HMS Centurion

“ And, therefore, for the security of his ship and the great treasure on board her, he appointed his first lieutenant, Mr. Brett, to be captain of the Centurion under him, giving him proper instructions for his conduct, directing him particularly, if he, the Commodore, should be detained at Canton on account of the duties in dispute, to take out the men from the Centurion's prize and to destroy her, and then to proceed down the river through the Bocca Tigris with the Centurion alone, and to remain without that entrance till he received further orders from Mr. Anson. ”

“ On Thursday the 18th of September, 1740, sailed from St Hellens his majesty's ship Centurion, Commodore Anson, with the Gloucester, Pearl, Severn, Wager, and Tryal, and two store-ships; this squadron was designed round Cape-Horn into the South Seas, to distress the Spaniards in those parts. The ships were all in prime order, all lately rebuilt. The men were elevated with hopes of growing immensely rich, and in a few years of returning to Old England loaden with the wealth of their enemies. ”

“ The seizure of the Manilla treasure caused the greatest transport to the Centurion's [408] men, who thus, after reiterated disappointments, saw their wishes at last accomplished.
The specie was at once removed to the Centurion, the Cabadonga being appointed by Anson to be a post-ship in his majesty's service, and the command being given to Mr. Saumarez, the first lieutenant of the Centurion. The two vessels then stood for the Canton River, and arrived off Macao on the 11th of July. ”

“ The storm which drove the Centurion to sea blew with too much turbulence to permit of either the Commodore or any of the people on shore hearing the guns which she fired as signals of distress, and the frequent glare of the lightning had prevented the explosions from being observed; so that when at daybreak it was perceived from the shore that the ship was missing, there was the utmost consternation amongst them. For much the greatest part of them immediately concluded that she was lost, and entreated the Commodore that the boat might be sent round the island to look for the wreck ”

“ At the commencement of the French war, in 1793, he was appointed to the Diomede, a 50-gun ship, and ordered to the East Indies.
On the 22d Oct. 1794, the Diomede, being off the Mauritius, in company with the Centurion, a ship of similar force, fell in with a French squadron consisting of two frigates, one corvette, and a brig. After a smart action the enemy retreated into Port Louis, with the loss of 38 men killed and 87 wounded. The Diomede’s loss we have not been able to ascertain; but the Centurion, which ship appears to have borne the brunt of the action, had 27 men killed and wounded. ”

“ In July, 1896, when bound from London to Rio with general cargo, she was wrecked at Pontal da Barra.
The Ascalon was bought by Trinder, Anderson & Co. in 1881. They ran her for nine years and then sold her to the Norwegians. She was wrecked on 7th February, 1907, at Annalong, when bound from Runcorn to Moss.
The second Centurion left Sydney for Newcastle, N.S.W., on 17th January, 1887; at 1.30 a.m. whilst off the Heads, the tug’s line carried away: the ship drifted on to the North Head, struck and then sank in 18 fathoms, barely giving her crew 15 minutes to get clear. ”

“ Those who came latest, not finding men’s clothing, equipped themselves with women’s gowns and petticoats, so that when they appeared before their commander he was not immediately satisfied that they were his own people. Meantime, while the British crews were employed in carrying off the treasure, two hundred horsemen were seen collecting outside the town, besides other troops, but the commodore having got the Centurion close in, felt very sure that they would not venture to attack his people on shore. ”

“ The ship in which this famous voyage was made was of the middle size, then called the fourth-rate. She carried sixty cannon, and a crew of four hundred men. Her lower gun deck, a little above the level of the water, was about 140 feet long. She was of about a thousand tons burthen.
Though this seems small to us, it is not small for a wooden ship. It is not possible to build a long wooden ship. The Centurion, though short, was broad, bulky, and deep. She was fit for the sea. As she was built more to carry cannon than to sail, she was a slow sailer. ”

