Father_Reginald
10-08-2008, 03:57 AM
Angry cannon roared awakening Father Reginald from his deep sleep aboard the galley HMS Mother’s Wind. He had set out from London to the Caribbean port of Port Royale where the priest intended to replace the retiring father at the church there. The long trip had been uneventful and with Captain Blanchard allowing Father Reginald the use of one of the guest cabin normally reserved for governors on their way to manage the King’s holdings. The appointments had been a bit overwhelming to the simple Father but he enjoyed the luxury for the time he was aboard the vessel.
A throaty roar answered the one that had awakened Father Reginald and he rushed to the upper deck to see what was happening. The second explosion that had sounded after the cannons on the starboard side of the ship had fired was not from the vessel he was aboard. The ship was under attack despite the merchant flag that flew from its mast, or perhaps, he thought dishearteningly, because of it. Father Reginald was glad for the reassuring weight of his leather bound bible. Sadly, he was sure there were going to be sailors in need of the rites of passage. It gave him little reassurance to make the main deck after he climbed the ladder two steps at a time and emerged on deck. The starry night and light of the moon lit what appeared to him to be seamen thrown into chaos by the assault on their vessel. The sailors ran here and there where they moved at all and gunners had already pulled back the cannons preparing to fire the next volley.
“The ball won’t catch her, Captain! She is too fast!”
“Load the chain and hold til she sweeps again! Lead the bastards and tear down those sails! Those pirates will not take my ship on this night!” The captain’s words drove his men into action and the orders were passed down the line as the gunners prepared to load. “Lead the shots with a ball and get the barrelman to track the shot from the crow’s nest! We can’t afford to miss again! Get me a better wind or there will be the hell to pay!”
A call came down from high in the crow’s nest as if to answer the bellowing captain. “She’s snaking again, Captain! We should have her in our broadside again in a few moments!”
“And she will have us in hers! Be ready to call the lead!” The captain seemed to take notice of Father Reginald and it looked like he was not happy to see him. “Father, get back below decks! The bastards will be firing grapeshot soon enough and I don’t need a bleeding priest laid out on my deck! We will have trouble enough if we can’t take their sails!”
“I will go where I am needed, Captain Blanchard, and my Lord and yours has brought me here!” Father Reginald turned from the captain not waiting for a reply and set to the work of blessing the seaman on board the ship. The men might not have cheered his decision but they genuflected each in their own turn as he moved about the ship and gave his prayers for their safety.
“There is another ship approaching astern captain and she looks to be one of the Royal navy, sir! She is coming full ahead and it looks like she can bring her long guns to reach the bastards before they reach us! God bless us, Father!” The barrelman sounded like a child at the moment the presents were passed during observation of the holy savior’s birth and Father Reginald could not help but smile. Lives might be lost on this dark night but the ship of the line that was approaching should run the pirates off soon enough.
“Don’t go back to sleep up there just yet, mate, and get ready to call that shot. That captain has taken too much time to arrive already and those pirates don’t appear to be much worried! They will be on us before the long guns can touch them if those sails stay whole!”
“Aye, aye captain! Prepare for the mark and fire on my count! First mate, watch for the splash and throw the chain!”
“Bosun, get aft and get a glass on the approaching ship! I do not need any more surprises tonight! See if you can count her sail and what flag she flies for certain and be quick! We may need to make a turn toward her if the bastards keep coming!”
“Aye, aye captain!” was the sailor’s only reply as he pulled a spyglass from his belt pouch and hurried up to the aft deck gunwale.
“All hands not loading cannons get to loading muskets! I want rounds fired as fast as you can reload! Let them know they are in for a fight if they mean to board this vessel! Keep us in the strong winds and keep us angling away from the dogs for now!”
As if to answer the captain’s call to arms, a thunderous roar followed the brilliant sparks noting the pirates had fired again. A volley of cannonballs flew well over the masts and splashed harmlessly into the ocean far beyond the port side of the ship. Father Reginald’s excitement at the lack of aim demonstrated by the shots was short lived as the captain’s voice once more rumbled across the deck. “She has taken our range! Get down behind the gunwales and stay as low as you can men! The next shot will be pebbles of iron! Why don’t I hear the sound of muskets and cannon?!”
“Mark! Fire!” Fire and fury belched from the single cannon at the front of the starboard line.
Moments later the ball fell well ahead of the pirate vessel and the first mate issued his command. “Steady and three, two and fire!”
The crack of muskets filled the pause before the barrelman could report. The small explosions of powder were dwarfed in Father Reginald’s ears after the cannons thunder. “We struck her well, captain but she is striking her sail to battle and we won’t be able to tear her much more at this range! She is shifting to close on our aft! The fool’s are going to run right into the other ship’s long arms!”
