HMS Athena: A Charles Mullins novel (Sea Command Book 4) (8 page)

There was something of a problem. The Marine officer had not returned to Athena from the flagship with Mullins. It was assumed he had gone ashore in conjunction with collecting the marine detachment destined for Athens. Likely these men would be a different group of men than those who served on her before.

Howard had been up all night, working on the watch list with the master, so Mullins ordered him to signal the flag about his missing Marines then to get his head down. Mister Drover was also showing signs of fatigue, but the captain thought he still had some life in him.

“Mister Drover, you and I will take the deck and together perhaps, we can take her to sea without running on board the flag. First, will you signal the flag that we are ready to proceed?”

This was the first test of the lad. Mullins had earlier inspected the signal book to determine the proper signal to pass that message. Without unnecessary delay, Drover called out the signal flags to the yeoman. Without exception, they were the same signals that Mullins would have used himself.

The admiral had probably been observing, since the reply rose almost immediately. “Sir, flagship replies, Proceed. Goodbye and good luck.”

Mullins nodded, “Very well Mister Drover. Perhaps you would see about getting our hook up and taking Athena out of the harbor.”

Again there was turmoil, as hands were called to the capstan, while topmen were sent aloft to be ready to make sail. Many of the new hands blundered about on deck, getting in everyone’s way. Lasher, the new acting bosun was nearly beside himself with frustration. Before the ship catted her anchor, both Flowers, the gunner and Drake, the carpenter, had appeared on deck to lend their abilities in taking the ship to sea. With the ship’s deck in complete confusion, one of the few older hands on the mizzen braces pointed over the side and roared, “Boat ahoy!”

Not noticed in the turmoil, a large yard boat was pulling out to the ship’s side, loaded nearly to its gunnels with a mass of red-coated Marines.

With many of them retching from their short excursion in the open boat, Athena’s captain deduced these men were likely just out of the receiving barracks. Topsails were backed and these men and their kit were hauled aboard even as the flagship was wondering at the delay. Mister Cartwright got her headsails drawing as the last of the crates was swayed aboard, then they were heading out to sea.

Once out in the Channel, with the ship sailing easily on a beam reach, Mullins called his officers and warrants to his quarters again.

“Gentlemen, it is plain we must get some trained seamen shortly. Many of the new hands we received are worthless. We will keep a close watch for a convoy coming in to the channel. Preferably a small one with perhaps only a sloop or brig escort. Hopefully, we can press some seamen.”

“Sir”, wondered Mister Drover. “Wouldn’t we be able to press more men from a larger convoy?”

“Perhaps we could, Mister Drover. However, we do not need all that many men. A larger convoy would likely have a post captain in command of the escort, probably one higher on the captain’s list than myself. Such a convoy commander may not wish to deplete the crews of his charges, just when they are entering waters populated with French privateers.

Before dusk that evening, a convoy was seen offshore. A dozen merchants with a frigate and brig shepherding the flock. Athena hung out her number and turned away when it seemed the frigate had nothing to say to her. Mullins knew a post captain commanding a thirty-two-gun frigate almost had to have more service than himself.

Next morning however, a smaller convoy was seen. This also had two escorts, but the bigger one was a sloop-of-war, commanded by a commander, one who would not be able to prevent Athena from raiding his convoy.

Mullins ordered the sloop to pass within hail, then told the ship’s captain through his speaking trumpet he was going to take a few seamen from each merchant. Unable to disagree with a superior officer, the escort commander merely hung out the affirmative and backed his topsails.

Mullins had a few words for the boarding parties. “I do not want you to strip the merchants clean. Should one or more merchants be lost to weather or the French because we have severely depleted their crews, I will hear from the Admiralty. Muster the crews on deck and be certain to leave a few good seamen aboard.”

