Chapter 55

"Yes, Andrea," said David. "You're a fucking Admiral. Take a look at Jake ... seaman apprentice."

Andie took her eyes off her new uniform jacket and turned to look at Jake. He was just slipping it on. "That's not a seaman apprentice uniform ... that's a lieutenant commander. Two and a half sleeve stripes." She accosted David, "You Sir, are a terrible Liar!!"

"Got to be an officer to work the torpedoes. We'll have to teach him how they work. It should be fun ... trust me."

Trust me ... two words that will forever haunt Andie.

The new flag, the flag of Saint Kitts and Nevis, consists of a yellow-edged black band containing two white stars that divides diagonally from the lower hoist-side corner, with a green upper triangle and red lower triangle. This resides in the upper hoist side corner of St George's Cross, also called the White Ensign of the British Navy. As a legitimate Naval auxiliary vessel of Nevis and St. Kitts that was the flag flown when entering or leaving port.

Among the other 'improvements' to the boat, David had had four positions added to the cockpit.

"What are those for?" asked the new admiral.

"I'll be right back." David disappeared into the salon. He returned with a pair of boxes or small crates. "Winchester Saluting Guns." he said. "We're going to have so much fun with these. Naval vessels are supposed to fire a gun salute to the nation when they enter a foreign port. The positions are to fasten these down. Since there are only three of us ... at the moment ... during entry and exit of a port we will fire a 21 gun salute. The proper sequence and timing is set by an ancient chant. It goes like this," he started a deliberate pace and began a chant in a singsong voice. "If I weren't a gunner I wouldn't be here, gun number one fire. If I weren't a gunner I wouldn't be here, gun number two fire." He grinned, "Cute, huh?" He continued his rant, "Since these are breech loading 10 gauge smooth bore cannon, there is enough time for each sailor firing the salute to reload. The sailor firing the second reloads while the first gun is firing. The major problem is the expense of the blanks. I bought a reloading press for the cases.

"The cases are are full length brass ... very pretty and reloadable practically for ever. You have to keep them well cleaned because black powder is corrosive ... you have to keep the mechanism of the cannon clean or they will stop working. We have to use black powder because of the smoke ... can't have a cannon salute without the smoke."

David was extremely proud of himself.

"I've seen these before ... the Yacht Club uses them to start the races. At least they were Winchester 98's but they had a metal carriage with big iron wheels. These two don't look like that," said Jake.

David grinned approval, "You're right. While the crew at High Cay was making the modifications to the Knight, I was building exact replicas of War of 1812 naval cannon carriages. I mean ... it's a shipboard cannon ... right?"

Andrea wasn't sure David was in possession of all his marbles so she agreed, "Right."

"Besides," he continued, "The Winchester carriage is a bear to take apart ... and you need to have the barrel out of the carriage to get it really clean. The Naval carriage has these two nifty caps over the trunnions. Pull these two clips and the caps swing forward ... pick up the barrel and pitch it in a bucket of boiling water ... I have a bucket that both barrels will fit in. Fish out the barrels with these tongs," he snapped the tongs at Andreas nose ... she epped ... he laughed. "The barrels are hot enough to dry instantly ... wipe the mechanism with a lightly oiled cloth, polish the brass and put the barrel back in the carriage and you'll be ready for the next use."

"What are trunnions?"

"These two pins that are at 90 degrees to the bore of the barrel."

"Oh."

"Wanna see if they work?"

"Sure."

David picked up the mike to the marine radio, "Government house?"

There was a couple of static crackles and a voice responded, "Government House."

"This is the King's Knight ... an armed Naval Auxiliary Vessel of the Nevis and St. Kitts Navy. We are leaving port and wish to know if you are able to return our salute."

"One moment please."

In a few minutes the radio crackled again. A very London Lower East End voice said, "You want to do what?"

"Signal salute leaving harbor. Will you return our salute?"

"Pull the other one, mate."

"Seriously, We're a Naval representative of the Federation of Nevis and St Kitts. It is our duty to salute vessels or governments on leaving or entering a foreign harbor. We're leaving ... will you return our salute?"