“Prepare to turn us about and move toward the other ship! The pirates will have the wind but we need those long arms to come in range! Throw them another volley and prepare to load the port guns! Muskets keep firing as long as you have her!”
It was as if the first mate had read his captain’s mind and another round of chain followed the first shortly. The muskets sounded twice more as the cumbersome galley fought to turn into the winds and move toward the Royal navy vessel. “Captain, she is one of our majesty’s and she is cutting in to block us from the look of it. They should sink the pirates as soon as they have the range marked. She looks like a first and heavy with cannon so they won’t last long once she fires!”
“Those damn pirates own the wind, sir! They will have us broad any…” and then it happened. It sounded like hundreds of stones had struck the starboard side of the galley and a few unlucky seamen dropped to the deck, writhing in pain and bleeding from small wounds in their chests and faces. Father Reginald was frozen momentarily by the abrupt violence that was no longer so distant. Now it had arrived in person and in all its gory intimacy. Muskets dropped near the wounded and Father Reginald moved to help the seamen move the wounded off the deck.
“Damn it men! Get this ship into the wind and get us close to the first! Ready the chain shot on the port side and prepare to fire as soon as we show it to them! I want to see masts ripped off that damned ship! Those bastards will pay for the blood they split!” The crew raised its voice as one when the captain finished speaking and to Father Reginald’s ears it sounded like a den filled with angry bears bellowing at an encroaching hunter.
The captain was proud of the way the men turned the ship about considering the loss of the wind and the pirates seemed almost cautious as they moved in between the colossal Royal navy first rate and the stumbling galley. The pirates were nearing the galley coming dead on toward them now and doing their best to stay out of the first rate’s reach. The captain still felt the Royal ship would tear them apart soon given the rate they were now closing and there was a sense of unnatural peace that blanketed the ship as the three vessels jockeyed for position that was broken only by the sound of musket fire.
The bosun had at some point moved to the foredeck to watch the Royal first rate and it was his alarmed call that broke the veil of peace as the cannons waited to come about and fire once more. “The first rate, captain! She has struck her sails to battle and is slowing! If they stay at their current heading and speed, we will be overtaken before the their cannons come into range of the pirates! Captain, they are flying a white signal flag!”
“What the hell are they doing?! Did they come out here to watch these pirates take my ship?! Get us out of this wind! Turn us into the stronger currents and move this boat! First mate, fire at will! Muskets fire at will! Prepare to be boarded!”
(Thanks for reading and more to come! The attitudes and actions portrayed in this work of fiction are not meant to be any reflection on the brave captains of the British navy.)
A throaty roar answered the one that had awakened Father Reginald and he rushed to the upper deck to see what was happening. The second explosion that had sounded after the cannons on the starboard side of the ship had fired was not from the vessel he was aboard. The ship was under attack despite the merchant flag that flew from its mast, or perhaps, he thought dishearteningly, because of it. Father Reginald was glad for the reassuring weight of his leather bound bible. Sadly, he was sure there were going to be sailors in need of the rites of passage. It gave him little reassurance to make the main deck after he climbed the ladder two steps at a time and emerged on deck. The starry night and light of the moon lit what appeared to him to be seamen thrown into chaos by the assault on their vessel. The sailors ran here and there where they moved at all and gunners had already pulled back the cannons preparing to fire the next volley.
“The ball won’t catch her, Captain! She is too fast!”
“Load the chain and hold til she sweeps again! Lead the bastards and tear down those sails! Those pirates will not take my ship on this night!” The captain’s words drove his men into action and the orders were passed down the line as the gunners prepared to load. “Lead the shots with a ball and get the barrelman to track the shot from the crow’s nest! We can’t afford to miss again! Get me a better wind or there will be the hell to pay!”
A call came down from high in the crow’s nest as if to answer the bellowing captain. “She’s snaking again, Captain! We should have her in our broadside again in a few moments!”
“And she will have us in hers! Be ready to call the lead!” The captain seemed to take notice of Father Reginald and it looked like he was not happy to see him. “Father, get back below decks! The bastards will be firing grapeshot soon enough and I don’t need a bleeding priest laid out on my deck! We will have trouble enough if we can’t take their sails!”
“I will go where I am needed, Captain Blanchard, and my Lord and yours has brought me here!” Father Reginald turned from the captain not waiting for a reply and set to the work of blessing the seaman on board the ship. The men might not have cheered his decision but they genuflected each in their own turn as he moved about the ship and gave his prayers for their safety.
