AAR. Letters of Marque - June Scenario: Honour amongst thieves?
A Wild Goose chase.
Captain McBride spread out the chart before his Officers and pointed to a small dot in a series of dots spread out across the Malacca strait.
" Gentlemen after our fruitless search for these French Commerce raiders, If what the captured French Sloop Captain told us is correct, that is the place where their rendezvous will be, three days from now. Turtle Island. That is where I intend to smoke them out. We will strike at dawn on Tuesday."
As dawn broke over Turtle Island three days later, HEICS Nottingham bore down on the island at full sail.
Within what seemed moments the Masthead lookout was calling down sightings. Firstly a French Sloop on the Starboard quarter pursuing a converging course with the Nottingham.
Then a French Frigate at anchor in the Lee of the Island,
and finally another Frigate just appearing over the horizon fine on the Port bow.
Captain McBride noted these reports and then held steadily on his course.
As all three ships closed on the Island, no action seemed to be taking place on the anchored Frigate. McBride sent his second Lt. Peabody to the tops with a glass to spot for any hidden battery on the island itself, or the telltale smoke from a shot oven.
Nothing of the sort was reported.
Within 15 minutes the two Frigates were within signalling distance, and both made their recognition signal.
No sooner was this accomplished than the flurry of activity was seen aboard the ship at anchor as she readied herself to to set sails and up anchor.
Before this could be achieved the Sloop arrived on the scene and instead of making her number with the two French ships. She lowered her Tricolour and ran up the HEIC Ensign. It had proved to be a ruse de guerre.
The Lt. in command of the newly christened HEICS Swan immediately put his helm over and coming about right smartly raked the French Courageuse even as her anchor was hove short.
Even the small 9lbrs double shotted could not fail at that point blank range, and wrecked the Frigates gun decks within seconds, turning the Frigate into a splintered charnel house with at least one fire breaking out on the upper gun deck.
Swan's victory was to be short lived however, for even as she continued her turn to Starboard, a peppering of shot was taking place between her and the second Frigate.
Unite then opened up with her forrard 18lbr guns, also double shotted and reduced Swan almost to a floating hulk with one salvo.
This was to be the Swan's swansong. As she bore away unable to answer the helm, the damage started to cause her to settle by the bows.
As Unite cleared the way one more Salvo from the wounded Courageuse forced the remaining crew of the Swan to abandon ship.
Rushing to aid the sinking Sloop, HEICS Nottingham brushed aside Unity with her powerful broadside which put her very much on the defensive.
Small arms fire from the tops also took a toll on the now depleted crew to such an extent that both she and the Courageuse, now finally underway, bore off to the North seeking the cover afforded by the Island.
As Nottingham picked up the few survivors from the ship's boats, Swan finally slipped below the surface in a welter of bubbles.
The two French ships intent on making good their escape, came up into the wind and tacked in succession hugging the coast of Turtle Island.
They then set all sail and headed off in a North Easterly direction with a following wind for the first time that day.
Meanwhile on the far side of the island Nottingham was also forced to tack, but with astute ship handling McBride was also able to cut in very close to the shoreline.
Just as the Frigate captains felt that they had given McBride the slip there Nemesis appeared around the headland and bore down upon them with deadly purpose.
Putting his helm over even further McBride and Unity exchanged double shotted first broadsides with their previously un-engaged batteries.
The lightly damaged Nottingham proved to be the superior in this exchange, and with more damage tween wind and water and her Captain sorely wounded Unity was forced to strike.
It only remained for McBride to wear ship to place himself across the bows of the almost helpless Courageuse.
One forrard salvo and the ship which was the last to strike had lived up to its name.
The Prize crew who boarded her discovered a scene of devastation and carnage with not one of her Officers save the Captain alone, either wounded or dead.
The Convoys would be safe again at least for the present.
On their return to Bombay for a refit, David and his crew were voted a gift of several thousand rupees by the grateful Merchants, and the Board of the HEIC presented David with a magnificently engraved Sword of honour.
In addition to this the two French Frigates would make the crew a pretty penny in prize money.
Bligh.
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