HMS Hector: A Charles Mullins Novel (Sea Command Book 6)

by Richard Testrake

  It seems the pirates had indeed removed a few barrels of whale oil from the whaling ship they had taken. Some of the pirate crew had made little oil lamps to illuminate their berths. With inadequate supervision and control, opened containers of oil were spread about and it only needed a small ignition source to ignite the fires.

  Mullins expected to be allowed a long stay in harbor. While his ship still had sufficient water and a little beef and biscuit, her powder had been almost expended upon the pirate. Shot too, was nearly gone. He knew the available powder in English Harbor had been initially issued to those ships out searching for the pirates, and there was little left. Perhaps they must wait for the next convoy to bring additional supplies.

  This arrival was much more satisfying than the previous. Mullins and his first officer were invited for dinner with the port captain and the entire search had to be recounted. There was some dismay from the officials at the slim number of captives that had been brought back, but they were somewhat heartened upon learning of the fiery deaths so many of the pirates had suffered. There were still a half-dozen pirates who could decorate the gibbets along the harbor’s entrance.

  Mullins learned there would not be a long stay in harbor while his ship was re-supplied. HMS Hector was to deliver dispatches back to England detailing the destruction of the pirates’ ships and the capture or deaths of the pirates. Unnecessary delay could not be countenanced and she must expedite her departure. An old fourth-rate had entered harbor recently with her bottom in such poor condition that she must not sail again until it was repaired. With no firm idea of when or even if, the ship was to be repaired, she would be placed in ordinary and her men and stores would be re-issued to other ships.

  The hands Hector received from the old ship were all good men, glad to be coming to a well-built ship with a bottom that would not likely fall off. The stores the frigate received were another story. The beef and pork barrels were ancient indeed. There was some discussion between Mullins and his sailing master whether they should return the provisions as rotten, but it was decided they had enough good beef to make port back home without having to open the bad barrels.

  The depleted ammunition supply was also replaced by some from the old fourth-rate. This was old stock, carried in Odin’s magazine for a very long period. The powder was probably due to be re-manufactured to bring it up to standard but the port captain decided it would do for the voyage back to Britain. He insisted his ships here needed the better quality ammunition since they would have such difficulty to replace bad ammunition.

  Escorts were always in demand for convoys returning to home ports and this would be no exception. A convoy would be sailing from Jamaica, as soon as it had been formed and it was anticipated that Hector would accompany it home. The port captain was unsure just what other escorts might be available or what Hector’s duty in the convoy might be.

  There was trouble aboard ship when he returned. Men had been sent ashore to load and man the lighter that would be delivering stores to the ship. Two of the former slaves signed on back in this same harbor months ago were told off for this work. These Island Blacks were only too familiar with this port where they had labored for their former master for years. They were afraid they would be recognized and sent back to the old owner. Being ordered into the boat to go ashore, the men refused and upon the bosun’s recommendation, were promptly placed in irons by the order of the officer of the deck.

  Upon Mullin’s return, he learned the two men were in fetters, spread-eagled on the orlop deck for refusal to obey orders. He could not deal with this problem immediately, as the ship was under orders to sail. It was only after the ship had left port that he had the time to investigate the circumstances.

  The bosun had charged the pair with the offense and now the prisoners were waiting for their captain’s decision as to their fate. Listening to his bosun’s story, Mullins was at first prepared to go hard on the men, as a warning to others who might decide they did not wish to do their work aboard ship. As he listened to the account though, his ears picked up when he heard the names of the two culprits.

  All of the six former slaves signed on the ship had given different names when they were signed aboard ship, but they had been aboard ship for some months now and their new names were familiar to him. Cook and Fisher were the names taken by these two upon signing aboard. To be sure, he asked the bosun if these were two of the Blacks signed on in this port months ago. Now wary, the bosun said they were indeed, but they had willfully disobeyed orders and must be punished.

  “Bosun, were you not aware these hands would be liable to be taken up by the watch onshore and returned to their former owners?”

  “Sir, I thought these men, as Royal Navy seamen would be considered free and exempt from further service to their old owners.”

  Trying once more, Mullins said, “Once these men were in the hands of the shore authorities, I would have had the devil’s own time to get them back aboard ship. Probably long after they left this world. We would likely have to go through the island’s courts as well as English courts. Tell me Bosun, just how many more of my men do you wish to be sent ashore to work out their lives as slaves?”

  The bosun stood mute while the two Blacks were brought before him. The terrified men had clearly been ‘disciplined’ by the bosuns’ mates, their bodies covered with welts from ropes’ ends applied freely.

  Speaking to the injured men, Mullins told them, “The bosun wishes to apologize to you for the injustice he has caused to you. He did not understand the possibility of your being taken up by shore authorities once you landed and I am telling you now you will receive no more punishment., Mister Drake, you may apologize to these men now.”

  The bosun stood, open mouthed. “Sir, I don’t know what to say.”

  “You could tell them you are sorry for your actions.”

