HMS Diamond (17 page)

      
Smith said nothing and, for a moment, neither did Spencer.

      
"Yes, you destroyed 10 ships of the line, two frigates and two corvettes; but 18 ships of the line four frigates and three corvettes were not destroyed. Do you know whom they are blaming for that? You, Sir Sidney. They are blaming ‘the Swedish Knight.’

      
"Oh, I am sure you will be the toast of some
soirees
for a few weeks; and I understand this fellow Robertson is already working on a painting of the burning of the fleet at Toulon. But that’s not what’s being said in this building.

      
"Let me read you part of a letter I received from Captain Collingwood:

      
"Our miscarriage at Toulon is truly provoking; the more so as gross mismanagement alone could have prevented its being totally destroyed... No preparation was made for the destruction either of ships or arsenal; and at last perhaps it was put into as bad hands as could be found—Sir Sidney Smith, who arrived there a few days before and had no public situation either in the fleet or the army, but was wandering to gratify his curiosity."

      
Smith’s face was turning slightly red, but he said nothing.

      
"Then I have this from Captain Nelson:

      
"Sir Sidney Smith did not burn them all. Lord Hood mistook the man: there is an old song, Great talkers do the least, we see."

      
Spencer glared at Smith, but Smith had remained quiet throughout. When meeting with someone like the First Lord one had to be extremely careful. One word of disapproval from him, one stroke of his pen, and Smith would be on the beach at half-pay for the rest of his life. But, this was too much. This was monstrous. "At some point you just have to let the chips fall where they may," he thought.

      
"Sir," Smith began in a low controlled voice, "that is nothing short of absurd and insulting. To begin with, I never claimed to have gotten all the ships in Toulon. But I can tell you this. I would have gotten a damn sight more if my Spanish ‘allies’ had not run off on me. I did not wish those Spaniards to be a part of my party, sir, but I was ordered to take them. Ordered!

      
"Second, Captain Collingwood says I was ‘...wandering to gratify my curiosity.’ Wandering???" His voice was becoming more animated now. "Sir, I purchased a ship and hired a crew out of my own funds
to
seek out
the fleet in hopes of offering my services. I found them in Toulon. I saw that no provision had been made to destroy the French ships. I volunteered to do that, sir. With or without any ‘public situation,’ as Collingwood would put it, I volunteered and personally led the attack.

      
"Finally, while we are at it, where exactly were Captains Collingwood and Nelson while all this was taking place? As I recall, Captain Collingwood was with the Channel Fleet, and Captain Nelson was off running errands for Hood in Corsica. Neither of those men... neither was even there!

      
"If you believe those slanders, sir, then you are a fool."

      
Smith was horrified. He couldn’t believe what he had just said. He hadn’t really meant to use the word "fool;" it just slipped out. But, whether he intended to use it or not, his career was now finished and he knew it. Spencer said nothing for a long moment, studying Smith over.

      
"To be honest, Captain Smith, that was the reaction I hoped you would have."

      
Smith was not quite sure he had heard him correctly. "Sir?"

      
"I said that was the reaction I hoped you would have. If you had rolled over like a whipped puppy then, as far as I am concerned, you would have been of no further use to the service or to me.

      
"If it will make you feel any better, Captain, our agents are now reporting that Admiral Langara, your Spanish ally, was bought off by the French long before your mission took place. That’s why the Spanish deserted you.

      
"That, however, does not take away from the fact that Toulon was a disaster.

      
"When Hood arrived there were some 28,000 Royalists in Toulon. He managed to get about 15,000 out before the Republicans entered the city. Do you know how many residents there are in Toulon at this minute?"

      
"No, sir."

      
"7000! That means the French have killed off almost 6000 people in the last month and it’s still going on—all because
we
did not protect them.

      
"That cries out for a scapegoat, Captain; and there are two possibilities close at hand. The first is Admiral Hood, who botched the whole operation as far as I am concerned, and the second is you. Let me see... we have a vice-admiral of the white on one hand, and a very junior captain on the other. Who do you think is going to be on the receiving end of the ax?"

      
"But that’s not..."

      
"Fair? My God, sir!" Spencer’s voice was now loud and animated. "There is little or nothing about service life that is fair. And there are some realities you’d best come to grips with, starting with the fact that there are a lot of people out there who, quite frankly, don’t like you.

      
"To begin with, you fought for Sweden in the recent Russo-Swedish War. There’s nothing wrong with that, of course, except for the way you went about it. Instead of waiting for permission from the Admiralty, you simply traveled to Stockholm, told our minister there that you were the bearer of information for the king’s ears only—which was blatantly untrue. Then, when you got in to see the King of Sweden, you accepted his offer to serve."

      
"My Lord, I waited for permission in London for six weeks! How long does it take to..."

      
"I am not finished, Captain."

      
"Second, a lot of British officers lost their lives in that war fighting for the Russians. Several lost their lives at the battle in which you won your knighthood, and their brothers will never forgive you for that.

      
"Third, is your knighthood. It is Swedish."

      
"Yes, but..." Smith started to interject.

      
"Yes, but King George confirmed it. I know that, and that means you have every right to use the word "Sir" before your name. But that is not the same thing as being
accepted
as a knight. A lot of people feel you are being foisted on them for political reasons.

