His Majesty´s ship

 

HMS -  "His Majesty's Ship"

 

The faith yellow daylight was just breaking the horizon. As always the Alfred was trailing behind the Raleigh .The little American squadron was sailing just east of Guadeloupe to the windward of La Désirade. The 32-gun frigate, Raleigh was lifted by waves of the open sea. On board the captain and most of the crew was still asleep. In fact -even one of the lockouts who had been on duty for the last 3 hours was starting feel his eyes closing slightly. It was mainly due to the slight cold Caribbean breeze he was able to stay awake. The other lookout- a tall fellow from Boston - had been being facing the horizon for 10 min now and as they had agreed they were to switch side in order not to get blind sighted by the early morning light. He sighted and turned to face the sun. Being from Minnesota he had fair skin but the many hours on board the ship had hardened him and he rarely got sunburn these days. He thought back to his family in the states.  Many years ago he had decided that a farmer´s life was not for him. He had felt overly inspired by his ancestor Viking linie and took to the sea. He had from the beginning been blessed with good fortune. He had been in Maine just months before the Raleigh was put to sea and was therefore able to join the crew under

Captain Thomas Thompson.

 

When they set sail for France they were joined by Alfred an impressive man of war ship. And again good fortune smiled upon the frigate just three days out they captured a schooner carrying counterfeit Massachusetts money. The captain decided to burn the schooner and her cargo, except for samples and the two frigates continued their transatlantic passage. Late on September 2 they captured a British brig, Nancy, and from her they obtained the signals of the convoy which the brig had been escorting from the rear. The captain quickly gave chase sensing a feat of glory at hand, the Americans closed with the convoy on September 4, 1777.  Raleigh, making use of the captured signals, intercepted the convoy and engaged HMS Druid. In the ensuing battle she damaged Druid, but the approach of the remaining British escorts forced Raleigh to retire. Much to the disappointment of  all. Good prizes were always a way to make money and glory with one blow. For the longest time they had been stuck in France. It was just before the new year - on December 29, 1777, that  Raleigh and Alfred was able to set sail from Lorient in France.  They followed a  curse that took them along the coast of Africa.  And our Minnisota wiking sailor was amazed by the many odd creatures and people he had the pleasure and sometimes displeasure to meet. After capturing a British vessel off Senegal, Raleigh was to cross the Atlantic Ocean heading to the West Indies.  The sailor had a few times feared for his life and for the boat. As much as he felt proud of the battle with Druid he also for the first time realized the he could die on this boat. But he had cast those thoughts aside the first time they docked and he was able to spend endless money on drink and women. He therefore reasoned that sailing – capturing prizes gave him a life worth living. The captain had also given them much praise as sailors. Lately the Viking left that this life was in his blood. Whether that was due to resemblance to the Viking raid and conquest or the mere fact that he really enjoyed the variety of drink and women he meet – he never gave much thought too.

Suddenly he felt a cold. He looked to the horizon that seemed almost like a blank canvas due to the reflections in the sea. But he couldn´t stop any changes and once again fell deep into fantasies of things to come here in West Indies. He smiled at the thought of rum which was the trademark drink of these waters and also gave some thought to the type of women that resided on the these island. In Africa he had had his fill of the Africa Exotic so he was hoping to find the much renowned Creole girls. Unless the captain had them on dock lock which meant a whole lot of drink but no women.  Once he felt an odd cold creeping upon him and he decide to stand up. The swell made the lockout mast swag from side to side and he felt to his knees. He cursed himself and the sea before getting to his feet and grabbing the spyglass.

He gazed from left to right but nothing seemed out of place and he wave to the tall lookout at the other end as it was time to switch again. He looked back to see the Alfred and notice through the spyglass that their lookout had the very same idea. He smirked and waved to see if their lookout was bored as he was. After a few minutes of making obscene gestures he focused his attention to the sea. He felt oddly warmth by the fact that they were able to spend time just horsing around. The sound of the swells were almost like a lullaby and he decided to drop his coat – hoping a jolt of cold would keep him awake. He then grabbed the spyglass and started turning from left to right whilst dreaming of the Caribbean Island and their many promises of good times to come. Sadly it was time to switch sides again. He signaled to his mate that he was turning. Because the sun was just kissing the horizon he squirted his eyes and rapidly scanned back and forth.

Oh - How he hated these uneventful days. For a second he succumbed to the temptation of closing his eyes and rubbed them with his fingers. He then to prolong the break turned to the Alfred. Much to his surprise both lookouts seemed occupied with something going on below them on deck which actually left his Boston friend and him the only ones on guard. Suddenly he noticed something glinting to southwest of the Alfred. He eagerly put the spyglass to his eye and faced southwest. He almost felt the goose bumps and the hair on the back of his neck before he even spotted the two ships. The two strangers were sailing across the projected course of the American ships. This might yet be a good day he thought to himself and then he sounded the bell to wake the whole ship. He signaled to his fellow mates on the Alfred to sound the alarm. “Best to be prepared”.