“You may know that some owners send a ship to sea with too few crewmembers to handle the ship. If you find a merchantman in this condition, either leave her be, or perhaps give her a few of our own sad bargains. In fact, I want you to see Mister Howard and ask him to assign a few of the poorest hands on Athena to each boat. At the least, they will gain experience in pulling on an oar, you may be able to exchange a no-hope for a decent merchant seaman. I will consider this a successful press if we can gain ten good seamen.”

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In two hours, the deed was done. Despite curses and recriminations, a dozen experienced seamen were ‘pressed’ and brought aboard Athena. Six useless hands were sent aboard several merchants, including one sent to a brig from which not a man was pressed. Whenever a merchantman they were searching was seen to be shorthanded, one of the landsmen would be put aboard her, hopefully after a suitable seaman had been taken. Doubtless, letters of complaint would be posted to Members of Parliament and to the Admiralty itself. Captain Mullins was sure by the time this commission was over and the ship returned to Portsmouth, other outrages would have occurred and this particular one should likely be forgotten.

Despite orders to expedite the voyage where possible, Athena made her way leisurely down the mainland coast. She left clouds of powder smoke behind her as she practiced her gunnery. There was little hope in making topmen from any of the specimens taken aboard in Portsmouth, but there was little need for that, since they now had a sufficient supply of that breed. Some of those landsmen though, showed potential as gunner’s crew, and Mullins was always happy when a use could be found for a hitherto useless hand.

Their Marine officer, along with a sergeant and corporal with which he had been blessed, spent much of his time with his recruits. His first priority was having them remove their splendid red coats, thoroughly sponged them down, and carefully stored away. For general duty aboard ship, the marines would wear standard seaman’s issue slop clothing. Only the guard on the captain’s quarters would wear full uniform. Of course, during formal inspections and in battle, uniforms would be worn.

Off the Galicia coast, a small convoy was sighted and investigated. An escort brig flying the Spanish colors made a tentative pass at Athena, but faced with an overpowering opponent, went about and made for a small coastal harbor The six small coasters in the convoy also split up and made for whatever destination suited. One tartane could not make up her mind, trying first for a battery-defended inlet, then changing course for a larger harbor. Mullins almost felt guilty about snapping her up. She flew no flag and at first Mullins thought she was probably French, but after she wallowed to a stop, it was found she had a Spanish captain and a mostly Portuguese crew, with a few Frenchmen aboard also.

As was his habit, he asked for any members of the crew who might wish to escape the prison hulks by volunteering to serve in the Royal Navy. The Spaniard and three Frenchmen aboard indignantly refused but the half dozen Portuguese were happy to oblige.

These new recruits were excellent seamen and should perform well in the crew, just as soon as they learned a little English. Mister Howard saw to it they were assigned separately to different messes with English speakers so they might learn a bit faster.

Mullins gave command of the prize to Midshipman Archer to take to Lisbon, giving him a pair of good seamen as well as a half-dozen landsmen to do the hard work. Already close by that port, the prize would be there in a few days. He had been tempted to just burn the prize, but he knew his crew would work more cheerfully if they knew they might receive a pocketful of silver to spend on their next run ashore. Besides Archer, already a decent seaman despite his minimal time at sea, could use a little practical experience away from the apron strings of the first officer.

Off Ferrol, they found a few third-rates and a frigate keeping watch. Admiral Cochrane, they learned, was gone, chasing after a Spanish first rate that had left harbor two days before. From the senior captain on station, Mullins received orders to follow Cochrane’s path with a view to overtake. Apparently Cochrane needed a frigate or sloop-of-war to relay information. Mullins was dubious of the possibility of locating Cochrane in the vast Atlantic, but Captain Carter gave him written orders to follow Admiral Cochrane to the Caribbean, if necessary.

Setting out from the blockading station off Ferrol. Athena cruised down the Iberian Peninsula until reaching the mouth of the Tagus River. Sailing up the estuary, Athena reached the port of Lisbon. The doctor who boarded the ship there to inquire about disease and grant practique, knew about the tartane that arrived the day before. The longboat, with Lieutenant Drover in the stern sheets, set out to find the vessel and retrieve the prize crew. After its return, Captain Mullins learned Midshipman Archer had notified the British consul upon arrival and the tartane was already in the hands of the local prize court.