“ A fleet of six vessels, manned by fourteen hundred men and accompanied by two victualling-ships, was placed under the command of George Anson, a captain in the naval service. The flag-ship was the Centurion, mounting sixty guns and carrying four hundred men. On their way out from Spithead, on the 18th of September, 1740, the fleet was joined by an immense convoy of trading ships, which were to keep them company a portion of the way,—numbering in all eleven men-of-war and one hundred and fifty sail of merchantmen. ”

“ To the eastward of these about half the fleet of the League, in but little better condition, was advancing in now overwhelming force upon them, and behind these again a swarm of troopships and transports were heading out from the French shore. About an hour after dawn the Centurion, the last of the British battleships, was struck by one of the submarine torpedoes, broke in two, and went down with her flag flying and her guns blazing away to the last moment. ”

“ From this time until what was left of the squadron reached Juan Fernandez, sickness and death took continual toll. It is shocking to see the Centurion's muster lists slowly decreasing, by one or two a week, till she was up to the Horn, then dropping six, ten, twenty, or twenty-four a week, as the scurvy and the frost {xvi} took hold. Few but the young survived. What that passage of the Horn was like may be read here at length; but perhaps nothing in this book is so eloquent of human misery as the following entries from Anson's private record ”

“ Of his service on land there is no record; but in 1650 hie was again at sea commanding the Trade's Increase, a merchant ship in the employ of the parliament, and afterwards the Centurion, a state's ship, attending the army in Scotland (Penn, i. 297, 303) . In November Vice-admiral Penn, being ordered to sail at once for Lisbon, hoisted his flag on board the Centurion, Lawson following m the Fairfax as soon as she could be got ready, exchanging back to the Centurion at Terceira on 22 Jan. ”

“ Splinters were far more dangerous than shot. In this book it may be noticed that the officers hoped to have no fighting while the gun decks of the ships in the squadron were cumbered with provision casks.
The ships of war carried enormous crews. The Centurion carried four hundred seamen and one hundred soldiers. At sea, most of this complement was divided into two watches. Both watches were subdivided into several divisions, to each of which was allotted some special duty, as the working of the main-mast, the keeping of the main deck clean, etc., etc. ”

“ The rearmost of the French squadron, the Centaure, a ship of seventy-four guns, practically held the leading pursuers in check during most of that time. Nothing could be more courageous than the Centaure’s defence, regardless of the odds against her. Until nearly nightfall she kept Boscawen’s leading ships from closing on her and her consorts. The Centaure, under orders to cover the retreat, exchanged a never-ceasing cannonade with the ships of the English van for five hours, the fight becoming hotter and ever closer until just before sunset. ”

“ Two days after the departure of the Centaur the lookout on the top of the rock saw a frigate under a tremendous press of canvas endeavoring to run between the rock and the shore and make for Fort Royal. Far away, and coming along like a gigantic white cloud, was a ship which was presently made out to be the Centaur. A drummer-boy, not the least important member of the crew of the Diamond Rock, beat to quarters, the men sprang to their stations, and the huge guns were loaded and carefully trained on the unsuspicious French ship. ”

“ At about three-quarters past midnight, after a hard pull of twenty miles, and just as the moon was peeping from behind a cloud, the Centaur’s boats were hailed by the Curieux, and then fired into by the sentries, by two of the starboard guns, a swivel, and a wall-piece. The marines returned the fire with their muskets, and the boats pulled rapidly on. In the midst of a scuffle alongside, the barge pushed for the brig’s stern. ”

“ Captain Maxwell, of the Centaur, having been more particularly attached to the troops under my immediate command on shore, I am bound to notice his spirited and exemplary behaviour.”
Captain Maxwell returned to England with the Commodore’s despatches in June, 1804; and we subsequently find him commanding the Centaur as a private ship on the Jamaica station, where he removed into the Galatea frigate in the summer of 1805. His next appointment was to the Alceste of 46 guns, formerly la Minerve, one of the frigates captured by part of a squadron under Sir Samuel Hood, in Sept. 1806 [2] . ”

