Issue 42 - July 1794
“Aboard the Good Ship Venus, by Christ you should have seen us!”
Gains & Losses!
It is this reporter’s pleasure to acquaint our subscribers with the latest heroics of our most glorious Royal Navy in its continuing struggle against the French Navy of Robespierre and his cronies.
First I would like to inform you of the continuing and audacious actions of HMS Droites de l’Homme.
During the month of July she has been sweeping the French Mediterranean coast, keeping in touch with the other ships of the squadron who are on a more rigid blockade of the major ports and trade routes. Whilst on one of her numerous runs she was approaching the Southern most point of Perpignon when she espied late in the afternoon a masthead over the headland of the Ayrolle basin. Not wishing to alert the guns guarding the close entrance, she carried on out of sight and doubled back after night fall. At this point she sent in a small contingent in the jolly boat under the command of Lieutenant Paul Edward King. What he found was the French Naval ship “Solitaire” of the 4th rate (64 guns) obviously being provisioned for sea. As yet her yardarms were not crossed, although he assessed it would not be much longer before she was ready. With this information and the report of the location of the gun battery, he returned unmolested to the Droites de l’Homme, which promptly beat out to sea before dawn.
During the day, plans were laid and shortly after nightfall the ship once again approached the coast, this time sending in every boat she had with the majority of her crew, leaving an anxious Captain Armstrong to watch for their return.
Colonel Jonah Albytross led his highly trained Marines to take out the Guns covering the Anchorage. This was achieved with almost total surprise and more importantly silence. For this remarkable feat the Colonel was duly mentioned once again in the report to their Lordships. However he in turn saw that the quick thinking of Subaltern Starbuck was rewarded with a promotion to Lieutenant when he removed, with his thumb and forefinger, the fuse from a signal rocket that had been lit by a French sentry! The guns were then spiked and the position prepared for demolition upon the marines’ withdrawal.
Meanwhile the redoubtable Lieutenant King first landed and then led his sailors over the headland to the Solitaire. To their good fortune they found the ship with yards crossed and apparently ready to sail on the morrow. More importantly it appeared that the majority of her crew had been given leave to visit the bars and cafés of the town. The sailors swarmed aboard her, silencing the few remainingFrenchmen with brutal ease.
Within the hour Lieutenant King had her under sail and heading out into the Mediterranean, only pausing to collect the small boats of the Droites de l’Homme and Colonel Albytross with his marines.
For this commendable action Lieutenant King was given leave to sail his prize back to England where it is to be bought into the Navy. He was further rewarded by being appointed to Master and Commander of the Sauve Qui Peut in the footsteps of his old shipmate Lieutenant Commander Sir de Ville. This was following the successful independent action of the Sauve Qui Peut in which it sank a French Frigate.
The other ships of the White squadron were also successful if not quite so spectacularly. The Indomitable spent the entire month patrolling the mouth of the Rhone and Marseilles harbour. During this time the French simply refused to risk facing the Indomitable and contented themselves with staying in port and drinking their famous wine! Although in fairness it should be pointed out that Lieutenant Robust was promoted through seniority to be Master and Commander of HMS Ferret.
Thankfully the Berwickshire was more gainfully employed and brought the port of Nice to a standstill for the month, with no major ships able to slip past her watchful eyes. Joined as she was by the new Rear Admiral of the White, Sir Pavel Pipovitch and his new aide Lieutenant John Jackson. Indeed she even managed to board a small coaster that thought she could stay safely inshore. This provided the boarding party, led by Royal Marine Captain Ian Steele, with some reward for their efforts! In fact Berwickshire was considered to be handled so competently that Sir Pavel Pipovitch was specially mentioned for his guidance, and her Captain, Hugo Templeton-Smythe was promoted for a second month running to Post and transferred to Sheik Yassouf to fill the vacancy created by the advancement of Sir Pavel Pipovitch to Flag rank.
Elsewhere in the Mediterranean, the two sloops of the Blockade squadron maintained a close eye on the French controlled island of Corsica. Whilst HMS Ferret had an uneventful month, her new Masters Mate Brendan Patrick MacRory impressed so much the he was appointed Lieutenant. HMS Enterprise however caught a French lighter trying to sneak into Ajaccio harbour. When confronted by His Majesty’s sloop she revealed her teeth by firing her two light cannon, one of these scored a lucky hit on the Enterprise’s quarterdeck sweeping away the helmsman and his mate leaving the ship momentarily without a hand on the helm. However, a quick thinking sailor by the name of James Williams leapt to the wheel and brought the Enterprise back across the merchant’s stern, from where the Enterprise’s guns raked her, putting a swift end to the resistance. For his quick thinking Williams was promoted to Masters Mate.
