“As far as the Africans are concerned, they were members of the boat’s crew when it was captured. As such, there are two possibilities we can pursue. In the first instance, we can regard them as captured crewmen, destined for the prison hulks. Or, we may give them the option to volunteer for the Navy. Should they do this, I could order them put aboard Canada and assigned to you as your servants.”
Mullins agreed. “Sir, I will write to Captain Morton this day, offering to purchase his prize.”
Sir John grunted. “And I will order the two Africans brought aboard to hear what they may have to say about conditions in France. Please see my first lieutenant to see where he will place you. I am sure Mister Akins would thank you if you offered to stand the occasional watch.”
Mullins settled into the second officer’s tiny cabin. After the sale of the prize rights of the fishing boat was finalized with Captain Morton, Martha moved back into the fishing smack and a junior midshipman was assigned to take the prize to Plymouth. The two Africans, now ostensibly Royal Naval sailors, would crew the boat. Martha was given a letter to deliver to his prize agent in Plymouth. The agent was instructed to bid on the boat at the auction, paying for it with funds from Mullin’s account. After the sale was final, title should be transferred to Mrs. Baker.
Commodore Warren’s squadron had already begun its move to the Irish coast. Meanwhile, Commodore Bompart, the officer commanding the French invasion fleet, attempted to escape Brest under cover of darkness. They were seen by a frigate squadron of the inshore blockading fleet, under Captain Keats in HMS Boadicea. Keats split his forces, sending the frigate, HMS Ethalion, Captain George Countess, and the brig Sylph, Commander John Chambers White, to follow the French, while Keats took the rest of his command to notify the commander of the Channel Fleet, the Admiral Lord Bridport.
French Commodore Bombard attempted to throw off his pursuers by steering toward Lorient. When that failed, he then tried to persuade the British ships he was bound for the Caribbean, to no avail.
Early on the pursuers were joined by HMS Amelia, Captain Herbert, then later, by HMS Anson, Captain Durham. After a confused pursuit in stormy weather and attendant damage to several ships, along with confusing course changes by Commodore Bompart, Captain Countess became convinced the enemy’s true destination was Ireland and sent away the brig Sylph to warn Commodore Warren, now off that coast.
Upon receiving the warning delivered by Sylph on on 23 September, every eye on Warren’s ship was scanning the horizon for a sign of Bompart’s ships. Tops’ls were sighted, but they were of Countess’ squadron. It was only after the fleets merged that the French were sighted off Tory Island.
The French invasion fleet, having temporarily evaded their pursuers, had made for Lough Swilly in Ireland, the planned debarkation area for the troops being delivered. With no suitable landing site immediately visible, it was decided to spend the night off Tory Island and attempt to locate a proper site in the morning. Of course, that was when Commodore Warren’s ships made their appearance.
With the British ships outnumbering his own, Bompart immediately abandoned the landing attempt and began the attempt to extricate his fleet from their dangerous exposure. He ordered his captains to come close to the wind in order to give them opportunity to escape the oncoming British fleet.
Warren’s fleet continued its approach while Bompart tried to get his ships clear in open water. A gale struck that evening while these events were in motion, that storm causing damage to both sides. Bompart’s flagship lost her three topmasts as well as a blown-out mizzen sail. The French Résolue developed a bad leak and HMS Anson lost her mizzenmast and some spars.
Warren continued the pursuit and the next morning found the French fleet sailing in two lines. Warren’s ships were more dispersed, with HMS Anson out of sight in the rear.
Having reached the conclusion that he must fight his way out of his predicament, Bompart formed his fleet into line-of-battle and waited for Warren. Warren obliged in the early morning by ordering the third-rate HMS Robust to attack the French flagship Hoche. Captain Thornbrough of Robust complied, first firing into a pair of French frigates as he passed, before hammering Hoche.