  Bosun Drake muttered. “Sir, I can’t apologize to these hands. They disobeyed orders and I had them put in irons.”

  Mullins answered, “Very well, Bosun. Tell me, who are the men who beat these hands?”

  “Sir, my mates, Lewis and Hardy were in charge of these two. They didn’t exactly beat them. They were just getting their attention.”

  Mullins called out to his Marine sentry to call for the officer of the watch. When Mister Persons entered, he explained that Bosun Drake was to be placed under arrest for dereliction of duty, assault and refusal to obey orders. He would be confined to his quarters until such time as his report could be filed on this incident. Mullins doubted this warrant officer was suitable for his position and was prepared to recommend the loss of his warrant.

  Elaborating, he said “The two bosun’s mates, Lewis and hardy, are dis-rated from this moment. I will appoint new mates later. For now, you may assign Cook and Fisher as Drakes’ guards.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  The voyage to Jamaica began without incident. The master of a local, inter-island trading schooner approached Mullins as he was emerging from the naval outfitter’s establishment on the shore and introduced himself.

  “Sir, I am Bob Miller, master of that old schooner you see in the harbor. I have a cargo of rum in casks which I must get to Jamaica in order to trans-ship it to England. I have been told you are bound there and would be obliged if you would permit me to sail with you. The pirates in this area have become very bold since the fleet sailed to Halifax last month.”

  Mullins was not anxious to assume any responsibility for this decrepit old vessel and wondered why he had not sailed in convoy earlier.

  “Sir, I had some trouble arranging for a cargo and when this rum was offered, the convoy had already left. The consigner offered me a share if I could deliver the lot to Jamaica before the convoy there sailed. If I do not deliver it in time, I will lose an important sum. I could sail there by myself, but then would have to risk pirate attack and my insurer would not cover me.”

  Mullins replied, “Captain Miller, I am ordered to proceed directly to Jamaica, there to
furnish escort to this same convoy. I cannot forbid you to accompany me on the voyage, but I must warn you I have not the time to stand by while you make repairs or are delayed for any other reason.”

  “But you will stand by me if I am attacked by pirates, will you not?”

  “Yes, that is my purpose, to protect British shipping. I am not charged with the necessity with providing your schooner with seamen or naval stores though.”

  “Thank you very much, your honor. I think you will find that my crew and I know our way about. Could you tell me at what time you will sail?”

  “Providing the wind is fair, I hope to sail with the turn of the tide tomorrow morning. Understand, Hector will sail whether or not your schooner is ready.”

  Bob Miller and his schooner were indeed ready to sail and they took the light breeze out to sea.

  It was off St. Kits when they spotted the pair of strangers. One was a brig while the other was a sleek schooner. Hull down when first sighted at daybreak, both were fast and closed on the frigate and her charge rapidly. By himself, Mullins in his powerful frigate could have ignored the presumptuous intruders.

  However, Miller’s schooner, the Martha Perkins, low in the water with her overload of rum, was wallowing along far behind the frigate. If she kept lagging behind as she was, she would surely be taken if these two were, in fact, pirates. To encourage the schooner, he ordered a gun fired, but that did no good. In the end, he reduced sail to allow the old scow to come up with him.

  He had it in mind to give the schooner’s master a few choice words, but decided this would not be productive. Those rapidly approaching strangers would be far more effective than anything he could say.

  The brig, came up to windward of the Martha Perkins which was in Hector’s wake, a long musket-shot aft. The strange schooner was on the leeward beam of the trailing vessel.

  Initially, the strange schooner made a rush at the trader, which veered away in the direction of the strange brig. Mullins dropped further back, taking a position just ahead of Martha Perkins. Just what these fellows hoped to gain with their tactics, Mullins could not quite determine. Granted, either one of the craft could probably rush the trader and take her in an instant.

  These strangers were acting more and more like pirates. What they would do with their prize if they took her was a mystery though, since the old schooner could never sail away from the frigate.

  The strangers solved the impasse when both moved farther out on the traders’ flanks and Hector moved forward while the trader plodded along in the rear.

  The brig made the next move. Sailing directly into the gap between Hector and her charge, she fired off a pair of guns at Hector’s stern. One ball came aboard and a cloud of splinters sent three hands below to the surgeon. Having fired at a King’s ship, these were now officially pirates and Mullins could treat them accordingly.

  Mister Cummings, the sailing master, put Hector about in an instant and her starboard battery fired into the brig. Most of the shot struck at this close range, and the brig was left behind, a shattered wreck, with her foremast down and shot holes between wind and water.

  Alarmed at this turn of events, the pirate schooner went about to leave the area for a healthier climate. Mullins followed her as long as he dared, coming about to give her a final broadside at long range. Several gunners swore they had hits on the distant target, but Mullins could see no effects himself. Fearful that the pirate might double back to take the Martha Perkins, he went back to the wrecked pirate.

