Sails Across the Sea: A Tim Phillips Novel (War at Sea Book 8) (13 page)

Leaving the gunbrig behind, Badger made for the estimated position of the corvette, projected from the course Harrison had given. The chances of finding the enemy were slim, but every lead must be followed. Their route was taking them well south of the Cape, and Phillips was about willing to call it a day and head for Simonstown when his lookout spotted a ship’s boat not too far away.

The longboat would have been easy to miss since the swells were higher than the boat, but the lookout spotted her as she rose on a swell, and Badger sailed toward the furiously waving men in the boat.

The men in the boat had been in it for a week and had expended what food and water they had been supplied. All were suffering from thirst and exposure and had to be helped aboard Badger. The men were the captain and crew of a merchant brig out of Portsmouth bound for Cape Colony. Their vessel had been taken just days before reaching safety by a French corvette of twenty two guns, L’Aurore.

After the rescued men had been cared for by the ship’s surgeon, Phillips interviewed their Captain, Mister Jackson. He stated they had sailed in from the Atlantic on a line of latitude just south of the Cape when this ship appeared on their beam at dawn, a week ago. Thinking she was a British warship, Jackson was not alarmed at first. By the time she was identified, it was too late to escape.

Jackson reported the corvette had seen some hard usage and her sails and rigging appeared to be in poor condition. Her hull was also patched in places. It was evident she had been in a fight since her last visit to a dockyard. Their own ship was carrying a mixed cargo, some of which were consigned to the dockyard at the Cape. Among that cargo was powder in barrels and shot. The crew of the corvette went over their brig, transferring what cargo they could get aboard their ship. The brig’s crew were forced to do much of the labor.

When finished, the French captain ordered one of the trader’s own guns to fire a shot though the brig’s bottom. The brig’s crew was given an old launch from the corvette to make their voyage to Cape Colony. Their own was confiscated by the enemy ship since it was in much better condition. Without a compass or any navigational instruments they were advised to make their way north to Simonstown. They had no sail and had to row. Eventually, without food or water, the men no longer had the strength. They tried making a sail of the men’s shirts using oars for mast and spars, but lost the whole affair when a gale kicked up.

Phillips wondered if Captain Jackson had any idea where the corvette had gone. “The last I saw of her she was sailing west northwest out into the Atlantic. She might be making for home.”

“How do you think she is for supplies?”

“Well, Captain Phillips, she used our fire engine to pump all of our water into her own butts. They also took our biscuit and salt beef, every sack and barrel. Of course, we were planning to re-provision once we made harbor and that corvette has a bigger crew than we did. What they took from us will probably not last them all that long.”

The enemy had a week’s start so Phillips was in a hurry to get after her. Captain Jackson was anxious to get to Cape Colony to make his report, but he was not to be accommodated. Phillips said, “Captain. I will give you your choice. I must go after this Frenchman. You and your men can come with us, or I could fit your boat with a sail, provisions and instruments so that you can make your own way there.”

Jackson wisely chose to remain with Badger. Mister Hardesty was evicted from his tiny abode off the wardroom, and Captain Jackson was installed there.

Badger sailed out into the Atlantic and then followed the coast travelling northward. All men on deck were ordered to keep their eyes open for objects that may have been discarded from the enemy ship. The first such item was the remains of a burned out hulk of a small ship. The burned timbers still smelled of fire, so she had probably been burned just a few days before.

Her upperworks had been completely gutted by fire and the hull was just floating along in the current. No cargo was left in the hull. Examined closely, it was impossible to determine the nationality. Suspecting he was wasting his time, Badger continued northward, eventually crossing the Line.

After days without encountering another ship, a sail was spotted ahead. It took all day to close the ship. Hull up, she seemed to be a ship-rigged British trader, who was not about to heave to, even as Badger displayed her red ensign, commission pennant, and her number. Next morning she was still in sight and they ran her down and fired a gun. Reluctantly Royal Duke came to and Mister Hardesty took a party of men and boarded her. Upon returning, there was an explanation for her reluctance to be boarded.

