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The Devil's sea. Voyage of the pirate ship Henrietta. |
| Written by Richard Davies | |
| Saturday, 22 September 2007 | |
The Devils Sea. Voyage of the Pirate Ship Henrietta.
Caribbean Sea. 1733.
The pirate schooner Henrietta waited, hidden from view in the calm waters off the west end of Grand Bahama Island. Captain Clifford favored that vantage point. It concealed them from the Florida Straits and at the same time protected from sudden attack, as the larger men of war' were unable to safely navigate the shallows within the island's reefs. “Thar she blows, Cap'n! Headin' south-west!” The lookout spied a vessel sailing in the Straits not far away. Captain Clifford studied it through his telescope. “She be a merchant, lads. Make ready! Stand by bow cannon!” The Henrietta was equipped with extra cannon on both the bow and stern of the ship; Unusual for a fighting vessel. She could fire her cannon while sailing directly at, or away from the enemy, instead of maneuvering into a broadside position before firing her guns.
Surprise seemed to have payed off, once again. The slower merchant vessel was no match for Captain Clifford's seamanship. “Fire!” Two cannons blazed, and hit their mark. Smoke billowed from the ship's stern. The merchant was disabled. “Reload!” The merchant ship hoisted a white flag of surrender and the pirate crew cheered at the sight. A battle had been won, without casualties. “Prepare to board, lads.” The Captain ordered. “Pass the word.”
“Cap'n! Vessels approachin' on the starboard bow.” A seaman hollered from the crow's nest. “They be men o' war, Cap'n!” Two Naval ships had been shadowing the merchant vessel, and now headed directly towards the Henrietta. Ahead, the merchant ship suddenly maneuvered, broadside. “It be a damn trap. They be tars.” Captain Clifford cried. “Hard to port!” Just then, the merchant marine opened fire. Cannon shot barely missed the pirate ship. The two Naval craft were rapidly closing on the Henrietta. “They be frigate's, Cap'n. We can't outrun 'em.” The mate sighed.
Naval frigate's were built for speed; a deadly adversary of pirate ships. “We be famous, matey's.” The Captain grimaced.
The Henrietta had recently attacked and plundered three other merchant vessels in those very same waters, and the British government had decided it was time to put an end to Captain Clifford Brown's piracy. “We'll make for Bimini, me hearties. Headin' south - south west.” The Captain gave orders to the helmsman. “Those blighter's won't nab us afore then... Make ready stern cannon!” “Aye Aye, Cap'n!” Smithy, the mate replied.
Once the Henrietta reached the shallows surrounding Bimini, it stood a good chance of escape. The merchant ship could not follow the pirates into the shallows and now followed on a parallel heading. However, the frigates were able to negotiate those seas and continued to gain on the pirate schooner.
“Man o' war, dead ahead, Cap'n!” A lookout shouted. Not far in front of them, a ship of the line came into view. A vessel of that size and armament was usually reserved for large-scale Naval sea battles. The Henrietta was caught in a well planned trap. The merchant ship cut off any escape to the Straits, and the man of war sailed between them and the islands. Meanwhile, the frigates were almost upon them from the rear. “We be doomed.” Smithy murmured. “Stand ready, lads!” Captain Clifford cried. “We'll not go down without a fight!” The ship of the line opened fire. The sound was deafening as it gave a full broad-side of fire power. But the pirate ship was still out of range for the time-being and shot splashed wildly into the Caribbean.
“Fog – bank, port bow, Cap'n.” “Shiver me timbers,” the Captain gasped. “I ain't never seen anythin' the likes in all me years at sea.” A hundred feet away, a wall of darkness engulfed the ocean from sea to sky. “It be a grand black door, Cap'n!” Smithy cried. The frigates were close at hand and the Battleship now in range as it prepared to fire, again.
“Arr what the 'ell.!” The Captain shouted. “We all gotta die sum time, boys. Hard to port!” The Henrietta sailed directly into the fog.
“It be a pea-sou per, Cap'n.” A seaman remarked, as the approaching Naval ships quickly disappeared from sight. The crew to a man, had never encountered anything like it, before. It was impossible to see more than a few feet in any direction, but it was not fog... They were inside a dark tunnel. “No lanterns.” The Captain ordered. “Pass it on. We may cheat the gallows yet, matey's.”
Suddenly, the darkness was behind them and the schooner drifted on the current in a narrow canal, it's walls of sheer rock reached high above them. “We be in Hell's locker, Cap'n.” Smithy exclaimed.
The Henrietta floated aimlessly on the never ending river. There was no breeze to fill the sails and the canal too narrow to turn the ship about.
“Cap'n. There be light ahead!” They passed through a door-like opening and were once again upon the ocean.
“Land ahoy!” The lookout yelled. “Where in the Devil, be we, Cap'n?” “I don't rightly know Smithy?” Captain Clifford replied.
Ahead, an immense city loomed up before them. The majestic buildings glittered as gold, in the sunlight. It was built on hills as far as the eye could see and a high wall spanned it's entirety. “Cap'n., them Navy boys, will they be a followin'?” “If they be lad, we be trapped. Thar's no way around this city.”
