Fifty-two Stories of the British Navy, from Damme to Trafalgar.

by Alfred H. Miles

On the morning of the 18th nothing could be seen of the Canada, she having pushed on at her greatest speed for England. The frame of the Ramilies having opened during the night, the admiral was prevailed upon, by the renewed and pressing remonstrances of his officers, although with great reluctance, to let six of the forwardmost and four of the aftermost guns of the main deck be thrown overboard, together with the remainder of those on the quarter-deck; and the ships still continuing to open very much, he ordered tarred canvas and hides to be nailed fore and aft from under the sills of the ports on the main deck under the fifth plank above, or within the water ways; and the crew, without orders, did the same on the lower deck. Her increasing complaints required still more to be done. The admiral directed all the guns on the upper deck, the shot, both on that and the lower deck, and various heavy stores, to be thrown overboard; a leakage in the light-room of the grand magazine having almost filled the ship forward, and there being eight feet of water in the magazine, every gentleman was compelled to take his turn at the whips or in handing the buckets. The ship was besides frapped from the fore mast to the main mast.

Notwithstanding their utmost efforts the water still gained on them the succeeding night, and the wind blowing very hard, with extremely heavy squalls, a part of the orlop deck fell into the hold: the ship herself seemed to work excessively, and to settle forward.

On the morning of the 19th, under these very alarming circumstances, the admiral commanded both the bower anchors to be cut away, all the junk to be flung overboard, one sheet and one bower cable to be reduced to junk and served the same way, together with every remaining ponderous store that could be got at, and all the powder in the grand magazine (it being damaged); the cutter and pinnace to be broken up and tossed overboard, the skids having already worked off the side. Every soul on board was now employed in baling. One of the pumps was got up; but to no purpose, for the shot lockers being broken down, some of the shot, as well as the ballast, had fallen into the well; and as the weather moderated a little everything was made ready for heaving the lower-deck guns into the sea, the admiral being anxious to leave nothing undone for the relief of the ship.

When evening approached, there being twenty merchant ships in sight, the officers united in beseeching him to go into one of them; but this he positively refused to do, deeming it, as he declared, unpardonable in a commander-in-chief to desert his garrison in distress; that his living a few years longer was of very little consequence, but that, by leaving his ship at such a time, he should discourage and slacken the exertions of the people by setting them a very bad example. The wind lulling somewhat during the night, all hands baled the water, which, at this time, was six feet fore and aft.

On the morning of the 20th the admiral ordered the square and stream-anchors to be cut away, and within the course of the day all the lower-deck guns to be thrown overboard. When evening came the spirits of the people in general, and even of the most courageous, began to fail, and they openly expressed the utmost despair, together with the most earnest desire of quitting the ship, lest they should founder in her. The admiral hereupon advanced and told them that he and their officers had an equal regard for their own lives, that the officers had no intention of deserting either them or the ship, that, for his part, he was determined to try one night more in her; he therefore hoped and entreated they would do so too, for there was still room to imagine that one fair day, with a moderate sea, might enable them, by united exertion, to clear and secure the well against the encroaching ballast which washed into it; that if this could be done they might be able to restore the chains to the pumps and use them, and that then hands enough might be spared to raise jury masts, with which they might carry the ship into Ireland; that her appearance alone, while she could swim, would be sufficient to protect the remaining part of her convoy; above all, that as everything that could be thought of had now been done for her relief, it would be but reasonable to wait the effect. He concluded with assuring them that he would make the signal directly for the trade to lie by them during the night, which he doubted not they would comply with.

This temperate speech had the desired effect; the firmness and confidence with which he spoke, and their reliance on his seamanship and judgment, as well as his constant presence and attention to every accident, had a wonderful effect upon them; they became pacified, returning to their duty and their labours. Since the first disaster, the admiral had, in fact, scarcely ever quitted the deck; this they had all observed, together with his diligence in personally inspecting every circumstance of distress. Knowing his skill and experience, they placed great confidence in them; and he instantly made, according to his promise, a signal for all the merchantmen.

At this period, it must be confessed, there was great reason for alarm, and but little for hope; for all the anchors and guns, excepting one, together with every other matter of weight, had been thrown overboard, and yet the ship did not seem to be at all relieved. The strength of the people was likewise so nearly exhausted, having had no sleep since the first fatal stroke, that one half of the crew were ordered to bale, and the other to repose; so that, although the wind was much abated, the water still gained upon them, in spite of all their efforts, and the ship rolled and worked prodigiously in a most unquiet sea.

At three in the morning of the 21st, being the fourth night, the well being broken in, the casks, ballast, and remaining shot rushed together and destroyed the cylinder of the pumps; the frame and carcase of the ship began to give way in every part, and the whole crew exclaimed that it was impossible to keep her any longer above water.

In this extremity the admiral resolved within himself not to lose a moment in removing the people whenever daylight should arrive; but told the captain not to communicate any more of his design than that he intended to remove the sick and lame at daybreak, and for this purpose he should call on board all the boats of the merchantmen. He, nevertheless gave private orders to the captain, while this was doing, to have all the bread brought upon the quarter-deck, with a quantity of beef, pork, and flour, to settle the best distributing of the people according to the number of trade ships that should obey their signal, and to allow an officer to each division of them; to have the remaining boats launched, and as soon as the sick were disposed of, to begin to remove the whole of the crew, with the utmost dispatch, but without risking too many in a boat.

Accordingly, at dawn, the signal was made for the boats of the merchantmen, but nobody suspected what was to follow, until the bread was entirely removed and the sick gone. About six o'clock the rest of the crew were permitted to go off, and between nine and ten, there being nothing farther to direct and regulate, the admiral himself, after shaking hands with every officer, and leaving his barge for their better accommodation and transport, quitted for ever the Ramilies which had then nine feet of water in her hold. He went into a small leaky boat, loaded with bread, out of which both himself and the surgeon who accompanied him were obliged to bale the water all the way. He was in his boots, with his surtout over his uniform, and his countenance as calm and composed as ever. He had, at the going off, desired a cloak, a cask of flour, and a cask of water, but could get only the flour; and he left behind all his stock, wines, furniture, books, charts, etc., which had cost him upwards of one thousand pounds, being unwilling to employ even a single servant in saving or packing up what belonged to himself alone, in a time of such general calamity, or to appear to fare better in that respect than any of the crew.