      
Smith said nothing, embarrassed. He was proud of that knighthood.

      
"On the other hand, it seems you also have a few friends in high places. If Prince William tells me one more time what a wonderful officer you are... Do you have any idea the waves of jealousy that that fact alone sets off among your fellow officers?" Lord Spencer’s harsh voice trailed off, then resumed after a moment in a more kindly fashion.

      
"Young man, I am not trying to be cruel with you. In truth, I rather agree with my cousin.

      
"Oh, to be sure, I would not want a whole navy full of officers like you. You are eccentric, headstrong and, I suspect, egotistical to a fault. You think that only
your
opinion is the correct one, and you have no compunction about disobeying orders if you think you are right. But, you are also courageous, creative and show flashes of genius, and I can’t afford to be blind to those characteristics."

      
Spencer was silent for nearly a full minute. Smith was too shaken to say anything. Finally, Spencer continued.

      
"Captain, I am giving you another command."

      
Smith’s head shot up. They were the last words he expected to hear.

      
"You will take command of the HMS
Diamond
, a 38-gun frigate. She is brand new; in fact they are just finishing up on her right now. You will join her as soon as possible at the yard in Deptford, fill out her crew, get her ready in all respects for sea duty, and then await further orders. By rights I should assign you to the Channel Squadron; but I am not sure I dare. I would like to keep the Channel Fleet functioning properly for a while. So, you will operate directly under Admiralty orders.

      
"But, in doing this, Captain Smith, I have one small request to make."

      
"Sir?"

      
"Try to cause the French at least as many headaches as you have caused me. Do you understand?"

      
"Yes, sir." Smith couldn’t help but smile.

      
Spencer stood up indicating the meeting was over. "Secretary Nepean has your orders. Pick them up at his office on the way out."

      
"Sir," Smith said as he too rose. "With regard to personnel, there are several people I’ve worked with in the past that..."

      
"Personnel is a problem everywhere, Captain. Since the American War, we literally dismantled our fleet. Most of our ships were laid up, our seamen were discharged and they dispersed to God knows wherever they go.

      
"In short, it’s open season on officers and seaman out there, Captain. If you want some of your old ship’s company back, you’d better go find them and bring them back. But, be advised. Every other captain, of every other ship, is going to want to grab them too."

      
"Yes, sir. And thank you, sir."

      
Smith picked up his orders and shot out of the Admiralty Building like a convict who had just been released from the Newgate gallows. He had places to go and things to do—chief among them, he had to see if Walker and Whitney were still in town.

***

      
If any good had come out of the American War of Independence it was that it forced the Board of Admiralty to re-think its frigate designs. Your seamen could be the most competent in the world and your captains the most courageous; but if the enemy carried a stick that was vastly superior to your own, you were nevertheless still in trouble. And the French had that vastly superior stick in the form of the 38-gun frigate.

      
In 1780, the
Minerva
was launched. Designed by Edward Hunt, built at Woolwich, she was Britain’s first 38-gun warship. More than that, she was also the first to carry 18-pound guns as her main armament instead of the old 12-pounders. She and her sister ships were fast, maneuverable and packed a punch; but had a problem—a design flaw, if you will. They were too small for the guns they were carrying.

      
The problem was not one of weight, as they were carrying the new lighter-weight 18-pounders. The problem was space. The guns were too close together and that hampered effective firing. So, the Admiralty noted the problem, but not much was done for over 10 years.

      
On February 1st, 1793 war was again declared with France and the Board of Admiralty ordered that a new class of 38-gun frigates be built. The problem was that they still did not know how long a frigate should be to properly accommodate that many guns; so the new class was an experiment. The first ship commissioned was the
Artois
. The second was the
Diana
and, a few days later, the third ship was the
Diamond
.

      
Smith was the first one out of the carriage and he paused to inspect the tribute to wood and human ingenuity that lay before him. The
Diamond
lived up to her name—she was a beauty. She was 39 feet wide and 146 feet long, five feet longer than the
Minerva
. This increased length still did not completely solve the space problem for the guns, but that was something Smith would discover later. Her lines, however, were breath-taking.

      
The designer, Sir John Henslow, began with the basic
Minerva
plans but lowered the
Diamond
by about 18 inches and decreased the severity of the hull’s tumblehome. This produced a fuller waterline profile that, Henslow reasoned, would reduce pitching. It did, but it also gave the
Diamond
a rakish appearance that, coupled with the graceful serpentine railing along the length of her quarterdeck and the fullness of her bow, made the
Diamond
look like she was traveling at 10 knots, even when she was at anchor.

      
Over 1600 loads of timber had been hauled to the shipyard at Deptford to build the
Diamond
, which represented several hundred years growth of almost 40 acres of woodland. Elm was used for the keel, oak for the frames, East Country Crown Plank for the planking, and so on. As specified in her builder’s contract:

      
All of the Timber and Plank shall be of the Growth of England... well grown, square edged, free from Saps, Shakes and Defects; and all of the Plank of the Bottom, Sides, and Decks, shall be dry and well seasoned before it is wrought...