A Busy Season (The Duty and Destiny Series, Book 8)

by Andrew Wareham

  Frederick made his way on deck, having peered at the books in the Spanish captain's cabin and assured himself that they contained not merely the codes but the Spanish captain's official correspondence for the past several months. Captain Murray would be as happy as a gold miner who had made a strike when he was given those letters.

  He peered across at Euripides, flames licking out from her maindeck gunports, soon to die, surely. The funeral pyre for his two followers, his own men; he did not have the time to grieve for them; he had a ship and a crew to bring home.

  Euripides' mainmast toppled as he watched and she began to list. He heard a series of explosions, minor crashes like gunfire, decided that the sloping deck must have tipped cartridges out of the powder monkey's buckets. The boys carried up two charges at a time; it was possible that some thirty of eight and six pound cartridges had rolled out onto the deck; those nearest the hatchways might well have fallen into the hold, or back down towards the magazine, spreading the fire rapidly.

  Even crawling, they had widened the gap to a good six cables, a much happier distance.

  He went into conference with his surviving officers and warrants, the midshipmen included but very properly standing silent on the fringes of the meeting.

  "Butcher's bill, gentlemen?"

  Doolan had taken the final count, produced his report.

  "Lieutenant Iliffe and the Gunner, sir, among the officers. As well, sir, known dead and missing, presumed drowned, just forty-two men; that is to include the riflemen, Marc and Jean, I am afraid, sir. Oh, and Mr Samways, sir, is not to be found. Doctor Carlisle, sir, says that he believes he ran below to attempt to fill a basket with medicines."

  "Brave man!"

  "Yes, sir. For a chaplain, that is. Wounded and doubtful of recovery, sir, we have but six seamen. Four legs and an arm and a splinter to the belly, high and to the side. Doctor Carlisle says he may live because there is no smell of a pierced gut."

  They shook their heads - belly wounds recovered very infrequently, so rarely that few men ever knew of a case.

  "For the rest, sir, burned, cut and bruised - one captain; two midshipmen; some sixty of sailors, sir."

  The figures were very light, fewer than one eighth of the entire crew accounted for.

  "Which midshipmen?"

  The Cripps brothers bashfully raised their hands, disclosed bloody bandages on an arm and a leg.

  Frederick learned later that the one had fallen and the other had come to him and helped him off the ship, but they would not say whether Peter had saved Robin or vice versa and were embarrassed to be praised.

  A hundred voices shouted and arms pointed.

  A great fireball was rising towards the stern of Euripides; the roar of the explosion reached them as they turned. The old ship split and sank within seconds, almost before the debris had all descended. The two fireships that had not yet gone turned turtle and disappeared. The wounded frigate was swamped by the wave thrown out, foundered bows first, the wreck worsened by flaming timbers blown aboard and setting her temporarily afire.

  "Lost with all hands, gentlemen. Send two boats to make quite certain, Mr Blenkinsop, but I cannot see any living through that."

  Harriet arrived just before evening quarters. She suggested a tow, was quite offended when they laughed. She hovered on their quarter for the five days of plodding into Gibraltar.

  A growing crowd watched them into the dockyard wharf; they had exchanged signals immediately on coming within sight and the news had spread. Flag hoists were easily read and there were many seamen and few secrets on the Rock.

  Captain Epworth was waiting, shaking his head despondently.

  "No, Sir Frederick! Firewood, sir! With the facilities I possess here I cannot conceivably rebuild her stern and replace the rudder. I exaggerate, on inspection - that is very fine timber in the hull, far better than any I have to hand. Fine, straight grained planking, and I have no doubt her ribs will be equally desirable. The masts are, on this occasion, unharmed, and will be put to good use. But she cannot float again, Sir Frederick."

  It would be impossible to tow her to Portsmouth to use the dry-dock there, and there were no other facilities available.

