Chapter 27: Rotten

“Sir! Persuant to your orders, we reached the Barbary Coast at Oran on the 4th instant, where we sighted two xebecs carrying furled sails, but no other sea-going vessels of note. No progress on the rebuilding of the harbour fortifications was in evidence, and we continued...”

It was certainly a little awkward to dictate a report to a secretary, in particular if the secretary was a boy of fifteen years wearing an ill-fitting coat over much-too-large trousers, the best of what the slop chest had held. What Mr. Owen Leeds, newly minted captain’s secretary, lacked in gentlemanly clothing, he more than made up with his penmanship. Thomas had given the boy a try on the evening before, after his mother had agreed to young Owen’s wish to enlist, and the youngster had shown a good grasp of the language, the spelling, and the use of paper and quill.

Now that they had sighted Valetta, it was time to transform the notes Thomas had kept into a proper report, to be sent to Sir Edward. For this, young Owen Leeds came as a Godsend. It was also a respectable position in the frigate to start a naval career. Thomas planned to have Leeds participate in the classes held by Mr. Royce to give him the foundation required for an eventual advancement to midshipman. All in all, the arrangement would be beneficial for all involved.

Whilst he kept dictating the report, he made use of the brief gaps to think about the things to do in harbour. He planned to replenish his powder magazine and the shot garlands, but also to renew his water supply and food stores. There would also be a chance to air the spare sails and to give the standing rigging a careful once-over. He also hoped to find additional 32-pounder carronades at the armoury to replace the four sixpounders on the quarter deck. If he had to fight the An-Nasr, the additional firepower would help them greatly, especially if they had to repel a boarding attempt. Grapeshot from 32-pounder carronades would be devastating at close quarters. The shorter build of the carronades would also give them more space on the crowded deck.

Thomas let Mr. Darby command the approach to Malta whilst finishing the dictation of the report. He then let Leeds make copies of everything to take over on the quarterdeck. The view of the city of Valetta in the light of the morning sun was stunning indeed, with its imposing fortification and its beautiful buildings. The Grand Harbour was opening up before them and Thomas thought in time of the need to salute the Commissioner’s flag with the prescribed 15 guns, receiving an answering seven-gun salute from the harbour fortification.

Once the anchor was dropped and the ship had settled, Thomas climbed down into his gig with his reports and was rowed to quay. Sir Hildebrand Oakes, the Civil Commissioner ruling the British Protectorate of Malta, was an experienced Army administrator, and his subordinates were well organised. Within a half hour of setting foot on the quay, Thomas found himself presenting a list of his needs to the superintendent of the dock yards.

That worthy, after having the needs for provisions recorded by a secretary, directed Thomas to the superintendent of the armoury where his wish for a change of Unicorn’s ordnance was received with little enthusiasm at first. Thomas prevailed, though, and was promised delivery of four additional 32-pounder carronades plus two long nine-pounders in exchange for his current forecastle and quarterdeck six-pounders. He would also relinquish his six-pounder balls and cartridges in exchange for more 32-pounder ammunition and 100 shots each for the two nine-pounders.

Next he found the port admiral’s office where he was able to have his reports sent to Sir Edward Pellew with the next dispatch ship.

When Thomas returned to his ship after three hours, it was in the knowledge that Unicorn would be prepared as best as possible for a possible engagement with the old Algerian two-decker. He had also been able to arrange for Mrs. Leeds’s needs and accommodation, as well as for a passage to Gibraltar and beyond for her and her daughter. During dinner, he relayed the most important points to the women. Whilst Mrs. Leeds thanked him profusely for his support, her daughter Daisy was less enthusiastic. In the preceding days, Thomas had repeatedly seen her on deck in the company of Sandringham. Of course, nothing inappropriate had happened, but a mutual admiration was in evidence.

Young Mr. Leeds would remain on board in his function as captain’s secretary, but he also applied himself to his classes under the sailing master. His farewell to his mother and sister on that evening was mutually tearful, but he declined the offer to spend the time in harbour with them.

