A War in Baltic Waters: At Home and at Sea, 1807-II by Cragg John G

Author:Cragg, John G.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-04-14T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter XIV

“Mr. Lester,” Giles ordered, “Signal Captain Macreau to come here.”

“You know, Captain Giles,” remarked Mr. Lester after transmitting the order, “I’ve learned more about the rest of the world in this cruse than I ever knew before. I was never anywhere except the English Channel and off Brest in all my previous time in the Navy.”

“Well, it is good to be in new waters,” Giles replied, “but we all learned something when Cicero went aground. That was certainly in home waters. Though, I am afraid that some of that lesson was more about what not to do when you command a ship of your own.

“I am sure you also learned something when we went by Copenhagen. Hopefully, we can learn some more as our journey continues. Even Mr. Brooks told me he is looking forward to finding out more about this coast, even though it is supposed to be uninteresting.

“Now, let’s welcome Captain Macreau on board. He’s not a post-captain, of course, but he is a good friend of much of our crew who want to give him a bit of a formal welcome.”

Mr. Lester was happy to lay on an appropriate welcome with the aid of the bosun. The first lieutenant had observed and wondered at Etienne’s qualities when his previous ship, Cicero, had been recaptured. He also recognized that the crew members of Glaucus were fond of him, remarkably since first lieutenants were often not liked by the crews of their ships. Deviating from the standard way of welcoming a ship’s captain who only had the rank of commander was a good idea, in Mr. Lester’s opinion. Another lesson learned, Glaucus’s first lieutenant thought, as he issued the appropriate orders.

“We now may be in enemy waters, from what we were told,” Giles said as soon as Captain Macreau joined the three officers from Glaucus. “Though they may not be. No one in London knew for sure exactly who our enemies are or much else about our situation. I am not clear which country has administrative control of the area; it might be France or one of its satellites like Prussia, or some country that may or may not still be on our side, like Sweden or Russia. Sweden is one of our allies and, I am told, is willing to act as our agent or prize manager if we capture ships sailing under a hostile flag or from a country subservient to Napoleon. What I do know is that we are coming up to Danzig, an important port at the mouth of a large river whose name escapes me.

“River Vistula, Captain,” Mr. Brooks stated sotto voce.

“Thank you, Mr. Brooks,” Giles continued. “We can spend up to ten days along this coast to see what we can find or go to Stockholm to get news. I certainly would like to know where things stand before going to Russia.

“The land here is pretty bleak, and the Navy doesn’t seem to know much about it. There are some big bays, flat islands, and mud banks.

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