heights, Mr. Foster. Fear of heights. Jenks, for that is the name of the man and I will expect you to learn it soon, Jenks was notorious in Phoebe for being one of the best men aloft when there was a blow or a problem. But if he was left with nothing to do on the yard, especially in calm weather, he would freeze up completely in terror. You should have known that. Mr. Foster.”
“How could I?”
“Mr. Foster, I told you to consult Mr. Davis or Carstairs in drawing up your bill. I told you to do that because they know the men. The crew are not little pegs that you can plug into little holes. They are men who count on us to keep them as safe as we can. Do you understand? The navy is dangerous as it is, without officers who cannot be trusted to do their best for the crew. I don’t want something like this to happen again ever. You are to redo the bills with the aid and…and, yes, the advice of Mr. Davies and Carstairs.”
“I’ll send them to you in the wardroom as soon as I see to this mess.”
Giles turned away. “Harris, Trueblood, help Jenks off the main yard and look after those two new men. Mr. Davis, help Mr. Foster with watch and station lists. I’ll take over getting the guns aboard, though Mr. Hughes seems to be doing a more than capable job.
“Mr. Osmond, how is the cut of the mizzen topsail? When you are finished, we can move on to the Mainmast.
“Mr. Brooks, see to hoisting the sails as they are needed and taking down any that need more work.”
Giles turned his attention to the loading of the guns. It was going slowly, because Hughes insisted on checking each carriage before the gun could be lowered onto it, getting the carpenter to make any alterations needed. And then he insisted on having the gun run in and out a couple of times before giving the gun his approval and moving on to the next one. Seeing that all was proceeding smoothly, Giles turned his attention to other matters. Glancing ashore to the shipyard, he saw that there was another large group of men who seemed to be waiting for someone to pay attention to them.
“Mr. Foster, send a boat to find out if those men are more recruits and to bring them here if they are.”
The boat returned laden with seamen who again were volunteeri
ng to serve with Giles. It also brought Dr. Maclean, the Scottish surgeon for whose arrival Giles had been waiting eagerly.
“Dr. Maclean, I was afraid that we might have to sail without you.”
“I am glad to be here, though the message only reached me two days ago in Inverness.”
“So you did get home. Is everything all right there?”
“Aye. If you can call my father dying while I was away, and news of my sister’s husband perishing in Jamaica and her with a child on the way all right. I was busy there, I can tell ye, and just as glad to have a strong reason to leave.”
“You are much needed already. We have a large number of volunteers for you to check, and the men from the Phoebe have had a good run ashore before coming here, so you may be busy treating them.”
Giles was called away from further discussion with the surgeon by Mr. Hughes.
“Captain, before we bring aboard the long twenty-fours that will be the bow chasers, I would like to explore how the bow is made again, so that I can judge the effect of the guns themselves, and also have a standard to compare against after we fire them. I need to take the carpenter with me.”
“I’ll come too.” said Giles, recognizing that later he might have to make similar inspections when they came to fire the bow chasers without the presence of Mr. Hughes. It was not easy to get close to the relevant part of the bow, right at the top under the deck where the bow chasers would go. Mr. Hughes was nodding his head wisely, “She should be able to absorb the effects of firing the bow chasers, which will have a heavier recoil than is usual. But the test will come when we actually fire them.”
The carpenter nodded his agreement, and the party crawled out of the cramped space and returned to the deck. Getting the bow-chasers aboard and mounted was accomplished swiftly.
The following day was given over to taking aboard the powder and shot for the guns and some additional stores that had arrived by lighter. They were finally ready to sail and had only to wait for the turn of the tide on the following morning to take Patroclus to sea.
A New War Page 6