Several days before a ship had appeared one morning off their port beam. She also flew British colors, and there was no suspicion she was anything else than what she appeared, when she fired a gun. Aimed directly at the ship, the ball smashed the port rail up forward. It seems this was a Frenchman masquerading as an English ship. Royal Duke piled on every sail she had except the captain’s shirt and pulled ahead, being fired at all the while.

Luckily, the enemy’s practice was poor, and she soon outpaced the enemy corvette, receiving minor damage. The last they had seen of her, she was heading west, out into the Atlantic. One of Royal Duke’s officer had spotted her name on her sternboard, it was L’Aurore.

After releasing Royal Duke to her voyage, Phillips had a conference on the quarterdeck with Mister Hardesty, Captain Jackson and Mister Tringle.

Asked their opinions, all thought the enemy might be sailing for America. Phillips considered it his duty to pursue the ship, but Jackson prevailed upon the merchant’s captain to take him aboard to report his situation to his owner’s agent at Simonstown. The remainder of the rescued crew had already had their names entered in the ship’s books and were now members of the Royal Navy.

Badger took advantage of the trade winds that carried them west toward the Caribbean. On the way, she encountered a convoy of British shipping escorted by a pair of warships, HMS Circe of thirty two guns, twelve pounders, Captain Moore, with HMS Daphne, twenty two guns, a nine pounder post ship commanded by Captain Marshall.

After hoisting their number, Captain Moore invited Phillips aboard to exchange news. The convoy was destined for the Windward Islands, where individual ships would be dropped off at the destinations. The remaining ships would proceed up the chain to the Leeward Islands where Circe and Daphne would end their voyage at English Harbor on Antigua.

Moore whistled when he heard of Phillip’s pursuit of the corvette, L’Aurore, inviting Badger to join the convoy. “You will have as much chance to meet her with us, as by yourself, Your ship would be welcome in case she is attracted by our merchantmen,”

In the end, Badger did join the convoy, taking up her assigned station to leeward in the rear. The remainder of the voyage was monotonous, shepherding the unruly flock of merchant shipping, each master determined to do things his own way. He was beginning to regret he had joined the flock, when an armed island schooner met them off Trinidad and joined the escort.

With this addition to the escort, Captain Moore readily agreed to Badger’s departure. Bidding the convoy farewell, Badger hung out all her laundry and sailed away. Proceeding up the chain of islands she made the best of her way, stopping only occasionally to interview crews of the small craft she encountered. Receiving no pertinent information, he continued up the chain into the Leeward’s.

Coming up to the island of Antigua, Phillips elected to put into English Harbor. The stores of salt beef and pork were getting low, and they needed water also. The harbor was empty when they sailed in since the fleet was at sea, but Governor Elliot was present, so Phillips went ashore and went to Government House to relay his information.

Elliot was concerned since several inter-island trading vessels had vanished. In one case, a fishing boat reported a dilapidated corvette flying the tri-color was in the area at the time of one of the disappearances. He indicated there was no firm evidence of where this ship might be located.

“A few years ago, there were still French controlled islands in the Caribbean where he might go for repairs and supply, but we have since taken most of them. Have you considered the ship may have continued on to the United States?”

Phillips was astonished. “The US? They were at war with France just a few years ago.”

“That war was over a decade ago. Since then France has sold most of its holdings in North America to the US. There are many French still in New Orleans. They may be able to find assistance there,” the Governor added.

Badger spent a week at English Harbor, making necessary repairs and stowing provisions aboard. When finished, she continued her voyage up the island chain for any reports of the French corvette. She sailed past the Spanish island of Puerto Rico. He had been advised back in English Harbor to stay away from ports there or in Cuba. While Spain was now on the side of Britain in the war with France, sometimes the Spanish authorities were not comfortable with other nation’s ships visiting her colonial ports.