It would likely be weeks or months before any funds were released from the sale of the tartane, but Mullins dipped into his own purse to give those hands that were granted liberty, some shillings to enable them to buy a few drinks.

Those men trusted to go ashore he warned, “The port watch will go ashore at dusk. They will be back before the end of the first watch. If any do not return, the starboard watch will not leave the ship. The starboard watch will leave at dawn tomorrow, presuming all the port watch has returned. They must be back by the end of the forenoon watch.”

One man failed to return from the port watch and two more from the starboard. All of these were landsmen, of no great value to the ship or crew. The captain elected to overlook their desertion and allowed the others their liberty. Their loss was more than made up by the Portuguese volunteers gained from the prize previously taken and a Danish seaman stranded in Lisbon, who had himself rowed out to Athena on the morning they left.

After dropping off their pilot once they were out of the estuary, Athena set her topsails and fore and main courses and continued on course. Off the Spanish coast, a Moorish galley from the African mainland came out to see what they were about, but left after viewing the ship’s armament. Had the winds been light or calm, the craft might have come up on their quarter using oars and pounded her with her bow guns until she struck, but with this fine breeze from the northeast, there would have been nothing but disaster for the Moor.

Leaving the coast, she set out for the Azores, where, after sighting nothing for days while on passage, she fell in with some fishing boats. Athena’s Portuguese crewmembers learned from the fishermen that two large Spanish battle ships had passed a week before, but no British ships were sighted.

Mullins had to make a decision. His orders cleared him to cross the Atlantic in search of Admiral Cochrane, but he had the gravest doubts the admiral had sailed this far away from his command. He believed Cochrane had likely turned back soon after leaving.

There was however, the sighting of the two Spanish line-of-battle ships to consider. It would be worthwhile to the Admiralty to learn what those two were about. Should they reinforce any French ships already present in the sugar islands, they might be able to cause considerable mischief to British interests.

Deciding to continue, he called on his clerk to pen a letter to Admiralty headquarters, informing his superiors of his actions thus far; his orders to find Admiral Cochrane and the reported sighting of the two Spaniards. Emphasizing his intention to continue his search for Cochrane, he signed and sealed the letter, giving it to a fisherman to put into the post when he next made port.

The sailing master requested they take on stores while they were in the islands, but upon determining they had sufficient supplies to last until reaching Jamaica, Mullins decided to continue without stopping. Nearing the coastline of the Carolinas, their water was becoming decidedly murky when they came upon the longboat.

It was shortly after dawn and the lookouts had only been aloft for half a glass when it was sighted off their forward port quarter. Only a dot on the horizon when first observed, Mister Drover went aloft with a glass and soon reported it was a ship’s boat. There were six men aboard, three of them alive. None of the living were in any condition to answer questions at that time. Brought aboard and put under the care of the surgeon, one of the three died that night.

One man remained delirious but the third, thirsty and ravenously hungry, soon was able to answer their questions.

They had been crew aboard the British brig, Emily Andrews, a week out of New Orleans, bound for Falmouth, when the big Spanish man-of-war was seen on their beam on that cold and rainy morning two weeks before. Their brig laden with tobacco and salt pork in casks, the Spaniards took happy to take possession of this profitable prize.

Not wishing to be burdened by the British crew, they were put into the longboat and abandoned. A storm on the second day took their sail, and their water ran out soon after. At no time were they far distant from land, but after their master’s death, no one on the boat could navigate. The crew began to die of thirst and exposure one-by-one. At first, the corpses were put overboard but then there was no one with sufficient strength for that.

The survivor recounted how one of the hands had some knowledge of the Spanish language and overheard their captors talking. From his recollection, it seemed the Spanish line-of-battle ship was on her way to Spanish Puerto Rico.