Come the next morning, the armoury sent over their new ordnance. The carronades were all installed on the quarterdeck where Thomas hoped to have control over them. Unicorn, though rated at 32 guns, was now shipping 28 long guns and ten large-bore carronades, giving her a total weight of over 400 pounds in her broadside. Once the new guns had been mounted, the crews were drilled in their use whilst the rest of the crew laboured to re-stock the shot garlands with the new ammunition. By evening, Thomas had a really powerful, if a little more top-heavy, frigate due to the additional five tons of dead weight on her quarter deck and forecastle.

Three days later, the small squadron put to sea again and headed for Sfax, another nest of the corsairs. The two-day crossing had them sail past the island of Lampedusa where a few Maltese families were growing barley and beef for the British, but they did not stop. In the harbour of Sfax they observed five three-masted xebecs, but no suspicious activities.

Their next target was Tripoli. The young navy of the United States of America had waged a war on Tripoli for attacking American shipping, but now that the Americans were at war with Britain and blockaded in their ports, the Bey of Tripoli was starting to harrass shipping again. Indeed, Thomas could report that two xebec-frigates and seven larger xebecs were lying at anchor in the harbour of Tripoli. Two xebecs left the harbour when the squadron neared the port city, but when the Red Ensign was hoisted, they carefully kept their distance.

From Tripoli, they sailed on to Misrata, the end point of their patrol. Misrata was one of the largest markets on the Barbary coast and the end- and starting point for the caravans that conncted the coast to the lands south of the Sahara desert. The frigates indeed caught up with three vessels off Misrata which were shipping small numbers of slaves for the market, but only one of these had European slaves. Against the vehement protestations of the ship’s reis, Thomas freed those and had them ferried to the frigates. Then he gave the crew a quarter hour to collect their belongings and shift to the other two vessels, before he had the xebec burnt.

Misrata itself had no port, only a coastline, and there was little shipping to observe. Their patrol completed, Thomas had the ships lay a course for Malta again where they arrived three days later and landed forty-seven freed slaves, mostly from Greece and Crete, and some even from the lands bordering on the Black Sea. Thomas had no idea if and how these people would ever reach their home lands again, but at least they were not slaves anymore, and Sir Hildebrand Oakes, the Civil Commissioner, promised to look after them.

Thomas decided to give Tunis a pass on the return leg of their patrol and rather had the squadron sail in north-western direction, for Cagliari where he hoped to pick up information on the Algerians. The long crossing – almost 350 miles – gave Thomas a chance to improve the trim of his slightly top-heavy ship. Unicorn was definitely slower with the additional large carronades on her quarterdeck, but not critically so, but nevertheless, Thomas had two of the carronades stowed away in the hold for a better trim.

Unicorn, Dido and Thisbe received a hero’s welcome at Cagliari. Of course, “Cavaliere Tomaso” and his captains were invited to an impromptu soiree at Lord Somers’s residence where they again met Colonel Gaetani and his family. The evening proved to be quite fruitful, for Lord Somers had fresh intelligence from Algiers which corroborated Mr. Mahoney’s warnings. The Dey was indeed after HMS Unicorn and her captain. The Sardinian court was decidedly worried about the reactivated two-decker since their two sloops were no match even for that ancient line-of-battle ship.

Unfortunately, no orders from Sir Edward had arrived in Malta or Cagliari, but Thomas had made up his mind. He would seek out the An-Nasr. Either there was nothing to those rumours from Algiers, or if she had a hostile intent, he would engage the old ship on his own terms.

Therefore, when the three frigates left Cagliari, Thomas ordered a western course for Algiers. The next four days were spent with more gun drill, and the stowed carronades were placed on the quarterdeck again. Unicorn was as ready as he could make her when they sighted the coast at Dellys, some forty miles east of Algiers. It was early morning, and with the sun rising behind them, their lookouts could spot ten or eleven ships heading for them.

