An Eye of the Fleet by Richard Woodman Read Free Book Online Page A

activity. He pointed to leeward. ‘Muerto! Muerto!’
    They understood.
    To windward Hope was tacking
Cyclops
. It was vital that Devaux secured the tow in seconds. The four inch snaked in. Then it snagged. The big ten-inch rope coming out of the water had caught on something under
Santa Teresa
’s bow.
    â€˜Heave!’ screamed Devaux, beside himself with excitement.
Cyclops
would feel the drag of that rope. She might fail to pay off on the starboard tack . . .
    Suddenly it came aboard with a rush. The floating hemp rose on a wave and swept aboard as
Santa Teresa
’s bow fell into a steep trough.
    Drinkwater was astonished. Where she had been rolling wildly the seas had been breaking harmlessly alongside. He sensed something was wrong. That sea had broken over them. He looked around. The sea was white in the moonlight and breaking as on a beach. They were in the breakers of the San Lucar shoal. Above the howl of the wind and the screaming of the Spanish officers the thunder of the Atlantic flinging itselfonto the bank was a deep and terrifying rumble.
    Devaux sweated over the end of the ten inch rope. ‘Get a gun fired quick!’
    Drinkwater pointed to a cannon and mimed a ramming motion. ‘Bang!’ he shouted.
    The sailors understood and a charge was quickly rammed home. Drinkwater grabbed the linstock and jerked it. It fired. He looked anxiously at
Cyclops
. Several Spaniards were staring fearfully to leeward. ‘
Dios
!’ said one, crossing himself. Others did the same.
    Slowly Devaux breathed out.
Cyclops
had tacked successfully. The hemp rose from the water and took the strain. It creaked and Drinkwater looked to where Devaux had passed a turn round
Santa Teresa
’s fore mast and wracked lashings on it. More were being passed by the sailors. The
Santa Teresa
trembled. Men looked fearfully at each other. Was it the effect of the tow or had she struck the bottom?
    Cyclops
’s stern rose then plunged downwards. The rope was invisible in the darkness which had again engulfed them but it was secured and
Santa Teresa
began to turn into the wind. Very slowly
Cyclops
hauled her late adversary to the south west, clawing a foot to windward for every yard she made to the south.
    Devaux turned to the midshipman and clapped him on the back. His face broke into a boyish grin.
    â€˜We’ve done it, cully, by God, we’ve done it!’
    Drinkwater slid slowly to the deck, the complete oblivion of fatigue enveloping him.

Chapter Five
February–April 1780
The Evil that Men do . . .
    Rodney’s fleet lay at anchor in Gibraltar Bay licking its wounds with a sense of satisfaction. The evidence of their victory was all about them, the Spanish warships wearing British colours over their own.
    The battle had annihilated Don Juan de Langara’s squadron. Four battleships had struck by midnight. The Admiral in
Fenix
surrendered to Rodney but
Sandwich
had pressed on. At about 2 a.m. on the 17th she overhauled the smaller
Monarcha
and compelled her to strike her colours with one terrible broadside. By this time, as
Cyclops
struggled to secure
Santa Teresa
in tow, both fleets were in shoaling water. Two seventy gun ships, the
San Julian
and
San Eugenio
, ran helplessly aground with terrible loss of life. The remainder, Spanish and British, managed to claw off to windward.
    In the confusion of securing the prizes one Spanish battleship escaped as did the other frigate. With the exception of the
San Domingo
and the escapees, De Langara’s squadron had fallen into Rodney’s hands. It was a bitter blow to Spanish naval pride, pride that had already suffered humiliation when late the previous year the treasure flota from the Indies had fallen to marauding British cruisers.
    Now the great ships lay at anchor.
Fenix
was to become
Gibraltar
and others were to be bought into the British service. Their presence boosted the morale of Generel Elliott’s hard pressed