As the Henrietta sailed closer, the crew watched in awe. There were twenty stone landing piers jutting out of the harbor, with vessels of all kinds moored alongside, but the whole place seemed deserted. Nothing stirred; Man nor beast. The Captain suspected another trap. His crew were prepared, but if the Naval ships had managed to follow them it would be a one-sided battle. He reluctantly decided his men would stand a better chance on land. “Fetch in the sails, boys! Prepare to dock!... Stand by the bow cannon!” Captain Clifford was wary, and confused. The city was unfamiliar to him and he had no idea where they were.
The schooner moored alongside a massive ship and crew members climbed from the ship to secure the lines fore and aft. “Cap'n these hooks be gold. All of 'em!” A seaman exclaimed, as he secured ropes on the dock. “We be in Heaven, shipmates!”
Captain Clifford ordered a skeleton crew to remain on board, the rest assembled on the pier. Many of the docked vessels, were unknown to the pirate crew. There were ancient looking sea-craft berthed alongside strange smaller craft. “What be that?” A crew member nervously pointed towards an object sitting on the dock. “It seems to be a giant moth or bird, but it stands on wheels.” His ship mate replied. “I ain't never seen a butterfly that grand.” The looked more closely at the airplane. “It be dead, whatever it was?”
“Cap'n, do you hear?” The second-mate tapped on the side of the massive ship, docked alongside the Henrietta. “It be tin - could be copper. That ain't possible, Cap'n? She should be in Davy Jones locker.” The Captain touched the smooth surface. “Glory be. Ahoy! Smithy! What be her name?” “U.S.S. CYCLOPS, Cap'n.”
The gates of the city slowly opened and a group of men approached the Henrietta. “Landlubbers, boys. Make ready” The crew drew their weapons. “Hold your fire.” Clifford ordered. “ They be unarmed.” “They be wearin' frocks, me hearties.” A seaman said and many of the the pirate's jeered. The men were dressed in long flowing garments that reached to the ground and wore ornate head coverings. One of their group spoke; “Welcome to Atlantis. We are a peaceful nation. Lower your weapons. Only the Gods know how you came to us, but you are welcome to stay, as many before you, have. It is Poseidon's wish.”
“Domingo, what language be that?” Captain Clifford, asked his second mate. “I not know, Cap'n. I never hear that tongue.” “Look at the gold on 'em!” Smithy said. Suddenly, a pistol fired. The man who had spoken fell, wounded. Several more weapons fired, and others in the welcoming group were hit. “Hold your fire, you scurvy!” The Captain screamed. Some crew members began to remove the gold jewelery from the wounded men as they lay on the dock. Others in the group fled back to the city.
Trumpets sounded within the city walls. “Prepare to set sail!” Captain Clifford ordered. “We' ve worn out our welcome, lads!” “But the gold, Cap'n?” Smithy asked. “ Thar must be more where that come from?”
A large army began to march out of the gates. They wore armor and carried spears and shields. “Stand by to cast off.” The Captain climbed on board. “Forget the gold, shipmates!” Smithy shouted. “Cast off! Cap'ns orders!”
The pirate ship headed back towards the tunnel. There was nowhere else to go for behind them hundreds of soldiers assembled at the harbor.
The Henrietta safely passed though the entrance and once again entered the covered waterway. Captain Clifford ordered his men to lower three boats. The crew secured lines from the boats to the Henrietta and began to slowly tow the schooner along the canal, much as they did when becalmed at sea.
“Put your backs into it, lads!” Smithy hollered at the oarsmen. Many of the pirates wondered if the Naval warships would be waiting for their return.
Suddenly, the black hole was before them. “Keep rowing, amigos!” Domingo cried from the leading boat. “Cap'n, it's been a pleasure sailin' with you.” Smithy said grimly, as darkness engulfed them.
Then, quite suddenly, the Sun was shining and a breeze rocked the Henrietta, as she bobbed in the Caribbean. “All aboard, lads! Get those boats on deck!” The Naval ships were nowhere in sight. “Make ready the sails, me hearties! We've out-foxed the scum.” “Cap'n! Look aft.” Smithy shouted. “ The black door. It be gone!” Behind them was nothing but clear blue ocean as far as the eye could see.
The crew were in high spirits as they headed towards the Straits. “Ship on the horizon, Cap'n! A lookout warned. “She's quick as a porpoise!” “Man the cannon, lads. No more fleein'. We stand, and fight!” Captain Clifford watched the approaching ship. He had never seen any vessel move with such speed. It was smaller than the Henrietta, but he could see neither masts nor sails and it was the color of blood. “Fire starboard cannon!”
The ship suddenly flew high above them and the pirates heard a thunderous, growling sound overhead. Terrified they took cover on deck, and in the hold below.
“Attention! Cease firing immediately. Listen up. You are in United States jurisdiction. Identify yourself!...I say again. We are the United States Coast Guard. Your ship is in US. Waters. Be warned. We are armed, and will return fire if provoked...I say again. Identify yourself!” The Coast Guard MH-68 Shark helicopter hovered above the Henrietta.
Captain Clifford Brown waived his cutlass defiantly at the flying monster. “Men. I know not whare we be? But the Henrietta will ne'er surrender! Prepare to fight!”...
Copyright 2008 Richard Davies |
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