  Timber and warlike stores would be worth three, perhaps four thousand pounds. Her guns could be sold to the Moors - they would always take proofed barrels, irrespective of origin. The hands would see perhaps fifteen shillings apiece for her; bought in as a frigate and they would have received three times as much, possibly more. A pity, but not surprising. There was the prize that Watson had brought in; she might be worth a little, would probably buy them all a drink for an evening.

  It had not been a successful conclusion to Euripides' existence.

  Frederick made his way slowly up the steep road to the Admiral's offices; he had no reporting uniform - it had burned in his cabin, together with the rest of his baggage, but he was, importantly, wearing his sword. Admiral Clerke had not appeared at dockside through courtesy and a sense of delicacy, preferring the next procedure to take place away from an audience.

  "Sir Frederick, I am pleased to see you, sir, though much regretting the circumstance! You are wounded, sir?"

  "Singed, sir! Lightly toasted round the edges, one might say! Pulled out by my coxswain and servant, I would add, and luckier than my other followers, both of whom perished."

  "They had been some years in your service, I believe, Sir Frederick? I am sorry, sir."

  "With wives and children on my lands in Hampshire - they at least will be protected."

  "The sea can demand a hard price, sir. It would seem that a trap was set for you. You were forced to haul down your flag, I presume, Sir Frederick?"

  Clerke brightened on hearing there had been no surrender. A ship that was burned after capitulation was simply defeated; one that sank flag flying was defiant to the last, overwhelmed, but not beaten - there was a difference in the eyes of beholders.

  "I must, however, tender my sword, sir."

  Frederick drew his Presentation Sword, salvaged by Bosomtwi, and offered it, hilt first. Clerke touched his hand to it in token, the Flag Lieutenant politely averting his eyes, then instructed Frederick to retain it - he was not to show shame to the world.

  "I may be able to arrange a court for an early date, Sir Frederick - ships from the blockading fleet are coming in two by two to revictual and water and there must be an escort to the East Indies or Levant Convoys within a short while. It should not be impossible to muster five post-captains from such an assembly; and it is not as if it will be a protracted affair."

  A captain who lost his ship must stand trial for her; it was the law.

  "A nuisance, of course, Sir Frederick - all of your surviving officers must be held as well."

  Under press of necessity the officers could give their sworn depositions and be posted to other ships, but it was preferable to keep them together, to perform in open court and satisfy the lawyers.

  Technically, Frederick was to be held under arrest, and it was better that he should not be paraded at dinners and other social events while he was awaiting trial. It was normal for the detention to be very open, except there was any imputation of misconduct, but there was still the fact that his name had not been formally cleared.

  "You will wish to attend our naval outfitter, Sir Frederick - I am unwilling to honour the gentleman with the designation of 'tailor' - a schneider, at most."

  Frederick smiled, lopsidedly, said that he was not of the Dandy inclination, would be quite happy with a provincial cut to his uniforms, but that for the while the Doctor had ordered him to wear the loosest of clothing.

  "A piece of tarry cordage, well alight and dropping from the mizzen across my shoulders - not severe, but well-spread surface burns which are now at the irritating stage. I wish to scratch, sir! Of course, I dare not, but I am forbidden to wear a heavy coat the while."

  "And you have lesions to the face as well, sir - which present you with a quandary, of course! Do you shave th
e one cheek, properly, and leave the other bearded? Or would that present too singular an appearance?"

  "A case of turning the other cheek to the Court, sir?"

  Both naval gentleman thought that to be remarkably funny, laughed long at such a stroke of wit.

  "I remember, sir, from some years ago when Captain Jackman was a youngster on my quarterdeck, that he was lacerated about the face by splinters on two separate occasions. On both he was unable to shave but set the ship's barber to work with his sharpest scissors to reduce the resulting growth to its minimum - clipping it as one might a bowling green!"

  That was equally a delightful concept.

  "Captain Jackman, who succeeded you in Trident, Sir Frederick, and who has, I hear, kept her active on the shores of the Caribbean and the Main. A most enterprising officer! I am told he is to bring her back to England, the campaigns in the Sugar Islands having achieved their successes."