Shortly after commencing the duel with Hoche, Thornbrough was joined by HMS Magnanime, with British ships Ethalion, Lampus and Amelia soon after, taking the opportunity to rake the hapless Hoche.
Commander Mullins had been on deck all night and was feeling the strain. He knew the end of the battle was near and could not leave the quarterdeck at this time. Having lost his sword when Aphrodite went down, he selected a seaman’s cutlass from the arms chest and had the armorer put an edge on it. He was also able to find a brace of Sea Service pistols before they were all gone. New flints and charges readied them for battle.
One of the officers had loaned him his spare glass and he stood at the lee rail away from the Commodore and his staff, keeping his own eye on the battle. Off to port, Captain Morton in HMS Hornet sailed in company with Canada, ready to assume any duty assigned.
HMS Canada was coming up astern of the ships engaging Hoche. Seeing the battle there nearly finished, Mullins scanned the sea around the periphery, looking for other opportunities. To port was a coterie of French ships, mostly supply ships, so far as he could see, with what appeared to be a single troop ship. Its sides were lined with blue-clad soldiers with their muskets. He thought it might be dangerous to approach that fellow closely. Massed fire from those muskets could result in many casualties at close range.
Commodore Warren had just ordered Captain Morton to snap up the French merchants, when from their midst appeared a twenty-two-gun corvette. It seemed she had already received some attention from the British fleet. Her rigging and sails were a tangle, and some rather large shot holes were evident in her starboard beam. Many of her gun ports were empty.
Morton at once made for the enemy warship. His own ship was smaller than the enemy, and had fewer guns. The corvette, with her recent battering however, appeared incapable of engaging Hornet in equal combat, an opinion which her commander apparently shared. Since the third-rate battleship HMS Canada, was close by, the corvette’s captain probably felt he had no other choice. Once Hornet turned toward her, the corvette lowered her colors in surrender.
Commander Morton was having none of this though. Wishing his log to show he was taking this enemy in equal combat, he fired a broadside into her, as he came up on her quarter. An officer on the enemy quarterdeck was seen to wave a white shirt before a blast of grape cut him down.
Commodore Warren, observing from Canada’s quarterdeck, was apoplectic at this treachery and ordered the signals officer to signal, ’Discontinue the action’.
Hornet’s guns fell silent, but the outraged gunners on the corvette opened fire themselves with what guns they had that were still operational. Some well-aimed balls found their way into Hornet’s mizzen, which slowly fell, blanketing the aftermost guns with sailcloth.
The corvette was still banging away when Canada approached and showed her teeth. The firing finally stopped and an irate Warren signaled Hornet to send its captain to the flag. In the meantime, he needed to send a responsible officer to the corvette to take command. His eye focused on Mullins. He ordered him to select a crew and take it to the prize, informing him haste was most important. He should follow the fleet as soon as the prize was able, and future plans would be made later.
As a passenger on Canada, Mullins was not well acquainted with her seamen, but her first officer assisted him to select a crew that might suffice in getting the prize underway. Mullins was probably overzealous when it came to ordering men into the boat and the launch was loaded to capacity. With her gunnels barely above the surface, a badly timed wave would have sent her down, but she survived and the bowman hooked on to the corvette.
The sullen enemy crew were not in the least willing to cooperate with their captors, so it was with some difficulty the British prize crew scrambled aboard. The deck of the captured ship resem
bled the floor of a slaughterhouse with the wounded and dead scattered about.
An intensely furious young French lieutenant was vainly trying to snap the blade of his sword. When Mullins reproached him, the officer said in fluent English he could not allow his sword of honor to fall into the hands of barbarians.
Knowing he might well need the services of his prisoners later, Mullins assured him he could keep the sword if he gave his parole. In addition, he apologized for the actions of Captain Morton, who he agreed was no gentleman.
With the preliminaries out of the way, Mullins insisted it was necessary for much of the French crew to go below decks. Some men might be required to assist in repairs of the ship, and it was hoped the French officers and petty officers would pass such orders to the proper individuals. The officers had freedom of the quarterdeck and, of course, would continue to live in their wardroom.
