The brig was flying British colors over French, and when they came alongside, Mullins noted Daring’s first lieutenant standing by the helm, conspicuous with his awkward gait, as he stumped around the deck with his wooden foot. Inviting him aboard, Mullins learned that Captain Drummond had found an enemy privateer corvette that had just taken this British brig. The brig had put up a fight and had been badly damaged, but she in turn had seriously injured the corvette’s foremast, which could then carry little sail.
When HMS Daring appeared on the scene, the corvette abandoned her prize, and attempted to flee, but she was too slow and Captain Drummond snapped her up after a short chase. The brig was gathered up soon after. The former crew of the brig had been separated and incarcerated aboard both the corvette and the brig, and would now exchange quarters with their erstwhile captors. Putting his first officer aboard the brig to take her in, Captain Drummond resumed his patrol, with the captured corvette in consort. The master retaken prize, freed from his captivity, proved to have once been a master’s mate in the Royal Navy, and was offered a similar position aboard Daring. He would soon assume the duties of a watch standing officer
Mullins asked the lieutenant why he thought Captain Drummond had kept the corvette. Lieutenant Jamison answered. “Sir, I don’t think he plans to fight her. We had a supply of oak two-by-fours on Daring and he was going to use them to ‘fish’ the corvette’s damaged foremast.”
“When I left the repairs were well along and the prize was flying British colors. I think Captain Drummond will use her to convince any prey there are two British sloops-of-war after them, maybe to persuade the enemy it might be better to immediately surrender.”
Mulling decided this would be a good occasion to return to port, so with the brig in company they made their way back to Simon’s Town. Hector was still engaged in re-provisioning when Daring arrived. Along with his own ship, Drummond delivered a well battered corvette. Admiral Bertie was ecstatic when he saw her. There were plenty of hands available to man her and after necessary repairs, she would be invaluable to cruise for the pirates and privateers in the area.
A conference with the fleet commander decided their next deployment. Admiral Bertie decreed HMS Daring was to proceed to the French islands off the East African coast, where she would attempt to intercept other privateers. Hector was to sail on to the waters to the west of Bombay where reports had placed enemy activity. She would have to beat against the monsoon winds, but Bertie thought the effort would be worth it.
Since there were many dis-possessed British sailors, as well as those of other nationalities on the Cape stranded there by the war, Mullins was able to recruit additional seamen, who would serve to man prizes taken, as well as replace casualties. There was much grumbling and complaining on the lower deck when the already limited space for each man was further reduced.
Mullins met these objections by reminding the men at Sunday Divisions, that he had hopes of taking numerous prizes on this next foray. Without the added men, some of these would have to be burned, which would be a great financial loss to the men. However, with the surplus hands aboard, these prizes could instead be sailed back to port and sold, to the benefit of everyone.
HMS Hector sailed north eastward up the coast of Africa and then inside the channel between Mozambique and the mainland, searching for any French shipping. Deciding to reconnoiter the Seychelle islands first, before visiting the Chago’s Archipego, Hector’s first lieutenant had the deck when a cluster of sails were sighted at first light off Marie Louise Island. Mister Persons sent for his captain and the chase was on.
Mullins had little expectations for these craft. None were flying colors of any sort and most seemed to be the ubiquitous dhows found along this coast which carried general cargo between nearby ports. The sole escort however was another matter. A European-built schooner, it had a few guns mounted on her sides and might prove to be a profitable quarry.
When approached, the dhows huddled around their escort, which hove to and awaited inspection. The captain of the schooner was a mixed race seaman who spoke a little English. That captain, invited aboard Hector, related how he sailed about the Indian Ocean, delivering cargo sometimes and hiring his vessel out as an escort to small convoys as he was today. Mullins could not begin to decipher the man’s name but understood he had recently come from Bombay in India.
On his way west, his schooner had happened upon a ship being savaged by pirate proas. By the time he could assist, the pirates had boarded the small country ship and killed all of its seamen save for one man later found hiding in the forepeak.
Three large proas had attacked the ship, and her gunnery had destroyed two of the lightly built, double-hulled boats, before the remaining pirate’s crew swarmed over the ship and easily cut down her small crew.. The remaining pirates had taken what they wanted from the prize and attempted to sail her off. Unfamiliar with the western rig though, with this unknown schooner approaching, the pirates soon gave up and left in their remaining proa, after setting fire to the brig. She was well engulfed in flame when the schooner arrived and took off the lone survivor.
Jacob Rafferty was brought aboard Hector suffering from burns about much of his body. He was put in the hands of the surgeon and Captain Mullins had to decide what to do with this schooner captain and his little fleet. He strongly suspected these people did much of their business with the nearby French, but he was not at all inclined to bring trouble to these simple seamen trying to make a living as best as they could.
Learning the schooner was transporting a few hundred weight of dates, he asked the schooner’s captain if any were for sale. The dates were indeed for sale and a price was quoted that seemed unbelievably inexpensive to the British frigate captain. The schooner ‘s master appeared shocked when Mullins immediately accepted that price and asked to have the dried fruits delivered aboard his ship immediately. Apparently, that master had anticipated a lengthy bargaining session.