“ During the remainder of the war, we find him cruising off Brest and Rochefort.
In the night of April 10, 1801, the Centaur was run foul of by the Mars 74, bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral Thornbrough, commander of the in-shore squadron off Brest. Two men were killed and 4 wounded by the falling of the mainmast. Captain Littlehales having rigged a jury-mast, bore up for Plymouth, where he arrived on the 14th. After repairing her damages, the Centaur rejoined the Channel Fleet ”

“ Suddenly our ship blazed with lights and the Centauri banners were hoisted. We cut sharply across the heavens separating entirely from the speeding sightseers, our lights only distinguishable. No one dreamed Alpha Centauri was returning to Centur. ”

“ Price was principally employed in the Centaur’s guard-boats, preventing the arrival of supplies for the besieged, from the Baltic side: after the submission of the Danes, he assisted in equipping, and bringing to England, the Norge 74. At the close of the same year, he witnessed the occupation of Madeira, by a naval and military force under Sir Samuel Hood and Major-General Beresford. The destruction of a Russian 74, by the Centaur and Implacable, at the entrance of Rogerswick harbour, Aug. ”

“ The ship slackened speed as we sighted the Otega, and her great wings fluttered as though about to lower. Upon earth all was agitation, the ocean boiled furiously, at high tide crashing over the steep cliff wall and flooding the land; people, panic-strickened, scurried in all directions. Then Centauri appeared. ”

“ On the 29th July, 1805, the Centaur, then commanded by Captain Henry Whitby, and in company with a squadron under Captain De Courcy, sent from Jamaica to join Lord Nelson in his pursuit of the combined fleets of France and Spain, encountered one of the tremendous hurricanes which commence so suddenly, and increase to such dreadful violence, in those seas. Of the squadron, the Centaur suffered most from its destructive rage, in consequence of her having recently run on shore in the West Indies. ”

“ II
“KENT CLAIMS THE FIRST BLOW!”
“The Kentishe Menne in Front!”
“Kent claims for itself the first blow in battle against alien enemies.” The hand that penned these words has lain in the grave for over seven centuries; but old William Fitz-Stephen of Canterbury knew what he meant, and meant what he wrote. They are words that our fine “county cruiser” the Kent of to-day—to which the ladies of Kent have presented a silken battle flag and the Men of Kent a silver shield and other gifts, to incite the Kent’s bluejackets to shoot straight—might well adopt and make the ship’s motto. ”

“ The pale, green globe of Centaur hung in a black sky; greatened and darkened and Kendall was looking out across the huge rocket port from which the Centaurians planned to launch Terra's destruction.
Now, for the first time, he saw the Centaurian without the mask. The man was handsome. He had the cruel black eyes of all Centaurians. He smiled coldly. "We've come a long way, Kendall. I suppose you want to see your wife." ”

“ Centauri, Sheldon and all with them are in peril. I shall save them. Speed has been doubled, the ship travels swifter than the wind, and we will reach the mountains toward evening of the day after to-morrow. It is the fastest time ever made over the Great Ocean, and the Ocstas is the first land sighted, then—Centur. Come, Virgillius, this will never do, we must join the others. Artoisti will teach you the game he is eternally playing with Dreaisti. ”

“ These centinels are instructed to make a fire when they discover the ship, which the captain is carefully to observe, for if, after this first fire is extinguished, he perceives that four or more are lighted up again, he is then to conclude that there are enemies on the coast, and on this he is immediately to endeavour to speak with the centinel on shore, and to procure from him more particular intelligence of their force, and of the station they cruize in ”

“ This crescent-shaped country was cultivated from point to point, and boasted a population of over forty millions. The Vespas worshipped the Sun, but enjoyed the dusk. In Centauri twilight is unknown, and the state of progression between the two countries was not worth warring over—they were tanto per tanto.
The morning of the third day we reached the extreme north point of the Belt and sighted the Great Ocean. The air was misty, ice cold, and a piercing salt breeze suddenly turned to a terrific gale and tore and whistled around the ship forcing her ahead at a dizzy speed. ”