Captain Thomas Pringle was proud of his ship. She might be a small one but His Mastery´s Ariadne was a fast ship and she had served him well in battle before. When she had been fitted with a copper-bottom it had improve her speed considerably and few ships was able to outrun her. And now paired with able Ceres he was feeling good and prepared. Both ships had for a while now been patrolling just North of Barbados. But so far nothing out of the ordinary had come about, which had made it a slightly bored run.

But then in the early morning light two ships had been spotted. The lockout had pointed to northeast and he himself had soon spotted two sails in the east quarter. Captain Pringle had signaled the Ceres to give chase. And the calm seas gave them a good steady pace over the swells. Even from a distance Pringle was able to see the size of the two unknown ships and there was no doubt that Ariadne –just a small 20 gunner and Ceres with her just 18 guns were decidedly inferrior to the unknown ships. He couldn´t  help speculating if he was facing enemy or friendly opponents. One could never know in these times and in these waters.  On board the Ceres  James Dacres was a veteran of the Lake Champlain campaign of 1776 where Pringle himself had commanded the British fleet to victory.  So in the company of a professional and able captain only rivaled by himself he had to give chase – it would be an insult not to do so. “Hauled to the wind – let´s stand north” Pringle ordered and once again was filled with pride as the sailors hurried to his command. He kept his ship due north and Dacres was able to keep a good track while keeping close to Ariadnes starboard. Pringle turn his ship slightly left to catch a better wind and then straight north again. He was eager to take yet another prize. Since he was given command of HMS Ariadne and assigned to duty as part of the West Indies fleet he had served his Majesty well. Ariadne had captured a number of American naval vessels - transports, and privateers, even a Virginia State Navy brig named Mosquito and a privateer ship  Johnston. They gave chase to almost anything of a good size that sailed in or close to these islands what else would have been the point of his commission if he was not to take the chance when opportunity presented itself. Small boat or not he had indeed been quite successful. Actually he had obtain a sizeable repution and was quite fear by the local privateers that room these waters. If anyone got wind of Ariadne´s position most nearby ships sought port and it had become a bit harder to size prize. So to overcome their prey´s reactions they were lighter then usually which made them faster than any ship they pursued. The only disadvantage of course being a small number of canons or gunners. Pringle was more and more elated for every mile they gained on the two strangers.

On board the Raleigh Captain Thompson had no choice to hove to – due to the slow pace of the Alfred. Thompson had seen that the strangers had closed up and were standing north, close hauled to the wind. This in itself would indicate that they were probably warships, and most likely British. But Alfred had always been a slow ship. Originally build as a full-rigged, 300 ton three-masted merchant ship (back then the “Black Prince”) she wasn´t meant to be a warship and she still had a  sleek peaceful appearance. But because of her wartime modifications the additional weight of timer and canons had affected her sailing qualities and made her top-heavy. She was known as “crank” or “tender-sided”. But still with a good seaman as Captain she was capable of giving excellent service. Thompson sighed. The crew was hurrying to prepare the canons and securing the loose cargo. But Thompson was not all to sure what he felt was the right thing to do. He knew Raleigh would have to take lead – having Alfred in the rear. His trail of thought keept getting interrupted by the cries of the seamen. He turned his back to the deck to look at Alfred and trying to find a trail of thought. Engaging in battle should not be a problem- both ship carried a valid sum of canons but sailing qualities of Alfred could prove a problem. If they couldn´t engage and attack at first sight then Alfred would need more time to turn then Raleigh and that would leave them in harms way. It was a question of pride and cost. Despite Raleighs size and numbers of guns Thompson knew he would need some support to keep two ship abay. He guessed that was his grounds for concern. Now that he got more insight he felt he was left with a sort of a solution. He would put one of the ships at risk and then ambush the British from the side. He needed to confer with Hinman. –“ Get me close to the Alfred”.

 

When the Raleigh and Alfred were close enough the two captains conferred.  Hinman seemed concerned and asked Thompson what he thought of the two ships; Thompson replied that he was unsure at that distance, but “we would go down and see what they were and then determining accordingly, desired him to go down to the sternmost ship . . .” If the trailing ship was the largest, Thompson said he would make for her. Hinman said he would go down and observe Thompson’s “motions.” Almost 2 hours later the Continentals were about five or six miles away from the two strangers, and it was clear by now that they were armed vessels.  –“Men- It is time. Hoist the flag” Thompson said and look with determination at the enemy wessels.

 

Pringle on his Ariadne  had slowed down and Ceres almost passed by them. Captain Dacres signaled to the left and Pringle turned his head. He saw some shapes that had a recognizable shape then the normal goods on a merchant ship. That was not an ordinary merchant ship. That was a man-of-war ship. Ceres turn rapidly to the leeward side of the Americans. Pringle and Ariedne followed. The stern of the slow but large Alfred was just ahead of them.  Alfred was impressive – still after the long journey over the transatlandtic the dark and golden wood was beautiful.  Pringle noticed that the haul had be strengthened probably to hold the canons.

 

He also looked to the see the fitted canons. But they were hard to count as some was under cover of large cloth pieces.  –“Bring us up on the leeward side”. He turedn to the men and hoped they had time to react before engaging.  Pringle tried to assess the situation on Ceres. He most certainly hoped they were ready. He had roughly estimated the Americans to have 52 gunners to theirs 38. But Pringle felt confident that they stood a chance.