It was a full day before sail could be set and even then the ship was slow. Much of the prize’s canvas had been shot to rags. There had been no firm orders as to where the ship was to proceed. He had thought to hurry with the repairs, then join up with Warren’s fleet to receive further instructions. This became impossible when the extensive repairs to the rigging took longer than expected. By continuing on the course he thought Warren might have taken, he made for the Channel entrance. Relations between the prize crew and the French prisoners became tense as repairs on the ship brought her into a more seaworthy condition.
Immediately after taking command of the prize, Mullins had found there were about twenty French soldiers on the ship. They were apparently part of the force that was to have been landed in Ireland and also served in lieu of Marines. Mullins had ignored them in the early day of his command, since nearly every one of the soldiers was incapacitated from seasickness and were no real threat to the prize crew. Their arms had been secured in a forward compartment and these troops were thought to be impotent.
However, about the time the prize entered the Channel, the secured compartment had somehow been opened and suddenly the soldiers had their weapons. The seas had also moderated, so many had recovered from their sickness.
Mullins attempted to explain to the single officer surviving from the French crew his ship had surrendered and thus he should not abet his men in any incipient revolt.
The lieutenant reminded him of his ship being fired upon when it had already surrendered and thus Mullins should not venture to lecture him on the rules of war. The men from HMS Canada were all armed, of course, but so were many of the corvette’s crew and there were many more of them.
Mullins then locked the French lieutenant in his own pantry where he had no contact with his crew, but a burly French petty officer then took over the leadership and was hourly escalating the rhetoric for taking back the ship. It was at this time, at daybreak, a convoy was seen close up, approaching. With all the French hands awake down below listening to the speeches, Mullins went through the selection of signal flags he had carried to the prize and hung out a signal signifying mutiny on board. In minutes, two of the convoy escorts were alongside. One was HMS Triumph, an elderly third rate, the other was HMS Assault, a gun brig mounting twelve guns.
Triumph disgorged dozens of Marines into her boats while Assault lay off the prize’s stern, covering her with her battery. The Marines boarded just as the French below realized something was amiss. Mullins gave a hurried explanation to the Lieutenant of Marines from Triumph and he soon had the rebellious prisoners bottled up below. After some consultation between Mullins, Captain Andrews of Triumph and the Marine officer, it was decided to root out the worst offenders- and transfer them to the third-rate. At the cost of a few broken heads, this was accomplished and all was peaceful again.
The detained members of the French crew would get to enjoy a round-trip cruise to Halifax and back while luxuriating in the comforts of the orlop deck.
The inhabitants of Plymouth had not yet heard of the battle off Tory Island and were thrilled with the British victory. Mullins was called in to see the port admiral, where he handed over the papers given him when he left the fleet. Apparently, Commodore Warren had some kind words for him, and he was asked to remain close by while some matters were considered.
The corvette was given a thorough examination and it was soon decided to purchase her into the Royal Navy. Much of her battle damage had been repaired on her way back to port and what remained could be taken care of quickly in the dockyard. There was a flurry of media coverage. Word got about that Commander Mullins had somehow captured this ship almost by himself.
He made it known to anyone who would listen to him the true facts of her capture. The admiral’s secretary advised him to let it go. Fame was a fleeting thing and should be enjoyed when it came. He assured Mullins the Navy officials were aware of the true details and no harm would come to him because of the press misrepresenting the facts. He had hoped to be able to visit Mrs. Baker and assure himself of her welfare, but there was just no time.
Almost immediately, he was called back to see the admiral. The loss of the Aphrodite had already been excused and no further action was contemplated. He now learned he was being given command of the prize corvette, now to be the sloop-of war HMS Valkyrie. After re-arming and provisioning, she would sail on a trial cruise to determine her capabilities. In the meantime, it would be necessary for him to gather a crew.