  "Excellent! He will be, I believe, in the way of marrying my wife's sister, Lord Partington's second daughter, on his return."

  This was interesting news to Admiral Clerke - naval officers rarely married into the aristocracy - the County and the upper orders of Trade was much more the norm for them. Captain Jackman's career could not be hurt by such an alliance; he was very much a coming man.

  They returned to business, the Admiral scanning Frederick's report which he must send to the Admiralty with his own covering letter.

  "Eight fireships, all destroyed, only two of them achieving their true end. Two frigates, one of them a heavy, hybrid sort with a massive armament. I have not seen that class myself but have heard of them, fast as a frigate and as powerful as a Fourth Rate, one is told, Sir Frederick."

  "But lacking the agility one would look for in a frigate, sir. Very slow to tack and not at all nimble, one might say. She would be comfortable in a line of seventy-fours, but would be all over the place was she to be put with another pair of frigates. Even harassed by fireships, Euripides was able to keep her under her broadside. Not an innovation one might wish to see imitated by British yards, sir."

  "Noted, Sir Frederick, and I shall make the point myself, in my own report. The taken frigate cannot be repaired in my yard, I believe, and must therefore be broken up. My report will also comment on the desirability of full dockyard facilities on the Rock."

  Frederick suggested as well that thought should be given to maintaining a flotilla of the Mediterranean Fleet at Gibraltar, should the requisite ships ever be available. A pair of seventy-fours, he said, would have suffered no embarrassment at all from the Spanish plot.

  "True, indeed, Sir Frederick, but quite impossible of attainment - we are now very short of ships, sir."

  The interview ended with a quiet enquiry of the officers who had survived. Would there be any possibly detrimental statements about them?

  "I am wholly satisfied by their conduct, sir. Even the young man Wales, who came from the semaphore huts, showed himself active and able."

  Courts-martial in the past had proved embarrassing to the service. At least one recent trial of a captain for grounding his ship had degenerated into a mass of accusation and counter-accusations of incompetence, drunkenness and stupidity; captain accusing the officer-of-the-watch of negligence and the officer defending himself stoutly. The process had not been edifying and had destroyed the careers of every man aboard the ship.

  The Admiral was relieved that he should not have to look forward to such a charivari in his court.

  "Finally, Sir Frederick, the matter of quarters arises. I cannot offer you my hospitality on this occasion - while you are awaiting trial, however much a charade we know it must be, you cannot be seen at my table. I can perhaps assist you to find eligible and comfortable rooms, however. You will not wish to reside in the barracks, in an ambivalent position as you are."

  Captains who had lost their ships in the smaller overseas possessions might sometimes wait a year and more for their trial, existing in an uncomfortable limbo, the fear of the court magnifying in their minds as they lived on the edges of the naval community. It was not a happy circumstance.

  Frederick sat in his comfortable rooms and waited for nearly a month until the fortuitous combination of ships arrived; inevitably he drank too much, secluded from all except his own officers, who shared his apprehensions.

  The court-martial letter arrived and Bosomtwi locked the decanters away so that he went to bed rigorously sober, presented himself bright-eyed and alert at the largest room in the Admiral’s suite, converted to a court for the occasion. The Admiral had refused the Governor's offer of his own courtrooms as smacking too much of criminality.

  Frederick's sword was taken from him and laid across the table to his front, all part of the ceremonial. He surveyed the five captains as they were named. Three were vaguely known to him from previous commissions, met across a dinner table or seen at a conference in port. Two were strangers; he had never met them but knew one to be of the Parkers, who were politically allied to his uncle Alton's clan for the nonce, which could only be useful to him. He had, to his knowledge, trodden on none of their toes; the trial if biased at all should be in the right direction.

  He was charged with hazarding his ship; there was an argument of rationality there, his ship having sunk under his command.

