Frigate Commander (16 page)

Anticipating that he would soon lose some of the frigate’s better able seamen, he pressed a number of men from homeward-bound merchantmen, including at least fifty from East Indiamen. He was aware, however, that it was unusual for the Admiralty to allow a captain to keep all of the men he pressed:

I am now in agonies of fear of losing these men whom we have got, which would be dreadful upon me as I am not to keep the old ship’s company.

In an attempt to retain the men he wrote pleading letters to the Admiralty:

I have tried the effect of the pathetic both on Sir Charles Middleton and Lord Chatham,
[as]
it would be better for me to keep the new men than the old: they are by much the best.

Bitterly, on his return to Portsmouth, he was obliged by the Port Admiral to hand over fifty-eight pressed men for service in other ships. The loss was slightly mitigated by the fact that he managed to keep fifteen men, simply by not reporting their impressment immediately at Portsmouth
;

It is a great pity that a Captain of a Man of War, who has no friends in the Admiralty, can never have his ship fit for service if he does not commit irregularities.

This was a slightly unfair assessment, for Moore clearly did have such friends. Furthermore, they would have been well aware that Moore was in a good position to press more men from homeward-bound ships in the Channel – an opportunity which was not available to the labour-intensive ships of the line.

In September there came reports that a French squadron was preparing at Dunkirk and the
Syren
was ordered to reinforce the Downs Squadron. The Downs was not a favoured station, as Moore noted laconically:

The Downs Station in war is in all respects a very disagreeable one, the communications with the shore is
[sic]
very precarious, and we continually are liable to be sent out so suddenly as to leave our linen etc behind, which is my case at present. Then when we are at sea we are on a most dangerous coast surrounded with shoals.

After an initial cruise off Dunkirk, the squadron was driven back to Margate road by a violent storm and held there for several days. The enforced stay there allowed the officers of the squadron to stretch their legs on shore and

Brown, the Captain of the
Active
and myself went on shore yesterday to Margate where I never had been before. We walked to Broadstairs which is three or four miles from Margate, both the watering places are very full at present of the people of fashion from London. We dined at Margate, and were a good deal pressed to go to the Play in the evening, where a Gentleman, a friend of mine, and one of the greatest Originals I ever met, was to perform one of Shakespeare’s most capital characters. We had a great desire to see this, but thinking it improper to be out of our ships at night we gave it up and returned on board.

By the end of October, the scare engendered by the rumoured French squadron had passed, and the
Syren
was ordered round to Sheerness for a refit. As usual, Moore loathed being sent there, the dockyard being poorly equipped and unhealthy, and there were other disadvantages:

This is a cursed place, and so near London that there is a very great chance of desertion.
[But]
I think it the most prudent plan to show a confidence in them
[the crew]
by giving them leave to go on shore.

In fact, he had limited choice in the matter anyway, as the task of refitting the ship meant that numbers of the men had to go on shore at different times, where

... opportunities of intoxicating themselves are not to be prevented, and every species of disorder follows that beastly excess ... The circumstances of my profession which is most distressing to me is the necessity of corporal punishment, I believe that our service cannot be carried on without it, the seaman being of so careless and dissolute a bent that exhortation is thrown away upon them.

Despite Moore’s distress, he had little need to impose such punishment on the crew for drunkenness, although two seamen were flogged for theft.

By the middle of December, the
Syren
was back at sea and on her way to the coast of Norway. On 18 December,

... between two and three in the morning, hearing a dreadful noise, I ran upon deck in my shirt and found the ship lying with her sails all aback and the rocks within half a mile of her to leeward; the people were hurrying up in the utmost confusion some crying out that they were all lost. The first thing that struck me, in this horrible situation, was to look if we had room to wear, which appeared to be impossible clear of the breakers. I then ran to the compass and found she was lying ESE upon which I immediately ordered the yards to be braced round and the fore tack hauled on board, sending the pilot forward to look out for rocks and breakers ahead, the men behaved well in this trying situation, making no noise and paying attention to the orders ... we were dreadfully alarmed several times by people seeing, or thinking they saw, breakers, which we bore up for more than once.

After several nail-biting hours, Moore managed to get the frigate clear of danger, but he was well aware how close they had come to complete disaster:

I never was nearer to Eternity, for as the ship was running between 8 and 9 knots, 5 minutes later in hauling our wind would have had us on the rocks.

When the alarm had subsided, Moore made enquiries about how the ship had been allowed to get into such a perilous situation. The answers he received convinced him that there had been some laxity among the officers of the watch, but as they strenuously denied any culpability he could do no more than issue warnings about being more cautious in the future. It was typical of Moore to avoid publicly allocating blame without genuine evidence of fault, but privately he was angry and frustrated. It was a sobering incident with which to end the year, and left him pondering his future commitment to a naval career:

If a Peace is made I hope I shall be on half pay, I shall have no spirit for employment after the war, for a couple of years.

At the beginning of 1795, the
Syren
was back at the Nore, and Moore travelled to London to see Sir Charles Middleton, at the Admiralty. He was hoping that the
Syren
could be attached to Sir John Borlase Warren’s independent frigate squadron, operating out of Falmouth. The squadron, together with a sister squadron commanded by Sir Edward Pellew, was achieving spectacular results and consisted of some of the navy’s finest frigates and commanders. It was a highly attractive posting, but Moore was to be disappointed. Middleton explained that ‘...
the
Syren
was not of force sufficient for the service I wished to be on, but that I should not be forgot.’
Moore, though, had no wish to leave the
Syren: ‘We are likely to have hot work in the Spring in the North Sea
[for the French had overrun Holland],
I may account with an engagement or two in the
Syren
, and I do not wish for a larger ship, as I hope to meet with my Match; and if successful my reputation is then established.’