Passing St. Domingue, he ordered the lookouts to keep an especially sharp lookout. Not long before, this had been an important French colony. French rule had been overturned when a savage slave revolution had taken control of the colony. The information Phillips had received was that all French whites had either fled or been massacred. Nevertheless, he approached every harbor he encountered to see if the corvette had somehow taken refuge.

No sizeable ships were encountered, but dozens of small fishing boats were encountered offshore. Most fled upon approach but then the crew of one boat waved their cane knives in a threatening manner, and Phillips thought it best to stay away.

HMS Badger continued up the coast of Cuba. He had no intention of putting into any Spanish port, but thought he might approach Havana Harbor to see if he could speak a ship entering or leaving. With her colors flying and the commission pennant displayed, he approached until a gun from a shore battery fired, warning him from approaching further. Badger hove to out of range until she either met another ship or until the Spanish got serious about sending him away.

Mister Hardesty took the ship while Phillips went to his cabin to labor at the reports he must eventually give over to the Admiralty. He had barely got into his work, when Mister Simmons came rushing below. Phillips overheard him explaining volubly to the Black Marine his necessity to speak with the captain. The Marine, who little more a year earlier, been an Ashanti warrior in Africa, was not yet completely comfortable with the English language.

Phillips interrupted the dialog by bidding the midshipman to enter. The former able seaman knuckled his forehead and reported a ship’s boat with a small crew was leaving harbor, and from the way they were waving, it seemed they wished to approach the ship.

It was a standard ship’s boat that hooked onto their larboard mainchains, and a normal boat crew that climbed aboard. They had an interesting tale to relate. A few days before, their ship, a British brig-snow, out of St. Kitts with a cargo of sugar, bound for New Orleans, where they hoped to pick up a cargo of furs. Instead a corvette flying French colors took them one morning just off the entrance to Havana harbor. Their captors were not interested in their cargo, being more insistent upon removing the snow’s beef and biscuit. Apparently her crew was starving.

The members of the boat crew were allowed to board their ship’s launch and pull toward Havana. The Spanish gave them food and water but told them they must soon leave. They were debating where they should try to sail to in the launch, when they heard the gun fire from Morrow Castle and a priest told them an English ship was offshore.

Apparently some of the citizenry were of the opinion the refugees were really a band of spies from that heretic ship bent on plundering Havana. There had been some angry looks from the populace before they escaped the shore.

With each member of the crew intent on telling his own story. Phillips took them to the quarterdeck, where there was room for everyone. He called for his steward and ordered him to furnish each man a drink. Rather than upset the purser’s accounts, he drew on the white distilled liquor he had purchased with his own funds back in Simonstown. It was too fiery for his own taste, but the seamen found nothing objectionable about it at all. 

Gradually the whole story came out. Captain Randolph of the snow was moderately fluent with the French tongue. Wisely keeping his knowledge to himself, he overheard the crewmen recounting their difficulties. The corvette had long ago ran out of the stores it had taken aboard in Brest, and the crew had been subsisting on what they could take from captured ships. They were also cruelly short of ball for their guns.

L’Aurore had taken some powder from a prize off the African coast, but the shot she had loaded from the same source was of British caliber, and just a bit too large to fit down their guns’ bores. Apparently, the corvette had just a small amount of proper sized ball, a little grape and some bar shot for destroying ships sails and rigging.

From the story Randolph had related, Phillips learned the corvette’s commander was planning to lurk in the strait between Cuba and the Florida mainland to see if he could waylay shipping to garner enough stores to make it back to France. Failing that, he would make for New Orleans, which a decade before had been a French colony and might still have some sympathetic citizens who might aid them.

Feeling increasingly confident they might be finally be coming to the finale of their voyage, the crew of Badger trimmed their sails to make for the Florida Strait. It was a dark night when they reached the passage, and they gingerly started their passage through it, staying well to the sparsely populated Spanish Florida side rather than risk angering the Spanish forces in Cuba itself. Mister Tringle had no recent charts of the waterway, and leadsmen were kept busy all night in the chains, swinging their leads to determine the waters’ depths. Phillips spent most of that night on the quarterdeck. And was fascinated in the morning when the lookout, within minutes of assuming his perch in the maintop, announced “Two sail, close in, off the port bow. Land off the port bow.”