The only member of the White Squadron missing was HMS Halcyon, which spent last month on an independent cruise of the Indian Ocean. However at the start of the month it spotted a French Indiaman making a run for the Atlantic Ocean.
Pursuing the potentially rich prize, Halcyon was destined to prove that once again a stern chase is a long chase. After 3 weeks of constantly chasing, the Halcyon finally got her chance when the Frenchman, who by this stage was about 200 miles due West of the straights of Gibraltar, ran into an unexpected but short-lived squall. This allowed the Halcyon to close quickly. Too quickly as it turned out, the Frenchman was heavily armed and before the Halcyon could adjust she found herself raked from across the stern by the more agile Frenchman. Captain Hardboard and Lt. Sharp were both cut down on the Halcyon quarterdeck. Command fell to Lieutenant Trelane who managed to rescue the situation and sink the Frenchman. However with over a third of the ships company dead and another third wounded, the Halcyon was in no fit state to continue and Lt. Trelane, having deemed his duty done, promptly decided to head for England where the Halcyon could replenish both victuals and crew whilst awaiting new orders.
In the Channel this month, the Blue Squadron were given the responsibility of blockading the French ports which open onto the English Channel, and it must be said that overall the blue did its duty well. Earl O’Groats decided to fly his flag from HMS Waakzamheit, some would say because she can beat up to wind easier than HMS Sheik Yassouf, others would point out that without a captain currently he can enjoy himself once more in command of a ship. However to be fair to his Grace, it is to the ship’s good fortune he was present when they unexpectedly came across a pair of French Frigates trying to sneak around the Channel Islands at night. Caught at night by two agile frigates, it took all of the Admiral’s considerable skill to keep them from getting into positions from which they could rake the larger English vessel. After an hour or so they gave it up and returned to the port of Ste. Malo to lick their wounds. The Royal Marines aboard, led by Major Pete Cunning, made it virtually suicidal for any French officer to walk their own decks! For his consummate seamanship their lordships took note of Earl O’Groats’ personal actions and commented upon them with approval. He in turn mentioned to their lordships the steadfast qualities of his long time aide, Lt. Sum Yun Gai. The only other action of note for the ship this month was the catching of a small ship which is due to be bought up by the postal service, so giving everyone on board a slice of prize money.
HMS Sheik Yassouf was handed the Le Havre station and managed to capture a Frenchman trying to make landfall having crossed the Atlantic. In the brief fight that preceded the capture, it is our sad duty to report the death of Lieutenant Dizzodly, who was felled at his post on the gun deck by a splinter. The action was finally decided when Major Brian Adams of the Royal Marines lead a boarding party to end the French resistance.
Meanwhile HMS Alexander was assigned to Cherbourg and it’s peninsula, she too managed to capture a French Merchantman, but sadly not without incident as Captain Crispe of the Marines was shot whilst taking the boarding party onboard. However Captain Collingwood impressed his lordship, as he has been promoted to command HMS Waakzamheit as from next month.
The last member of the Blue Squadron, HMS Glenmoranie had been given the Dover straits sector, which is normally a profitable one. This month whilst she stopped numerous small vessels, she was unable to find a French one. Eventually though her Captain, the noted Viscount Thomas O’Malley, spotted the construction work of a new French post at Cap Gris Nez. What it’s purpose would be we shall never know as that night the Glenmoranie sent a party of men ashore led by Captain Harry Champion of the Royal Marines. He promptly destroyed the works and stores, as well as dispersing the workforce from their tented encampment beyond. For his part in the operation, Captain Champion was mentioned in dispatches, Masters Mate Patrick O’Brien was made Midshipman and Able Seamen William Marsh and Hampton Wick (who had been made Gunroom Steward and Captain’s Steward respectably at the start of the month) were then both promoted Masters Mates by the end of it.
