The Tempest by Christopher C. Tubbs

Author:Christopher C. Tubbs [Tubbs, Christopher C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: RO:NAV
Published: 2019-06-09T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13: Diamond Rock

Marty’s first thought was to sail straight to Jamaica and make a report, then he remembered that HMS Diamond Rock was very close by, so he ordered a change of course and headed back towards Martinique.

It took a day to beat back up against the trade wind to make the Rock and then they had to sail around it to get to the point where they could drop anchor and row ashore. Marty flew a British flag and made the recognition signal of the day but was still greeted by a reception committee of marines. He eventually got to meet Lieutenant James Maurice who was in command of the stone frigate and got a tour of the rock, which involved some serious climbing of ladders.

They had a couple of twenty-four-pound cannons protecting the approach and entrance to the cave at the base of the rock, another twenty-four-pounder about halfway up and two eighteen-pounders on a flat area they had blasted out of the top. All in all, they could command the approaches to Port Royal from everything but the North and that was an extremely difficult entry as Marty could testify.

Marty left an encoded message to be forwarded to Hood and one in plain English for Admiral Duckworth with a brief report of what they had seen in Port Royal/Forte de France and a caution that it wasn’t their main base as Diamond Rock made it too difficult to use.

Back on the Tempest, Marty called everyone together to discuss their next steps.

“Well, we have now well and truly posted our visiting card and I will place a bet that a message is winging its way to Paris right now because if I’m not very much mistaken de Faux is no more an American than I am.”

“What makes you think that?” James asked.

“Just a feeling that he isn’t all he seems, and something in the way he talks is all, and ‘de Faux’ translates to ‘the fake’,” Marty replied.

“But that’s as maybe, we need to decide where to go next. I was checking a few things in Jamaica and it seems the sudden raise in piracy against the British started just after we gave Bonaire and Curacao back to the Dutch. Apparently during the last wave, they were lawless islands and gave shelter to many pirates in exchange for trading with them.”

“You think the base is there?” Ackermann asked.

“I’m not sure there is a base, more centres where they go to resupply and trade their prize cargos.” Ryan said thoughtfully.

Marty looked at him in surprise, Ryan wasn’t known for making intuitive leaps and he had just made a big one that had caught Marty completely by surprise. He suddenly realised he had become locked in his thinking and had obsessed about finding a base.

“So, what we need to do is find those centres and raid them when the privateers are there or hit their ships and prizes on their way there. Ryan you’re a genius!” Marty exclaimed.

Ryan looked totally abashed at the sudden praise but asked.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.