The land was easy enough to explain, it was one of the innumerable Florida Keys of these parts.  This islet partially masked a pair of ships to the north. Phillips ordered the topsails furled to reduce the chances of the ship being sighted. As Badger crept along using her courses, Mister Hardesty went up with his glass to get a better view. When he came down, he reported the ships were lashed together and men were transferring cargo. Hardesty was sure the smaller of the ships was the corvette they had met before in the Indian Ocean.

Coming now from behind the key, Phillips decided it was not worth attempting to stay hidden any longer. A crewman aboard the corvette was bound to spot them any moment. He ordered the marine drummer to ‘Beat to Quarters’, and the drum began thundering as the crewmen dropped whatever they were doing and began to prepare the ship for battle. Topmen went hurrying aloft to set the sail needed for the ship to close the enemy as soon as possible.

Mister Simmons, now in the tops with his glass, reporting the corvette was cutting herself away from her prize and preparing to make sail. When the corvette did come to the wind, she made a poor showing since her canvas was in such poor condition.

When her captain decided there was no point in running, she turned to face Badger. Phillips decided to engage to windward of the enemy and the pair approached about two cable’s length apart. As they neared, Phillips ordered his forward guns to fire when their gunners had a good shot. The shots began to strike the enemy soon after firing began but the corvette did not return fire. It was not until the ships were broadside to broadside did the enemy fire. A ball howled by just forward of the captain, parting one of the mizzen shrouds. Another slammed into the hull forward of the main. Somewhere he heard a man shout as he was pierced by a shower of oaken splinters.

His gun crewmen went into their drill, loading and firing like automatons, firing their three shots every five minutes. Surprisingly, the opponent did not. Several minutes went by before she essayed another volley. The Badgers saw the smoke of the next discharge, but no shot reached them. Instead, Phillips saw an elongated splash as a bar shot smacked in the water off their beam. Meant to be fired at very close range into a ship’s sails and rigging, these had been fired from too far away and could not reach their ship.

Her topsails now backed, Badger slowed her passage down the length of the enemy while the guns continued their destruction. At length, out of ball for her guns and unable to respond, the tricolor was seen to slowly descend and Phillips ordered the cease fire.

During the action the ship that had been secured to the corvette had drifted in the current, with no crew visible or any sails set. Now though, a few men were seen climbing on deck. Ordering Simmons to take the launch and a party of Royal Marines to the ship to investigate, Phillips concentrated on the corvette. With their guns trained on the ship, badger drew up beside.

Mister Hardesty took a boarding party over and returned with the captain who surrendered his sword. Hardesty announced in his opinion, the ship was in no state to voyage more than a short distance. Her hull, already badly damaged before the action, was now well beaten in from the bombardment they had received. In addition he declared the corvette’s rigging to be in a hopeless state.

Leaving the French captain in his cabin with the Marine sentry to watch over him, Phillips went aboard the captured corvette to see for himself. Hardesty had not exaggerated! He knew he was not about to risk a crew attempting to sail this ship to a British port. In any case, he could not see any value in it. If she could be brought in, it would undoubtedly cost more to repair her than it would cost to build a new ship. The only option was to take her crew off and sink her.

The problem was, what to do with the enemy crew. He did not have space aboard his own ship to house an enemy crew, who would almost immediately be planning ways and means to take the ship for themselves.

It would be inhumane to strand the men on the nearby key for the mosquitos and reptiles to eat alive. While meditating on the matter, he saw the other ship had run up some sail and was now approaching them. Mister Simmons was on the quarterdeck with a whiskered gentleman, perhaps the captain. Captain Hardinger and his crew had been secured below before their merchant had been cast loose, but they soon broke free.

It soon developed this was an American ship out of Boston with a cargo of salt cod bound for the British and Spanish islands of the Caribbean, The food being meant to feed the slaves of the sugar plantations, the captain had intended to load a cargo of molasses to take back to Boston. He had already landed much of his salt fish at Bermuda, and planned to return later to collect the molasses.