  Captain Miller was standing off the wreck, pounding her with an old six-pounder he had mounted on his schooner. His gunnery was having little effect, so Mullins brought his frigate in closer and demonstrated to the merchantmen just how it was done.

  Three disciplined broadsides were fired, after which the enemy brig was a truly shattered collection of firewood. Her side was beaten in and she was totally dismasted, her crew hurling anything in the water that would float and going over the side themselves.

  Mullins had neither the desire or the space needed to rescue many of the crew, but did send the launch out to bring a few men back. While engaged with this task, the wreck turned on its port beam, then disappeared below the waves.

  The captives in the launch were brought back to the frigate, while the remainder of that crew were left to sink or swim as they chose. Captain Miller, Mullins saw, kept his schooner well away from the pirates still in the water. He had a very small crew and it would take very few desperate men to take his vessel.

  Hector and her charge were late in their arrival, but the convoy was not ready to sail so he waved at Captain Miller and went about visiting the ships he would guard on their voyage to England.

  This late in the season, there were few ships making the passage, Most shipments home in hurricane season went in well-found vessels in good condition and these were no exception. Some owners spent as little as possible on their ships, maintenance and crew, but this convoy had been assembled after excluding any such examples.

  Mullins was pulled around the harbor in his gig, going aboard each merchant. There was much every ship-master had to get sorted out before sailing. Even days after the expected sailing date, some consignments had not yet made it aboard the proper hull. Crew members had gone missing, provisions and other ship’s stores had proved to be defective.

  Still, every master found time to speak to Captain Mullins. If disaster should fall upon any or all of the convoy, the escort captains were relied upon to sort it out. All hoped to have a smooth passage with as few complications as possible.

  Of course, all of them were also experienced mariners. Each thought himself as knowledgeable about seamanship as any King’s officer and would do his best to make the crossing in the manner he always had, war or no war; escort or no escort.

  One point of controversy that always came up was how much attention was made to signals from the escorts.

  Every merchant master sailed with the barest minimal crew he thought he could. He spent the least funds on maintenance and repairs possible. If the master or owners thought another passage could be made using the same threadbare suit of sails that had served for previous crossings, this would be done, hoping in case of emergency, the escorts would replace any blown-out canvas.

  It was not unknown for masters to sail without necessary crewmen to save on wages. They hoped for the escort to furnish needed seamen when they fell behind.

  Every master was concerned about collision with another ship in the convoy and usually tried to maintain as much distance from other ships that he could. Every escort captain wished to see the merchants arranged in a tidy formation as had been specified before sailing. If one of the flock was seen to be straying, signal flags would be flown, telling the offender what he should be doing.

  Of course, merchant masters had little experience reading signals. With a minimal crew, there might be only one man on deck to read the signal and reply. With other ship’s business to care for, it could be a lengthy wait for the signal to be answered.

  Then too, there was the matter of locating the signal book or even the relevant signal flags. If the escort’s signal required any sail handling on the part of the merchant, their might be a delay while seamen were brought up from below from their hammocks.

  It was a most complex relationship between escort commander and merchant captain. Mullins had escorted convoys before and was determined that this one would proceed smoothly. At this moment, he had a dozen merchants to protect with two escorts. Of course, a dozen merchants would be a very small convoy, but doubtless other ships would soon arrive to swell the ranks.

  The other escort was a ten-gun brig-sloop, HMS Seneca, Captain Willis. The brig mounted a pair of six-pounder long guns in the bow, with another four eighteen-pounder carronades on each beam. Mullins talked with each merchant captain at length, informing each he had no information of just how many ships or escorts would make the crossing.

  Information received from the port captain indic
ated another convoy was expected to come up from the southern islands, but it was unknown whether they would arrive in time for this passage, likely to be the last of the season. Every day, he listened to complaints from his merchant captains. It was a costly business for merchant vessels to sit in harbor, consuming provisions.

  Mullins had quite run out of excuses when the expected convoy arrived. It had over two dozen merchants, escorted by an elderly thirty-eight gun frigate, Captain Howard commanding and a little six-gun cutter. The frigate’s captain was first called to the flag, then a boat came around to both Hector and Seneca, summoning their junior officers ashore for a conference. In addition to the naval officers, masters and mates of the convoy were expected to attend. Due to the numbers involved, the conference would be held ashore in a structure there.

  Tables and chairs were set up in what had once been a sugar warehouse. Captain Howard was introduced by the port captain who left immediately after the pleasantries. Howard told Mullins he would invite his escort captains to HMS Warrior that evening to go over what was known.

  Now though, the captains of the combined convoys would soon be entering and they would postpone any further discussion until the evening.

  The merchant captains began entering and finding their seats. Drinks were poured and cigars lit, while recollections were exchanged. Mullins had been asked to stand beside Captain Howard at the head table.

  While waiting for the audience to quiet, Howard asked Mullins if he had any mids with especially good handwriting. Shaking his head, Mullins admitted he had no midshipmen noted for their penmanship, but he did have a clerk who had an excellent hand.