Finally we come to the Red Squadron, which were working together as a fleet to blockade France’s largest Atlantic port, Brest. In command of the Squadron and aboard the Ferocious was Prime Minister and Marquis, Admiral Andrew Goodman, whilst his second in command, Vice Admiral Viscount Robin Timothy Marlowe, was aboard HMS Fiddlers Green. On the forenoon of Friday the 18th, just as the Squadron was beating back into position after a fierce but brief Easterly squall had forced them off shore a few miles, Sailor Joseph Parker aboard the Ferocious spotted four sails sneaking Sou-Sou-West toward the gap between Pont du Bestrée and Ille. De Sein. For this display of keen eyed awareness Captain Jorgens rated Sailor Parker Masters Mate on the spot. Admiral Goodman then ordered Captain Sir Huw Jorgerns to close on them and they were soon identified as two 74’s with a couple of escorting 40 gun frigates.
Both the Admiral and Captain Jorgens were well aware that a French Squadron of this strength loose in the Atlantic would cause merry hell. With no further ado the Admiral signalled HMS Bellerophone to continue on to the blockade point to ensure nothing else tried to slip out of the port. The next signal was preceded by the numbers of both HMS Fiddlers Green and HMS Belle Poule, instructing them to form “Line Astern” of the Ferocious and prepare to engage the enemy.
Now because of the position of shore batteries and the weather gauge, the Squadron would not be able to bring the French to battle until they were through the gap and into the Northern end of the Bay of Biscay.
However Admiral Goodman was confident that Pont de Penmarch would force the French to fight or risk being trapped on a lee shore and despite it taking the next two hours to come to pass this is exactly what happened.
The British had actually to lessen their sail so as to not risk overhauling the French too soon and once the French saw this they turned to engage but they did so most unexpectedly keeping to their own line astern instead of turning into Line abreast.
Admiral Goodman is reported to have remarked “By God Huw, that will do and no mistake!” as he snapped his eyepiece closed. To the untutored it would appear that a race was on to see which line could cross the others bow first, however what the Admiral had noted was that the French leading 74 was running before the wind and when the next ship in line turned perfectly in line behind her it stole the wind from his compatriots sail. This caused massed confusion in the French ranks as the lead ship slewed to one side having lost the wind unexpectedly and the following ship had to veer off suddenly to avoid running into the back of the first. As he did this, the first ship, (now identified as the “Superbe”) caught the wind again and corrected herself but it was too late, the Ferocious, at less then 40 yards, crossed the Superbe’s bow. With each portside gun being double-shot they fired independently as they aligned, the Ferocious lived up to her name and raked the Superbe from bow through to stern.
After this first pass the Frenchman’s foremast had gone by the board over her port side and the English officers on the quarterdeck could see straight through to the stern and beyond as they looked down the chaos on the French gun deck. In passing Captain Jorgens remarked to the Admiral that he could not see a single French gun still on its carriage! At this point the good Captain noticed the actions of the second 74, which was completing it’s own turn to port expecting the Ferocious to move parallel. Instead the wily Captain Jorgens ordered hard a port and with the Ferocious’ bowsprit passing over the French quarterdeck, it crossed the stern of the second 74 and proceeded to repeat the same trick with his double-shot starboard guns with much the same result!
The portside guns were also now reloaded and firing on independent fire against the Superbe. The Ferocious fought with both sides of her guns simultaneously to devastating effect. The Superbe’s scuppers were starting to run red with blood as the Fiddlers Green passed down it’s opposite side, adding to the hammering it was already taking from the Ferocious. However HMS Fiddlers Green’s real target was the two 40 gun Heavy Frigates, which Captain Sir Samuel Augustus Marvell was determined would not spoil the party. They, seeing the state of the two heavier ships and with the Fiddlers Green bearing down on them, decided on retreat and managed to turn about before Captain Marvell could get his broadsides into play against them and headed back from whence they came. Still, a bow chaser was quickly rigged and the Frenchmen were pursued with the hope of a lucky shot slowing one sufficiently to be engaged in battle.
Meanwhile HMS Belle Poule having seen the destruction wrought upon the two French 74’s also took her turn to rake the Superbe as she passed following the line of the Ferocious, however instead of following between the two ships she laid up along side the second Frenchman and boarded her under the leadership of Lieutenant Jack Teague. The French quickly surrendered and struck their colours.
The Ferocious had by now continued around the stern of the Superbe continuing all the time to fire into her and then lay along side the Superbe’s starboard side where the men of HMS Ferocious could board the Superbe, led by Colonel Baron Miles Attenborough-Davis.