Leaving the flotilla of small craft behind Hector set out toward the area the pirates might be patrolling. The schooner’s master had warned the pirates had lost two of their proas and many men when they had attacked the country ship and may have returned to their base, wherever it might be.
As days went by, the survivor of the pirate attack began to show improvement and one morning Doctor Burns gave permission for Captain Mullins to interview the man.
Rafferty suffered with extensive burns as well as malarial fever which he had apparently contracted before the pirate attack. His burns treated with goose grease and the fever with Peruvian bark, the patient seemed alert when Mullins went below to visit. Describing the attack, he related how his ship had been becalmed near a nearby atoll and reported how astonished they all were when the proas came from behind that islet and headed straight for them.
The master of the trading ship had the launch over the side, with men performing maintenance of the hull. This boat was able to pull the bow about enough for a pair of guns to bear on the enemy. Only one of the proas had a gun aboard, probably a little four-pounder galloper gun, which played no account in the battle. The proa mounting this gun was the first to be demolished by fire from its opponent.
Every proa was full of men, many of whom were negated when a few good hits destroyed two of the pirate craft. These craft were fastened together with coir rope made of coconut fiber. A single ball striking a craft in the proper location was often enough to knock it to pieces. With only two guns that would bear upon the three proas, all knew it would be deadly to miss a shot. Unfortunately, John Whipple. gun captain of one gun, was a prideful man. A former Navy man himself, he had taken it upon himself to explain forcefully to one and all how a man-of-war’s man pointed a gun. The gun crew next to his managed to put a ball right down the prow of one of the proas and the craft fell into pieces at once. There was some flaw in the priming quill of Whipple’s gun though, and the gun had fired late. His target, rather than being destroyed was left dead in the water with a crushed
gunnel and many paddlers on the port side dead or incapacitated. This vessel was out of the fight, but pride compelled Whipple to take one more shot at the damaged pirate craft. This was successful, and this craft was demolished.
While all of this was going on, the single undamaged proa was able to come alongside and its crew were able to board. Within moment, the small crew of the country ship had been slaughtered, save for Rafferty himself who was never discovered by the pirates.
The bandits pillaged the ship, but were unable to recover much of her cargo since there were so many of their own people in the water to recover. Unable to take the brig because of the armed schooner approaching, the pirates took what they could and left.
Rafferty was unable to guess where the pirates might be based or bound for. He had heard them speaking but had understood not a word of their speech.
Chapter Eighteen
Now on a course for the Indian sub-continent, Hector was nearing the Chago’s Archipelago when more sails were sighted ahead. At first, a half-dozen dhows were seen climbing over the horizon. These were big, double-hulled seagoing craft, well away from land. Most probably they were pirates. Behind them however, was a large, European ship-rigged vessel, hull down.
As they neared, a closer view revealed the ship was undoubtedly a warship, likely a good sized frigate. If this was so, she must be a Frenchman.
The wind began to fail about this time, which did not affect the proas at all. Coming on with paddles, they continued in a line abreast formation until separating at long cannon-shot range, with three coming around for the stern and the others approaching the port beam.
The three double-hulled craft on Hector’s beam were bows on toward the frigate and one by one, they began firing the big long guns mounted forward. Their gunnery practice was not good, firing at this long range and not a ball fell near the frigate. While these dhows entertained their opponents, the trio approaching from aft bent to their paddles and the craft raced through the waters directly at Hector’s stern.
While the pirates astern kept directly astern of the frigate, there was not a single gun that would bear upon the enemy. Normally, Mullins would have veered a bit to allow some of the after broadside guns to bear, but in these calm conditions, this would not be possible.
A word to Mister Persons send midshipmen racing to the guns to appropriate some of their heavy balls to deliver to the quarterdeck. Hands were standing by as the screaming pirates crashed their proas into the stern and port and starboard quarters of the ship. With grapnels flying over the rails, the pirates attempted to swarm aboard the frigate. This attempt was not quite successful.
Marines first began their fire drill, sending the heavy musket balls from their Sea Service muskets into the boats, killing and mutilating the men and puncturing their proas’ hulls with every shot. Then it was the turn of the individual crewmen at the rails to drop their heavy cannon shot into the lightly built vessels below.
In little better than an instant, all three of the craft were flooding, with great holes smashed through their bottoms. The pirates were not yet defeated, since a few of the grapnels they had thrown had taken hold and now the pirates were using them to board.
The arms chests on deck were all open and the hands had long since grabbed what weapons suited them and waited for the pirates to come over the rail.
Mullins’ attention was on a burly carpenter’s mate. As soon as a pirate’s hand appeared on the rail, he would swing his big felling axe and fingers or a whole hand would go flying. Once, an entire arm was lopped from an inattentive pirate. Of course, the other hands, armed with less impressive weapons did not neglect their duties. Cutlasses and pistols did their work too.
Mullins felt a little breeze about then and looked aloft. The sails that had been flaccid during this episode, were now swelling and the ship beginning to move. The wreckage and struggling pirates were left behind in the sea as Hector picked up a little momentum.