Thomas climbed up into the fore top himself to inspect the oncoming ships. He could spot the An-Nasr right away, and the rest of the ships, ten xebecs of varying sizes, were sailing ahead of her. Thomas nodded to himself. The swift xebecs would try to engage his three frigates, giving the old behemoth the time to close in. The answer to that was quite easy. By changing course to north-west, Thomas would be able to prolong the chase, luring the xebecs away from the two-decker and even spreading them out. This would allow his ships to engage them one after the other. Thomas had no doubt that Unicorn could finish off those xebecs with one or two well aimed broadsides. The sixth-rates would be harder pressed, or course, but would prevail against one or two corsair ships. Then, after dealing with her escorts, Thomas could engage the An-Nasr.

He snapped his glass shut and climbed back down to the deck. At his orders, the squadron changed course to north-west and increased sail. A few minutes later, the lookout confirmed that a number of xebecs had changed course too and were trying to cut off their “escape”. There was still plenty of time. Thomas had the crew receive breakfast before he ordered them to stations. Everything unfolded as Thomas had envisioned. The fastest xebecs were drawing ahead from their companions, but not heading straight for Unicorn, but for a point ahead of them, obviously trying to block their course. Those were lighter vessels and not much of a threat for a man-o’-war, but if they could break up their formation and hold them up, the larger xebecs would be able to catch up and engage them at close quarters.

For another hour, Thomas watched the situation unfold. By now, the lighter vessels were ahead of the British frigates, and the larger xebecs were less than a mile behind them. It was time to cross their plans.

“Mr. Darby, ready to go about. Mr. Sandringham, signal to Dido and Thisbe: go about in line and engage enemy!”

Whilst the crews of the three frigates prepared for the manoeuvre, Thomas trained his glass on the An-Nasr. The old ship was trying bravely to keep up with the chase, but she had nevertheless fallen behind. More importantly, once they had dealt with the xebecs, she would be too far from Algiers to make it back to the safety of the harbour before Unicorn would catch up with her.

“Mr. Sandringham, haul down the signal! Quartermasters, helm to windward! Wear ship!”

Looking over, he saw that Dido and Thisbe were also going before the wind. With Unicorn in the lead, the three frigates were hurtling towards the five larger xebecs. Through his glass, Thomas could see the frantic activity on their decks, and he smiled grimly. This was not playing out to their expectations. Of course, they would now try to block Unicorn’s course, perhaps even sacrificing one of the ships by laying it in her path. Their disadvantage, however was that the British frigates were sailing with a quartering wind and could therefore change course quickly and easily.

Anyway, the time was too short for the corsairs to bring their ships close together, a prerequisite for boxing the British frigates in. When Unicorn was closing in on the first xebec, the gaps between the Algerian ships were still two cable lengths wide. Thomas had the quartermasters steer a little to port, aiming to pass the leading xebec at two pistol shots distance and at the last moment had the topgallant sails taken in.

The xebec was now showing her broadside, eight twelve-pounders, whilst Unicorn’s gun crews got ready to give ‘passing honours’. Just then, the two leading xebecs fired their bow chasers at Unicorn. In spite of the tension, Thomas had to smile. The Algerians had started the hostilities, and nobody could now blame him for returning their fire.

“Aim low, men!” Thomas ordered the quarterdeck gun crews. “Let’s sink them!”

They wanted to catch him and make him a prisoner, a slave even. On the few occasions when Thomas had to fight in the past, it had been his duty. This battle was personal to him, and he was eager to teach the Dey a much needed lesson by annihilating his ships.

And then, Unicorn’s bowsprit was athwart the bows of the xebec, and one gun after the other went off along her port side. The xebec fired too, but in the excitement, Thomas never noticed if they scored a hit. His own broadside had given the Algerians quite the pummeling he could see. At least three balls had hit at or near the waterline, and Thomas saw caved-in planking where water was rushing in. They were past the xebec now, but Dido was following them closely. Her nine-pounders went off too, and more splinters were flying on board the hapless xebec.