Instead, the corvette had intercepted them, firing bar shot at their rigging at close range to disable the ship. During the fire, two crewmen of the Yankee fell to their deaths when, while setting sail in the foretop, the footrope they were standing on was shot away.

Mister Hardinger, the Yankee captain was livid over this piracy and wanted to see these men in court. This gave Phillips an idea. With this Yankee captain and his crew as witnesses, there was every reason the French officers, at any rate would receive severe justice in an American court on charges of murder and piracy. How could he deliver them though?

Mister Hardesty supplied the answer. “Sir, when I went through the merchant, I found the French had already taken her water, and were working on removing the fish when we interrupted. Up forward, there is a storage space full of rusty irons. I think Mister Hardinger may have ran this ship as a slaver in the past.

Of course, the slave trade with Africa was now illegal, and subject to severe penalties if one was apprehended in the act. When Hardinger was approached on the subject, he refused to comment, beyond saying that he would not countenance breaking the law in that respect.

Phillips put the question to him, “Captain Hardinger, of course I am not accusing you or your ship of partaking in the slave trade. However, would I be correct if I thought you might be moderately familiar with the practice of securing quantities of men in ships?”

Hardinger emitted a grunt that could have been construed either yes or no.

Phillips continued. “Captain, I have over a hundred prisoners from the corvette that attacked you. As far as my government is concerned, they are prisoners of war, apt to be released whenever the diplomats effect a trade.”

Hardinger erupted “Captain, you can’t release those murderin’ pirates! I’ll go straight to Washington and see President Madison myself!”

Phillips reasoned, “My problem, Mister Hardinger, is that I do not have room on my ship to stow all those men. Had I the space, I would take them to America myself where you could charge them with the offenses they have subjected you to. You have seen the state of their own ship. She is sinking as we speak. She would never make the voyage herself. Besides, there is some ill-will between our governments now. It would be best if I stayed away from your shores.”

Hardinger thought a bit. “Captain, they did a good deal of damage to my rigging, as well as stealing much of my cargo, and my water. But, if I could talk you into sparing my ship some of your water and maybe a little ship’s biscuit, I think I may be able to stow those Frenchmen aboard. As it happens, I have enough irons for most of ‘em. There is enough of my cargo of salt cod left on board to keep us alive until we reach port. Maybe you could give me a paper about these proceedings that I could give the insurer. I may just be able to recover some damages from them.”

Badger remained beside the Yankee for the rest of the day. There was an effort to salvage some of the water that had been pumped into L’Aurore. The pumps had just been sent over when she began to settle precipitously. A little water had been transferred back into Boston Trader when the corvette sank dangerously low in the water. With the holds flooded, the men and equipment had just been withdrawn when the corvette slipped below the waves.

Now, the crews of Badger and the Boston Trader set to and got the merchant in as seaworthy condition as possible. At dusk, the pair set sail in company, as they were both going in the same direction. Phillips plan was to put in to Halifax in Nova Scotia where he could make his reports. Having given much of his beef and biscuit to the Boston Trader, he was in some need to replenish his supplies himself. By morning, their consort was no longer in sight.

It was a travel-worn ship that entered harbor at Halifax later that month. There was not a drop of paint left on the ship and the men were confined to polishing the ship’s brass and holystoning the deck to make Badger as presentable as she could be.

Phillips reported to the senior officer present, Captain Howard, whose 74 gun third-rate ship was undergoing some repairs for damage suffered in a hurricane off Jamaica. Howard intimated the Americans were making threats about going to war. While he himself did not think that was likely, he felt Badger should return to Britain, where she might be needed to keep an eye on the French while the larger ships came to America to awe these Yankee traders.

He was non-committal about the crew of the corvette that had been turned over to the Americans. “I have heard these Yankees give short shrift to pirates. Pirates they were of course, firing into an American ship with which they were not at war. At least the Yankees will regard it that way.’