Men were sent to the braces to trim the sails to the wind, while the gunners ran to their weapons. The pirates in the proas to port had not paid enough attention to the course of the battle and now found themselves too close to a dangerous warship.
The pirates put their craft about and began to flee but now Hector was moving and on their trail. Balls from the guns struck first one proa and then another. The heavy eighteen-pound projectiles simply disassembled a proa when they struck. There was only one pirate craft left when the first officer pointed to the frigate ahead. It was indeed a forty-gun French frigate and she was dangerously close.
As he watched the strange frigate, he saw her yards come around. She was coming about in the freshening breeze, her guns firing as she turned. It was unplanned, poorly aimed shooting, but two balls came aboard. One smashed its way through the after hull, wrecking the wardroom table. The second clipped the fore tops’l yard.
As the enemy frigate came about on her new course, Mister Sawyers ran up the ratlines to the foretop and consulted with Higgins, captain of the foretop. Back on deck, he reported to Captain Mullins.
“Sir, Higgins thinks we need to get our canvas off the fore topmast. He believes the yard will go if we do not do this.”
The enemy frigate now had now completed her turn and was now fleeing. Doctor Burns had come to the quarterdeck to report on the two men who had been quilled by splinters when the enemy ball penetrated the hull. After his report, he took advantage of his relationship with Mullins to ask his captain why the enemy was leaving.
“Doctor, both we and the enemy are far away from a dockyard. Any damage done to either of us must be repaired with our own resources. I expect the enemy captain has been warned to avoid combat with any equal force. I, on the other hand, do not intend to obey the ‘suggestions’ that I have received in this same regard. I plan on to pursue this frigate, and take her if I can.”
The enemy frigate had all possible sail set and was rapidly increasing her distance ahead. Hector’s carpenter and his mates set about repairing the injured topmast yard. Oaken two-by-fours were lifted up and lashed tightly to the fractured spar. Line was tightly wound about the repair, When finished, the bosun pronounced the repair as sound. He remarked that it would be better to replace the spar when possible, but for now, he thought it would serve. Sail was set on that yard but in deference to the damage, a single reef was used to minimize the strain on the yard.
Hector ceased to drop back and now seemed to be holding her own, or perhaps gain a bit. Mister Cummings, the sailing master, had loaned Mister Sawyer an old sextant he had in his sea chest and the young officer used the instrument to measure the angle between the enemy ship and their own. After some hours, the third officer reported Hector was overhauling the chase ever so slowly.
That night, the chase was lost to sight in the darkness, but an alert deck lookout noticed her invisible form occluding a star near the horizon and notified Mister Flowers who had the deck at - and was now off Hector’s port beam heading west.
The frigate came about, and setting all sail that would draw, began coming up on the chase’s port quarter. Some of Hector’s starboard battery began its thunder, until the smoke, gun flashes and darkness obscured the target.
When the sun rose, the chase was ahead of them, to starboard. Hector was to windward and was able to maintain fire on the enemy, although only at long range using only their long guns. The chase returned fire with her own long guns, but little damage was caused to either ship.
Mullins instructed his gunners to concentrate their fire in this long-range duel against the chase’s rigging, hoping to slow her enough for Hector to come up alongside. The exchange continued all morning, with the chase just maintaining her lead. The situation changed abruptly, when the enemy captain brought his ship around a bit to allow more guns to bear on his enemy.
The starboard guns of Hector belched fire and somehow the enemy bowsprit was shot away. With her topmast stays gone, the enemy’s topmast came down and the chase was over. Unable to maneuver the
ship with all of her problems, her captain tried to shoot his way out.
Since the forward guns were fouled by fallen canvas though, this did not work out well. One of those forward captains fired anyway, hoping to shoot away the sailcloth blanketing his gun. Instead, the flash fired the dry canvas and the commander now had a fire to fight up forward in addition to his other difficulties.
Hector crossed the enemy’s stern at close range and fired a raking broadside into her stern. This brought her colors down and the fight was over. The forward portion of the prize was well alight now and men piled into Hector’s boats to fight the fire on their former enemy. It was coming on evening when the fire was eventually extinguished. As soon as the fire had been knocked down sufficiently for Hector to safely approach, Captain Mullins went over himself to see the damage at first hand.
The entire forecastle had been ravaged by the fire, with a huge blackened hole burned through the deck. The entire foremast had fallen when the shrouds and stays had burned through. The after parts were hardly in much better condition. That raking broadside had caused such destruction that Mullins could see little hope of salvaging the ship and putting her to use under British colors.
Conferring with his sailing master, Mullins learned a small island of the Chago’s Archipeligo was at hand. Mister Cummings thought the prize under a jury rig might make it to the island within a day or two. The prize has suffered enormous casualties during the action, but even so Mullins did not wish to take many angry enemy seamen aboard Hector.
Accordingly, after the badly wounded enemy seamen had been brought over to Hector, hands from both ships went to work attempting to get the French frigate Flore, into condition to make the voyage to the island.
Flore’s captain had fallen during the action and the first officer was desperately wounded. The second officer, with only a bad wound to his arm decided that he was in command of his people and agreed to keep them under control.
HMS Hector: A Charles Mullins Novel (Sea Command Book 6) Page 13