There was the next xebec, to starboard. The crews were ready and delivered another broadside in passing. It was even better aimed. Only three of the enemy guns returned fire, poorly laid and doing small damage aloft, but the xebec was hit in her hull. Her bow was completely smashed in by one or more of the carronade shots. That one was done.

Thomas looked back and saw Thisbe passing the first xebec and delivering another broadside. That vessel was wrecked too, and now Dido fired her nine-pounders into the second xebec.

Looking forward, Thomas saw that the remaining three xebecs were managing to close the ranks, forming a line athwart.

“One point to port!” Thomas ordered.

Unicorn headed for the westernmost xebec, seemingly to pass her to starboard. In response, the other xebecs also closed in on that ship. A cable length away, Thomas turned to the wheel.

“Six points to port! Starboard battery, ready to fire! Aim low!”

Unicorn was turning to port, in fact crossing the corsairs’ bows.

“Back the main tops’l!” Thomas roared.

The hands jumped to the braces and swung the main topsail yard around. Unicorn slowed down and slowly began to cross the bows of the three xebecs. The full starboard broadside roared out, wreaking havoc in the first xebec. The corsairs fired their chase guns, but those were six-pounders and caused little damage. The second xebec was trying to follow their turn, but she was not finished when the second broadside from Unicorn hit her. The enemy’s turn had widened the target, and to Thomas it looked as if each shot from Unicorn had been a hit. The smaller vessel was already lying deeper in the water when Unicorn approached her next target.

Here, the captain had been able to complete his turn, and when Unicorn’s broadside roared out, the xebec hit them back with her twelve-pounders. The crashes from below told Thomas that at least some of the enemy’s shots had been hits, but there were also holes in the topsails; harmless by comparison. Their adversary was trying to get close now, and a mass of soldiers was assembling on her deck. They would try to board!

“Canister! Load with canister!” Thomas shouted at the quarterdeck gun crews.

Young Owen Leeds, on his station on the quarterdeck, was also shouting at the crews, stirring them into action. The xebec was drawing closer, the yelling from her deck loud enough to be heard over the gun fire, but now the carronades were loaded and ready. Thomas had them wait for another minute, and when the two ships were only half a pistol shot apart, the carronades and the main deck guns spewed canister. When the smoke cleared, there was barely a man standing on the xebec’s deck. For good measure, Thomas had another broadside of roundshot fired at close range and with maximal depression and when Unicorn was bracing up again, the xebec was sinking.

Behind them, Dido and Thisbe had each taken on one of the xebecs, and those were also lying deep in the water and sinking. Looking around, Thomas saw a last xebec ahead, but even as he looked, she was laying her rudder to flee. Next he looked for the An-Nasr, and he could see her two miles away, trying valiantly to join the battle. If the Algerian commodore was disheartened by the destruction of half his flotilla, there was no sign of that. Through his glass Thomas could see now that the enemy was securing the yards with chains, a basic safety measure. He could also see that the high forecastle of the two-decker was swarming with soldiers wearing a distinct, high headgear, Janissaries by the look of things. If he had commanded the An-Nasr, he would have kept those men below decks and out of reach for canister.

Then he understood. The An-Nasr had been captured a life time ago and had spent most of the following years laid up whilst the Algerians preferred their own ships and the tactics that had been successful against European shipping for over 200 years. The officers and crews of the An-Nasr were not trained to fight from a two-decker. They would not try to engage Unicorn broadside to broadside. They would get close, fire their broadside and then try to board her under the cover of the smoke. This was what he had to prevent.

“Mr. Darby, kindly have the boarding nets rigged.”

There was barely time enough for that, but it was necessary. Indeed, the topmen were hard pressed to complete the task before it was time to alter course. Thomas had no intention to fire his broadside in passing. He planned to go to the wind and fight it out at half a cable length, a perfect distance for his well trained crew.