However much to the Colonel’s obvious disappointment the French struck their colours before any further combat could take place.
With both the 74’s being secured, this left HMS Fiddlers Green chasing the 2 French Frigates. Captain Marvell followed them back through the gap between Pont du Bestrée and Ille. De Sein. As close as he was, the French shore batteries could hardly fire for fear of hitting their own ships and although a few shots were fired they were well off the mark. However the scene they discovered in the approaches to Brest shocked the ships crew deeply. Before them aground on a sand bar was HMS Bellerophone. Her boat crews were trying to pull her off but it wasn’t working, and to make matters worse the French shore batteries were beginning to find her range with hot shot!
This changed Captain Marvell’s priorities drastically, and the bow chaser finally shooting away a yardarm on the French frigate ahead further irritated him. Altering course HMS Fiddlers Green went to see if the Bellerophone could be helped.
However by the time they arrived all that could be done is the rescue of her crew as HMS Bellerophone was now in flames. Having received the crew and boats aboard, HMS Fiddlers Green retired to a safe distance just in time as the fire reached the Bellerophone’s magazine and she ceased to exist.
Admiral Goodman was less than impressed upon his return and, after a cursory talk to survivors, it became apparent that a very large French merchantman appeared in the approaches trying to follow the navy ships out.
Upon spotting the Bellerophone it tried to turn about and got into difficulties. Captain Hooke decided to go in and try to cut her out in order to secure such a rich prize, but instead ran the Bellerophone aground on a sandbar losing her foremast in the process. At this point the French merchantman stopped appearing to have difficulties and sailed off out into the Atlantic leaving the Bellerophoneto her fate.
It was at this time that the Halcyon came up upon the Red squadron and the Admiral was quick to seize upon the opportunity; he placed the vast majority of the Bellerophone’s crew aboard her, making the old Master and Commander of the Bellerophone, Mr. Bracegirdle, her new Captain. He also put aboard her sufficient stores from the captured French ships and then dispatched Halcyon to chase down the escaped merchantman with orders to pursue her all the way to the Fever isles if necessary!
For Captain Hooke however there was no such reprieve and he was sent home to London to face court martial for the loss of his ship.
The two 74’s, Superbe and Gasparin were towed to Plymouth with prize crews although given the damage it is unlikely they will be bought into the service but more likely used as prison hulks.
However in his complicated report to their lordships, Admiral Goodman cited Captain Marvell for putting the needs of the Bellerophone and the service in front of his personal glory. Also mentioned heavily for his part in both the action and the rescue was his second in command Vice Admiral, Viscount Marlowe. Admiral Goodman then went on to honour the Captain of HMS Ferocious by promoting Sir Huw Jorgens to be the new Rear Admiral of the Red.
Lt. Tiberius Smith had to make do with organizing the rescue effort and went largely unrewarded, although it was rumoured he did manage to personally rescue a chest from the sea? For their part in the rescue of the crew of Bellerophone, Lieutenant Ryan Farrell, Masters Mate Paul Mountjoy and Royal Marine Captain Paul Scarlett were all mentioned in dispatches with Masters Mate Mountjoy also being promoted Captain of the Top. Surgeon Thomas Mather was relieved to find his surgical skills were not needed this month, but spent some time organizing the proper care of those received from Bellerophone and later the badly wounded from HMS Halcyon. Sailor Paul Edward Ivy was also promoted to Masters Mate.
It goes without saying that after such an eventful action with prize money abounding, that their lordships themselves felt honour bound to praise Admiral Goodman heavily for his command in this difficult situation.
Along with it’s other reports, HMS Halcyon brings news that the EIC ship Shangri-la was sighted in Cape Town having rounded the horn and that she is therefore expected home on schedule at the end of next month unless something else was to befall her in the last leg of her journey. Information is sketchy but it would seem that she is currently under the command of one Lieutenant Valentine Carthew due to various mishaps to more senior officers.
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Promotions, Purchases and Appointments
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Mentioned in dispatches
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God bless them and all who sail in them
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Issue 42 Your Reporter, Miss Edith e’Deadline.
London saw the arrival of five gentlemen seeking their fortunes: Paul Edward Ivy, Hampton Wick,William Marsh, James Williams and Haimish Urqhuart.
The first four immediately set to sea whilst Mr. Urqhuartsought to establish himself in Our Fair City.