Before he left the great cabin, he learned some interesting information. The Royal Navy had, for years, been somewhat lax in how they rated ships, both rated and unrated.
Of course, ships armed with fewer than twenty guns were considered ‘below the rate’ and were to be commanded by commanders or lieutenants. Ships with twenty guns or more were considered sixth-rates, to be commanded by post captains.
In many cases, the number of guns actually aboard a ship was ignored and the ship was rated in the manner that the local admiral might wish.
These days were over. A ship armed with twenty-two great guns would be a post ship and must have a post captain.
Once she came from the yard and satisfied the Navy, as soon as Mullins read himself in, he would be a post captain.
Mullins went around for days with the belief he would soon be able to shift the epaulette on his left shoulder to his right and thus become a real post captain. As long as he remained alive, he could expect one day to become an admiral.
His dreams were shattered though, when he was called to the yard to attend the ship’s commissioning ceremony.
The ship was in marvelous condition and the yard had even given her a coat of paint. Her ports were open and Mullins was surprised to see a pair of empty ports on her starboard beam. Two of the nine-pounder guns she had been issued had been removed.
He was not concerned at first, probably defects in the castings had been noticed. Then, he saw the corresponding guns on the port beam was also missing.
Before the commissioning ceremony began, he was called aside and learned the guns had been removed so the new captain of the ship could be a commander rather than captain. It seemed some Admiralty officials did not wish Commander Mullins to be promoted at this time. The ship would be commissioned as an eighteen-gun sloop-of-war, rather than a twenty-two-gun post ship. Perhaps, in the future, matters might be rectified, but, for now, he would sail in his present rank, as a commander.
Chapter Three
Mullins first met some of Valkyrie’s new standing officers aboard the flag. John Danton would be the new first officer, while Mister Ralston was the Sailing Master and Master Gunner Weems would handle the ship’s artillery. Weems, his old gunnery officer aboard Aphrodite, had come ashore just days before, having been exchanged for a French warrant officer held by the British. The carpenter, cook and armorer had already reported aboard Valkyrie.
Mullins used an hour to give his officers a tour of the ship. Although he had spent a few weeks on her, he was not well familiar with her interior since that had been mostly filled with truculent prisoners after her capture.
With no crew yet of his own, the admiral let him borrow a few seamen for the commissioning ceremony aboard the new sloop-of war. It was to this temporary crew that Mullins read himself in. At the moment, the most important task on the captain’s list was to obtain some men.
Accordingly, Lieutenant Danton and Mister Ralston each took a party of the borrowed men ashore and set up recruiting stations in nearby seamen’s pubs.
Petty officers were provided with funds from Mullin’s purse and took station at the bar, buying drinks for all able-bodied men there. Granted, most seamen there were too wise to avail themselves of this largess, in fact most left immediately, once they realized a recruiting party was present. There was always the probability of impressment.
Those men who were obviously seamen that refused to sign on usually fell victim to another party of men hidden behind the building. The petty officer at the bar would give his signal and the lieutenant or sailing master, in civilian garb, would gather his party and wait for the men, probably very drunk, to emerge from the pub. Once out in the open, these would be collared and delivered to a nearby warehouse Mullins had rented for the purpose.
And of course, there were always the seamen, desperate for a drink and without funds to buy their own. Some of these men succumbed to the petty officer’s blandishments and signed their ‘X’ then and there. These men were provided with as much rum as they could drink and would be delivered to the ship later. In all, the recruiting missions garnered in excess of two dozen men, well in excess of the captain’s expectations. Some of them were seamen who had somehow escaped being snatched up by the impress service upon their merchant ships paying off. A day after the recruiting mission ended, HMS Valkyrie had the nucleus of a crew. A few of these men had previous experience on King’s ships and after watching these men at work, Mullins interviewed them.
Richard Testrake - (Sea Command 2) Page 3