  As a necessary preliminary his officers were arraigned in court before him; he was asked whether he had complaint to make of the conduct of any or all of them.

  "Upon my honour, none, sir!"

  The officers were then asked whether they wished to make complaint against their captain. All signified their satisfaction with his behaviour.

  The atmosphere became easier; there were to be no vicious recriminations, so damaging to the Service and the people involved.

  The officers were returned to the waiting room - some or all might be called as witnesses, Master and First Lieutenant almost of a certainty. They sat silently, commission and warrant officers hugger-mugger, both parties uncomfortable at their proximity; it was not the way things should be done.

  The case was opened by Admiral Clerke stating the orders he had given Frederick, 'based on information received', and of his discovery only after Euripides was long sailed that the information had been deliberately false, a trap in fact.

  The scene was set and Frederick's report was read into the records of the Court, a copy before each of the captains.

  The prosecuting officer led Frederick through the action, inviting him to enlarge on the dry, official prose and summing up for him in a carefully phrased final question.

  "Would you agree, Sir Frederick, if I was to say that you were entrapped by two frigates of the heaviest class, carrying ninety-four cannon, including thirty-six pound long guns, to your sixty-four of twenty-four and eighteen-pounders?"

  "I would, sir."

  "Additionally, there were eight fireships, which attacked you without colours?"

  "There were, sir. One at least I observed to lower the ensign she was wearing."

  That probably had been the senior captain lowering a signal flag to execute the attack, but there was small need to make that observation.

  The captains exchanged significant glances - the perfidious Dons had offered surrender and had then made their dishonest attack. It was exactly what they expected of Dagoes - they could not fight man-to-man! Back-stabbing was what that amounted to!

  "And, Sir Frederick, at the end of the conflict, when the last gun had been fired, all eight fireships had sunk, together with the greater of the frigates and Euripides herself, and you were in possession of the smaller frigate, with the bulk of your crew, sole ship to sail away from the scene of battle?"

  "Yes, sir."

  "You were wounded in the action, Sir Frederick?"

  "I sustained burns, sir, now fortunately almost healed, but causing some slight injury to my shoulders and face - hence the whiskers, for which I must apologise to the court!"

  The President of the Court intervened to assure Fre
derick that they did not attribute any disrespect to him.

  "Additionally, Sir Frederick, and not wholly germane to the sinking of Euripides, yet part of the action, I believe you may have made a discovery aboard the frigate?"

  The loss of the codebook was known to the Spanish; Captain Murray had reported a hurried issue of new codes following the exchange of the frigate's captain.

  "The Confidential Books, sir, were in the captain's cabin. Untouched, sir."

  The Court was shocked; they shook their heads and silently trusted that the Spanish captain should have been hanged for such wickedness. Destruction of the Books was the absolute duty of any commander if his ship was taken.

  The First Lieutenant was called, was shown a copy of the report - which he had seen and memorised during the weeks of waiting - and asked whether he had any query or quibble to make.

  "None, sir. This is an accurate statement of all that occurred to my knowledge."

  The Master was brought in, agreed quite equally; asked to give his expert opinion he stated that in the winds prevailing on the day no other action could have been taken that might have saved the ship.

  The case was closed, except for the President of the Court asking Frederick whether Euripides' magazine had been flooded.

  "No, sir. The Gunner died during the action, having been incapacitated by illness from the very beginning. His mates had replaced gun captains killed or wounded and the remainder of his party were unaware of the need, sir."

  "Ordinary seamen and landsmen working the powder room would not be expected to take that action, Sir Frederick. And no harm was done, the ship hopelessly lost already. Have you any final remarks, sir?"

  "I would wish to commend the crew, sir. The gunners remained at their stations well after the ship took fire, had to be positively ordered to abandon a blazing hull. The Marines were still firing their volleys with the mizzenmast ablaze. The men displayed a dedication to their duty, sir, such as one might hope for, but could rarely expect to see."