Sir Marvell made an application to become a member of the Committee for the Patriotic Fund. Although the chairman knew of his reputation and was impressed with the gentlemen, he did not quite yet meet the requirement for membership.
Interview with a jailer from the Tower Of London —(who wishes to remain anonymous) with JR Rigsbee, cub reporter with the Gazette.
Rigsbee: So Mr. X, how are the two brave men facing up to their incarceration ?
Jailer X: Both Brock and Miller are having a hard time I am glad to report. It’s about time the government of today put the bloody navy in its place. Jumped-up stuffed shirts that they all are. Going by the amount of mail passing between the Governor of the Tower and 10 Downing St., quite a few high-ups are worried that the Navy might take objection to their arrest, and possibly do something stupid. I’ve heard that the guard has been doubled and we are all on the watch out for officers or men from the navy acting in a strange way while visitingthese two scallywags. There are concerns in the corridors of power, so I am led to believe, that the prime minister is expecting all ranks to petition him so that the trial of these two is brought forward, but to date, I’ve not heard of one being started as yet.
Rigsbee: Have the two sworn enemies made up their quarrel in the past two months, and might this be a way of getting a court marshal to drop any charges ??
Jailer X: I’m not sure, they have both been keeping to themselves, we shall have to wait and see.
Other news from the Great City of London:
Betty Templeton-Smythe and her maid, Marian, were at Cherry Derry‘s Millinery in Camden, shopping for a dozen of silk stockings for Captain Templeton-Smythe.
Quite taken by surprise, Mrs. Templeton-Smythe, who was eight months pregnant, went into labour. Cherry’s girl, Nan Keen, called for help (with the utmost discretion that milliners are known to have). Most passers by just moved along, save for a young man, Haimish Urqhuart, who was on his way to the Royal College of Physicians. Mr. Urqhuart stopped and rendered aid, and a healthy baby girl was the result.
According to this reporter’s source, once mother and baby were fine, Mr. Urqhuart made haste to leave the area, for he had an appointment with Royal College of Physicians to Undertake examination as a Doctor in the first week. We are very pleased to report that he passed the examination with flying colours, and is now Dr. Urqhuart.
We at the paper would also like to wish the best to Captain and Mrs. Templeton-Smythe and their new baby, and a “well done” to the new Dr. Urqhuart.
The title of Doctor must have gone to Urqhuart’s head, because in the 2nd week he called on and presented Anne Bonny with a limited edition book of “The life and times of Our Great King George” worth quite a pretty penny on the rare book market. Miss Bonny is rumoured to be currently the mistress of Joseph Parker, who is bravely serving at sea. Miss Bonny turned him away from the door, as she loves Parker so much, and longs for the day HMS Ferocious returns home.
If that had not been a scandal, this must be: The cad returned on the 3rd week and tried again, this time spending the same on a small necklace, which he wanted to put around Miss Bonny’s neck. Only the swift action by Miss Bonny’s butler saved her honour.
The action by the butler gave Mr. (sorry, Dr.) Urqhuart a black eye, and something to think about. As he made his way back down the street, Miss Bonny was heard to cry “I’ll tell my Joseph of you.”
Dr. Urqhuart must really be needing company during his long nights of study, because during the 4th week he turned up at Mary Lamb’s abode and explained his undying love for her. It must be love because he spent a whopping 75GP on a painting of a life study by Van Klomp, Fallen Madonna with a Bowl of Melons. Miss Lamb it turned out was an art lover, and the sight of this picture made her grab Urqhuart and drag him in into her courtyard. We expect that she will compare herself to the Fallen Madonna in the privacy of her own home
-=Fin.=-
Colonel Gallop's Political Editorial
First let me introduce myself I am Colonel Horace Gallop of the 17th Lancers and the Royal Society. I have been kept on to write the few political notes that make it to this fine editorial.
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Due to the majority of the MPs being at sea there was no political activity this month
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Letters
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His Majesty announces a
Returning Heroes Ball**********************************************************************
To be held the first week of September. All titled nobles are invited to attend, to include and celebrate those who earn their knighthood at the close of the Summer campaign season.
The occasion will also mark the addition of a new ship, formerly known as the Solitaire, into His Majesty’s fleet, a 4th class in the Red Squadron to replace the ill-fated Bellerephone.
Suggestions for a proper English name for this new ship will be accepted by His Majesty.Trial for Treason !
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