The Sea Officer: Set Course for Trafalgar by Westropp George

Author:Westropp, George
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-12-28T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty Three

Birchall could be direct, Amos soon discovered, as his demeanour and voice suddenly changed. It was then he truly understood the difference between the responsibilities of an Acting Fourth Lieutenant and those of the First.

‘Now you are settled on board, Mr Westropp, I require to see you at two bells in the forenoon watch tomorrow, with your report concerning the readiness of this ship to sail for the West Indies.’

‘We will start with stores and water. Then I shall review the watch and station bills so that the men know their duties and quarters in this ship. I am sure that Mr Tompkins can assist you there.’

‘Next, I wish to see the men who will maintain the Hebe as the fighting ship she was built to be. We may now be a transport, but we may still have to fight the enemy. In no particular order, please arrange for me to interview the Gunner, Purser, Carpenter, Bos’n and master’s mates.’

‘They are the subordinate heads of the departments responsible through the First Lieutenant to me as Captain for the proper functioning of this ship. I wish all of them to have schedules of their readiness to sail today and what is required, and the time to do so if we have a lack of food, water, powder, wads and shot, cordage and so on.’

The Captain finished by adding ‘There is no better way for you to understand this ship and what I expect of you.’

Westropp inwardly gulped and a wave of panic threatened to over-power him. Never argue with the Captain was the Lieutenant’s Code and that came to his rescue. Trying to appear calm and ready to carry out any order Birchall demanded, he gave a simple salute while replying ‘Aye aye, Sir.’ He withdrew carefully on shaky legs and made for his little cabin to start making an ordered list of all he must accomplish in the next 24 hours and the men to be seen.

The fact was that Hebe was not ready for sea. Carpenters from the dockyard were still hard at work sawing and thumping all over the ship and Amos agreed with the Captain’s assessment that it would certainly be a week or more before they could sail around to Portsmouth to pick up the troops. There would then be a further delay there, he thought, before the last ships in the convoy had been assembled.

Birchall knew all this, of course, but it was a good test of the new, and very young, First Lieutenant, to see how he handled the pressure of such an unexpected and demanding order.

As Amos drew up his list in the comparative quiet of his cabin, he became determined to comply with every part of the order. Lieutenant Tompkins could perhaps be persuaded to lend a hand as he had been the longest serving of the officers on Hebe.

He had noticed that Tompkins always seemed to be shadowed by a large Irish master’s mate called Docherty. Amos had spoken

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