A Voyage to Victory

The scene on the deck above was now a picture of concentration with everyone at their guns and the smoke from the slow matches drifting upwards before being whipped away by the wind.  They were now only a few hundred yards from their quarry and the bow chasers were doing terrible damage to the other vessel’s rigging.  It was mainly due to the damage that they had closed with the vessel and fortunately the other’s stern chasers had not been so successful.  Perhaps it was the target practice they had had they other day, Adam thought.  He also realised how close they were to the coast for now he could clearly see the breakers crashing down on the rocky shoreline. 

It was clear that the privateer wished to reach the safety of a friendly port rather than do battle with a British frigate for there was no profit to the privateer’s crew in that.  However, there was a great incentive for the Captain and crew of the Naiad for everyone would share in the prize money if they could only take her.  Suddenly there was a cheer onboard as the privateer’s mizzenmast came down hampering its gun crews who had leapt into action and were busily cutting away the mast and rigging from the ship, which had now slowed dramatically.  Adam now also realised that a large body of men were now crouched in the waist of the Naiad and were armed with cutlasses and axes while the marines were armed and dangerous, at least from their expressions.  These men were there either to defend the ship or board the other, Adam thought. 

The order was given out for a rolling broadside to commence and as the frigate drew level with the privateer so there was a rippling fire from the Naiad.  The upper deck of the privateer was still cluttered with people trying to free the mizzenmast and there was carnage as the broadside hit them.  The lower deck of the enemy was not so encumbered so it returned the fire with the guns that were not blocked by the mizzenmast and its sails and rigging.  From that view point alone it was fire-fight where the advantage lay with the Naiad but the Naiad’s gun crews were also much quicker at loading and the broadsides now came at about every ninety seconds or so. The Naiad had reduced her speed by loosing a number of her sails in order to lie abreast of the privateer and blast it again and again. 

Finally the enemy crew managed to cut away the mast and then made to close the distance between the two vessels but Captain Dundas was having none of it and managed maintain the gap at a reasonable distance.  The Frenchmen, for that was now clearly who they were, who were not serving the guns were now clustered in groups in the hope of boarding and a number of them where now in the rigging with muskets and were firing across the gap in the hope of disrupting the gun crews or hitting the marines.  It was at the very limit of the musket’s range but one did hit a marine quite close to where Adam was standing while he was in the act of preparing to fire.  The marine slumped forward apparently lifeless and Adam without thinking grabbed the weapon and quickly aiming at the nearest French sniper fired.  The sniper jerked back with the ball in his chest and dropping his weapon slipped from his position in the rigging and fell to the deck below him.