“There is another ship approaching astern captain and she looks to be one of the Royal navy, sir! She is coming full ahead and it looks like she can bring her long guns to reach the bastards before they reach us! God bless us, Father!” The barrelman sounded like a child at the moment the presents were passed during observation of the holy savior’s birth and Father Reginald could not help but smile. Lives might be lost on this dark night but the ship of the line that was approaching should run the pirates off soon enough.
“Don’t go back to sleep up there just yet, mate, and get ready to call that shot. That captain has taken too much time to arrive already and those pirates don’t appear to be much worried! They will be on us before the long guns can touch them if those sails stay whole!”
“Aye, aye captain! Prepare for the mark and fire on my count! First mate, watch for the splash and throw the chain!”
“Bosun, get aft and get a glass on the approaching ship! I do not need any more surprises tonight! See if you can count her sail and what flag she flies for certain and be quick! We may need to make a turn toward her if the bastards keep coming!”
“Aye, aye captain!” was the sailor’s only reply as he pulled a spyglass from his belt pouch and hurried up to the aft deck gunwale.
“All hands not loading cannons get to loading muskets! I want rounds fired as fast as you can reload! Let them know they are in for a fight if they mean to board this vessel! Keep us in the strong winds and keep us angling away from the dogs for now!”
As if to answer the captain’s call to arms, a thunderous roar followed the brilliant sparks noting the pirates had fired again. A volley of cannonballs flew well over the masts and splashed harmlessly into the ocean far beyond the port side of the ship. Father Reginald’s excitement at the lack of aim demonstrated by the shots was short lived as the captain’s voice once more rumbled across the deck. “She has taken our range! Get down behind the gunwales and stay as low as you can men! The next shot will be pebbles of iron! Why don’t I hear the sound of muskets and cannon?!”
“Mark! Fire!” Fire and fury belched from the single cannon at the front of the starboard line.
Moments later the ball fell well ahead of the pirate vessel and the first mate issued his command. “Steady and three, two and fire!”
The crack of muskets filled the pause before the barrelman could report. The small explosions of powder were dwarfed in Father Reginald’s ears after the cannons thunder. “We struck her well, captain but she is striking her sail to battle and we won’t be able to tear her much more at this range! She is shifting to close on our aft! The fool’s are going to run right into the other ship’s long arms!”
“Prepare to turn us about and move toward the other ship! The pirates will have the wind but we need those long arms to come in range! Throw them another volley and prepare to load the port guns! Muskets keep firing as long as you have her!”
It was as if the first mate had read his captain’s mind and another round of chain followed the first shortly. The muskets sounded twice more as the cumbersome galley fought to turn into the winds and move toward the Royal navy vessel. “Captain, she is one of our majesty’s and she is cutting in to block us from the look of it. They should sink the pirates as soon as they have the range marked. She looks like a first and heavy with cannon so they won’t last long once she fires!”
“Those damn pirates own the wind, sir! They will have us broad any…” and then it happened. It sounded like hundreds of stones had struck the starboard side of the galley and a few unlucky seamen dropped to the deck, writhing in pain and bleeding from small wounds in their chests and faces. Father Reginald was frozen momentarily by the abrupt violence that was no longer so distant. Now it had arrived in person and in all its gory intimacy. Muskets dropped near the wounded and Father Reginald moved to help the seamen move the wounded off the deck.
“Damn it men! Get this ship into the wind and get us close to the first! Ready the chain shot on the port side and prepare to fire as soon as we show it to them! I want to see masts ripped off that damned ship! Those bastards will pay for the blood they split!” The crew raised its voice as one when the captain finished speaking and to Father Reginald’s ears it sounded like a den filled with angry bears bellowing at an encroaching hunter.
The captain was proud of the way the men turned the ship about considering the loss of the wind and the pirates seemed almost cautious as they moved in between the colossal Royal navy first rate and the stumbling galley. The pirates were nearing the galley coming dead on toward them now and doing their best to stay out of the first rate’s reach. The captain still felt the Royal ship would tear them apart soon given the rate they were now closing and there was a sense of unnatural peace that blanketed the ship as the three vessels jockeyed for position that was broken only by the sound of musket fire.
The bosun had at some point moved to the foredeck to watch the Royal first rate and it was his alarmed call that broke the veil of peace as the cannons waited to come about and fire once more. “The first rate, captain! She has struck her sails to battle and is slowing! If they stay at their current heading and speed, we will be overtaken before the their cannons come into range of the pirates! Captain, they are flying a white signal flag!”
“What the hell are they doing?! Did they come out here to watch these pirates take my ship?! Get us out of this wind! Turn us into the stronger currents and move this boat! First mate, fire at will! Muskets fire at will! Prepare to be boarded!”
(Thanks for reading and more to come! The attitudes and actions portrayed in this work of fiction are not meant to be any reflection on the brave captains of the British navy.)