A cheer went up from the men, who all seemed to be excited to be underway on what was already an unusual voyage.
Harry raised his hand and the crew fell silent. “Now that we’re safely at sea and away from the eyes and ears of spies, I can give you the full details of our mission. It’s a bit involved, so give me time to lay it all out for you.”
Harry looked at the faces barely illuminated by the deck lamps and then proceeded to explain to the crew the details of their mission and its importance to the king. Then he told the crew that the focus of the mission involved disrupting the flow of treasure from the Spanish colonies.
“As you can imagine,” Harry continued, “should news get back to France or Spain of an English warship preying on their treasure fleets in the Americas, war will come too soon, and this is something that cannot be allowed to happen. Therefore, we’re going to disguise ourselves so we don’t look like an English warship. That’s part of the reason we pretended to steal the ship, and why, beginning at first light, our ship is to be repainted. The yellow band along the gun deck that’s the mark of our Navy has to be painted a different color. Also, the ship will be receiving a new name: the King’s Ransom. Furthermore, we won’t be flying the flag of England.”
Harry paused a moment before stating, “We’ll be sailing under the black flag.”
Harry looked around and waited for a reaction from the crew and officers. He saw several crewmembers shaking their heads angrily, and he heard them murmuring. He also saw concerned looks on the faces of his officers.
“Speak up, men,” he said. “If you have something to say, this is the time to say it.”
“I didn’t join the navy to become no damnable pirate!” one of the carpenter’s mates shouted. Several other crewmembers shouted in agreement.
“You know what the Spaniards do to pirates they catch, don’t you?” a crewmember on the front row shouted. “They string ‘em up and leave ‘em spinnin’ in the wind for the birds to eat!”
Harry let the crewmembers continue ranting for several minutes. He looked over at his officers, but they remained silent, as was proper for English Naval officers. Most of the crew looked angry or frustrated, and several had taken to shouting at the crewmembers next to them or at the other officers, trying to get answers about why the king had sent them on this mission.
Finally, Harry held up his hand, and the crew fell silent. “Let me finish, men. We have been ordered to disguise ourselves as pirates so the French and Spanish won’t think we’re an English Navy warship. We’ll attack French and Spanish shipping, seizing as many ships and as much treasure as possible. We’ll transfer 70% of our winnings back to England, and we’ll divide the remaining 30% amongst ourselves. We may keep any ship we capture and use it as we see fit. We’ll sink the ship of any pirate or privateer we come across, and, from time to time, we’ll even pretend to take a run at English ships, although we’re forbidden to sink an English ship unless it’s the only way to survive an engagement. We won’t take prisoners or volunteers from captured crews; they are to be set adrift or marooned. There will be no friendly ports, and only Admiral Benbow’s squadron in the area will know who we are and what our true mission is.”
Harry gave the crew a chance to absorb the information. “Why didn’t you say that in the first place?” the carpenter’s mate asked when Harry stopped talking. “If you’d said we’z gonna get rich stealin’ from the Frenchies and Spaniards, I wouldn’t have gotten so mad!”
Many of the crewmembers laughed and nodded in agreement. Harry smiled.
“And what if we’re captured?” one of the crewmen asked.
“We’re on our own,” Harry replied. “There are no friendly ports for us and no allies. If we’re captured, we can never reveal that we’re part of the English Navy. The truth about who we are and what we’re doing must be protected at all costs.”
“What if we need to make port somewhere?” another crewmember asked.
“Two days ago, the Seven Provinces was dispatched to an island in the Bahamas called ‘Cat Island’ to deliver supplies, materials, and men as part of our mission. They’ll be building our base of operation there since we’ll need a port where we can refit, resupply, and store our winnings. There will be a large contingent of Marines there as well as replacement crewmembers. This will give us the chance to rest and rotate the crew since, for the next several years, we’ll be fighting almost constantly. Some of our battles will be traditional, and others will be decidedly less so. We’re going to be acting like thieves, so we need to start thinking like thieves and adopting their methods – except that under no circumstance is there to be any stealing from the men assigned to this mission or from the treasure we’ve won. This is still a ship of His Majesty’s Navy and will conduct itself accordingly. Those of us who survive this mission will return to England as wealthy men. But no one will ever know what we did and how we helped with England’s war effort. For the rest of your lives, you can never speak of it to anyone. Men, our king needs us to carry out this mission with all the professionalism and proficiency we can muster. This is the mission we’ve been selected for, and by God we will succeed!”
The crew cheered and shouted, “God save the king and Captain Hastings!”
“Mr. Chisholm,” Harry shouted over the noise, “Make your course west-southwest.”
Harry remained on deck until he saw the sky growing lighter. Most of the crew had already located their hammocks on the berth deck and were trying to rest before their watches started. As the sky grew brighter, he saw the ship more clearly. All through the night, he sensed a different feel and smell around him. It took a while before he realized that the smell was from all the new rope, new canvas, and new timber onboard. Having never served on a brand-new ship before, he wasn’t used to everything having a new smell about it.
Looking at the gunwales, he noticed that the hull looked thicker than he expected it to be. Everything about this ship seemed both familiar and yet different. He looked forward to making a full inspection of the ship as soon as possible.
He heard the ship’s bell ring the time and saw Lieutenant Pemberton step onto the weather deck and climb up the stairs to the quarterdeck. “Good morning, Captain,” he said as he joined Harry.
“Good morning, Mr. Pemberton. How is your cabin?”
“The half-deck quarters are excellent, sir. I’m sure you’ll find the great cabin equally fitting.”
“First things first, Mr. Pemberton. I’m going to have Mr. Chisholm take me on a full inspection of the ship. Later today, once the work parties have started painting and the crew assignments are finished, I want you and Mr. Hamilton to have our sailing master take you on a full inspection as well. We need to know every bit of this ship and what she can do. Once the painting is finished and the assignments made, I want to start testing this ship and her crew: maneuvering, clearing for action, and gunnery. We need to make sure every part of the ship and every man is working properly. Understood?”
“Understood, sir.”
“Very well, Mr. Pemberton. Pass the word for me when you and Mr. Hamilton are ready to make your inspection. I’ll be in my cabin getting settled once I’m finished with Mr. Chisholm.”
Harry walked to the forecastle and found Chisholm checking the ropes supporting the bowsprit above the head, which is where the privies were located.
“Good morning, Captain,” Chisholm said as Harry approached. Now that the sky was getting lighter, Harry was able to get a good look at his sailing master for the first time. Chisholm was an older gentleman with grey hair that Harry could tell had been a light red in the man’s youth. He had a very round face and broad shoulders. He was several inches shorter than Harry, and the man’s hands were larger than any hands Harry had ever seen.
“Good morning, Mr. Chisholm. Any problems?”