Nevertheless, Moore’s desire for a more active station was soon realized. On 18 February, he received orders attaching the
Syren
to a squadron under the command of the controversial Captain William Sidney Smith. Smith had conceived the idea of putting together a small squadron consisting of several frigates, hoys, schooners and specially adapted gunboats for attacking the French channel ports and coastal trade. The gunboats were fitting out at Wells’ Yard at Deptford, and Moore was given the task of supervising their preparation. Early in March, Smith himself arrived to see them and Moore had his first opportunity of meeting him;

I like this man. He is bent on the pursuit of reputation, as a military man. He seems extremely active and diligent, overlooks trifling difficulties, and goes the nearest and boldest way to his object. His manner is affable, frank and conciliatory, his conversation sprightly and ingenuous. He has read and studied much on those subjects which relate to his profession, in which he appears well skilled, and as his courage borders on the romantic I have no doubt that he will shine in war. I believe that we shall agree well, for I love the man and esteem his character.

Meanwhile the
Syren
was moored at the Nore and Moore was becoming increasingly anxious to get her out to sea again, for the extended period of relative inactivity was making the crew bored and slack. At Sheerness work was underway refitting the
Arethuse
, a French frigate which had been taken at the capture of Toulon in 1793, and Moore could not help looking at her longingly:

She is a very fine ship, nine feet upon the lower deck longer than our largest frigates. I wrote to Lord Spencer asking him to appoint me to the command of her and to turn the
Syren
’s people over to her.

Spencer declined the request, explaining that Moore had not enough seniority for such a large frigate.

The gunboats were finally ready at the end of April and Moore began a laborious journey to escort them across the Channel. The gunboats were extraordinary looking vessels, with hulls very broad at the bow, and tapering markedly towards their narrow stern. They were flat bottomed, but fitted with Schank’s sliding keels.
⁴⁴
As they made their way, Moore became increasingly sceptical about them, believing there were
‘... many egregious blunders in the construction of them’
, which rendered them unseaworthy and unsuitable for their task. On 2 May they arrived at Spithead
,

... where we heard the melancholy news of the fate of the
Boyne
, which caught fire at Spithead ... She was in flames instantly and in spite of every effort burnt to the Magazine when she blew up with a terrible explosion which we heard and saw the smoak of at sea 14 or 15 leagues from the place. We hear that few lives were lost ...
⁴⁵

At Spithead, the
Syren
was joined by Sidney Smith in the frigate
Diamond
, with the rest of the squadron, and they headed across to the Channel Islands where they hoped to fall in with Sir Richard Strachan’s squadron. By the time they arrived, Moore had become impressed by Smith’s seamanship:

I perceive that the chevalier is by no means shy of Rocks, we have shaved some pretty close in rounding Alderney.

He was therefore somewhat embarrassed when, running into St Aubin’s Bay on the west side of Jersey, the
Syren

... struck on a sunken rock when running at the rate of 5 or 6 knots and rubbed over it.

There was worse to follow for

... as we were clewing the topsails up, John Elphinstone, a seaman, fell from the fore topsail yard on the anchor stock and was killed – Since we struck on the rock, we make water, but not anything considerable; I fear, however, that this accident will very materially affect our sailing as I am sure the Copper must be much rubbed.

It was not an auspicious start. Strachan’s squadron was soon located and it was agreed that the two groups should cruise together down the west side of the Cherbourg Peninsula. They were in action almost immediately for, on the following day, they encountered a convoy of thirteen French merchantmen working along the coast. The ships immediately ran on shore close under a battery at Cape Rozeland and the squadrons’ boats were sent in to cut them out, while the
Syren
gave chase to and captured a brig which attempted to run. The battery itself was captured and destroyed, but the operation was costly. Nine men were wounded from Strachan’s frigate alone, and Moore dismally noted the effects of the gunnery of the French battery:

Mr John McGuffoc one of our own Midshipmen lost both his legs and died an hour afterwards. One of our best Marines
[John Charrington]
had his bowels shot out, and two of the seamen were wounded, our capstern is shattered, but in other respects we received very little damage; the Surgeon of the
Hebe
and one of the seamen have been desperately wounded, the surgeon of the
Hebe
had his leg shot off and one of the seamen lost one thigh and had his other leg shattered. It is astonishing that three or four guns could have done us so much mischief. Sir Sidney stood very close in and fired grape upon them, and his long boat carrying an 18 pounder Carronade swept the Beach with great effect ... Guns in a Battery have a great advantage over ships unless the water is deep enough to admit the ships to come quite close, which was not the case here.

The action brought a salutary lesson which Moore was not to forget.

A few days later, Smith decided to send the gunboats in to attack an armed brig sheltering under a fort. Covering fire was to be delivered by the
Diamond
and
Syren
, but after the gunboats set off, the wind dropped and they were swept sideways by the tide. After another attempt failed, Smith called off the attack, much to Moore’s relief:

I own I did not like the business as our success would not have been of any consequence, and we were very fortunate to lose no men.

A similar attack took place on the 17th, though this time Smith ordered the ships’ boats to tow the gunboats in to the attack. The boats set off, led by the
Syren
’s Lieutenant Robert Campbell, but half way to their objective, the pilots on board the gunboats refused to approach any closer. Campbell decided to proceed alone, and Moore watched in agony as the boats disappeared as grape and round shot tore up the sea around them. Fortunately, much to Moore’s relief, Campbell abandoned the attack. Like an anxious parent, Moore summoned Campbell to his cabin;