USS Grampus

“ The noiseless way in which they hung upon our flanks is easy to understand. The torpedo was launched at us while the French boat was submerged; and when that rope was hurled at me, the boat was just out of the water—there were no lights about her, and the search light of the Grampus enabled those on the French craft to make that cast with the riata."
Matt's face went pale.
"Glennie," he continued, "the hardest job of our lives is ahead of us! The Japs have a submarine, and there's not one of them who would not willingly give his life if, by doing so, he could destroy the Grampus. ”

“ While the Grampus was still at the surface, Matt pushed through the hatch to get a look at the sky. Off to the south the heavens were black as the inside of a tar barrel, and through the heavy gloom ran vivid lines of lightning. The wind was high and constantly increasing, so that the waves were lashed furiously. But the rollers were long, and when the submarine crossed one high wave, she slid down the watery hill like a toboggan, ramming her sharp nose into the next comber, and flinging the scud high over the conning tower. ”

“ It would be close to eleven o'clock before the Grampus could possibly get clear of Westwego, and possibly it would be eleven-fifteen before she would come alongside the Stuyvesant Dock.
For some time the captain had been lying ill in the Prytania Street house, but he was now rapidly recovering, and his restless, active nature welcomed this call to action. He felt that it was the one tonic he needed to bring him back to his usual form.
Cassidy was mate of the Grampus. Ever since the captain had been stricken down the mate had been with him as watcher and nurse. ”

“ We are surrounded by an army of the grampus whales. Their breathing adds a fiend-like wildness to the voices of the night,—and their dusky forms looming through the obscurity as they thrust their misshapen backs above the surface of the sea, give an almost infernal aspect to the scene, if scene that may be called which is but half perceived in dimness that appears,
“Not light, but rather darkness visible.” ”

“ Weeks before, when the submarine had left Belize, British Honduras, Captain Nemo, Jr., the owner of the boat, had placed the craft entirely in Matt's hands.
"I wouldn't trust the Grampus with any one else, Matt," declared the captain. "But you've got nerve, your judgment is good, you know the craft from one end to the other, and whenever anything goes wrong and you get into a scrape, you've got a knack of always getting out of it without much damage to yourself. A hundred thousand dollars is to be paid for the Grampus when she reaches Mare Island. ”

“ There was something of a disappointment in this for the men on the submarine. They had hoped for a chance to stretch their legs ashore, but they appreciated the necessity of getting the Grampus out of harm's way as quickly as possible.
"Won't the Pom lay for us as we pull out of the bay, Matt?" asked Dick.
"She can't lay for us. You see, she had only two torpedoes. One of those was destroyed in the attack made on the Grampus in the bay; the other one the Pom is dragging off to some place where she can get it in shape for work. ”

“ In the Grampus, Sir James visited the island of Jersey, and, after cruising to examine the coast of France adjacent to the islands, he returned to Guernsey; soon after which, the Grampus, being a new ship, was selected to convoy the East India fleet, and was relieved by the Diomede of fifty guns, Captain Thomas Larcom, on board which ship the flag was shifted, on the 19th of June, 1803. ”

“ I passed near Tom Rockets. His countenance told me that I need have no fear of his doing me discredit. Old Grampus was near him, looking as calm as if he was sitting down to his dinner.
“I have been telling the youngster, sir,” said he, “that one of the first things a seaman has to learn is how to bear the hardships it may please Providence to send him, whether he has to be shot at, as he has now, or to suffer famine on a raft or desert island, or to have the sea breaking over him on a wreck or on the cold, slippery rocks. ”

“ The cruise we are to make is one that no submarine ever made before. It is full of dangers, and unforeseen difficulties are going to bob up and will have to be dealt with. The Grampus is equal to the work, and in due time she will be delivered to the commandant at Mare Island, but I want, and will insist on having, a perfectly free hand. ”

“ The nose of the Grampus is caught and held in the wreck's side, and the full power of the engine is not sufficient to pull us out. We shall have to try something else—something that will put a great strain on the steel shell of the submarine, considering the pressure the boat is under at this enormous depth. I am going to give some orders, and on the swiftness with which they are carried out our lives may depend. You will all go back to your stations, Carl with Clackett and Dick with Gaines ”

“ It must have been generally known in Belize that the Grampus had been sold to the United States Government for a large sum, conditional upon her safe delivery at Mare Island; and perhaps it was equally well known, on the Seminole, at least, and maybe in La Guayra, that Ensign Glennie was to accompany the submarine on her passage around the Horn. All this knowledge, of course, could have been picked up, and perhaps used by unscrupulous persons. But what could such unscrupulous persons be hoping to gain by any crooked work? ”

“ I could not so often have a yarn with my old followers as I used to when I was a midshipman, but I frequently exchanged words with them, and never failed to take them on any expedition on which I was sent.
“I hopes as how them strangers are friends, old ship,” I heard Tom remark to Grampus. “Three to one is long odds if they ain’t, and I suppose our captain intends to fight, as he don’t seem inclined to run. I only hopes as how he will fight, and sink rather than give in. I’ve no fancy to be made prisoner, and to be kept on short commons among blackamoors, as we was at Ou Trou.” ”

“ Having taken possession of the master’s cabin, and allowed him to occupy his mate’s, I called my ship’s company together, and, having divided them into two watches, told them I expected they would do their duty and behave themselves. Nol Grampus had charge of one watch with one of the seamen and Mr Scuttle under him, and I took the other with the other seaman, Tom Rockets and the boy. Tom had not got over his innocent country look, though he was sharp enough in reality, and did his duty as a seaman very fairly. ”

“ I always felt an inclination to volunteer for any work to be done, and never thought of throwing difficulties in the way of the performance of any thing that was proposed. I chose Nol Grampus, the old quarter-master, and Tom Rockets as my companions in the enterprise. The dinghy, a small boat we carried astern, was the best suited to my purpose. Having laden her with provisions, we shoved off from the ship among the floating ice. Our progress was very slow, sometimes we worked our way among the sheet ice, then we came to a hard slab on to which we jumped and hauled the boat over it. ”

“ It was a lawless and tyrannical order, and issued in cold-blooded cruelty, for the commanding officer of the Grampus had warned those who sent him on this errand, that his vessel was too small to carry so large a cargo of human flesh. ”

“ A third time he fired, but if the shot struck, no damage was to be perceived. It was now rapidly growing dark, and Mr Willis was becoming impatient, for uncomfortable doubts began to rise in his mind as to the possibility of the cruiser of the much-despised enemy escaping after all from us. Grampus was standing near him. “Here, my man,” said he, “you have the credit of being one of best shots in the ship—try what you can do in clipping one of that fellow’s wings.” ”

“ The hum of the engine died slowly, and muffled sounds from the tank room showed that Clackett was calmly attending to his work.
In time of accident no man could leave his post, for the safety of the submarine, and the lives of those within her, might depend upon an instant compliance with orders. Iron-nerved men formed the crew of the Grampus, for each had been selected by Captain Nemo, Jr., with that quality in mind. ”

“ Then, if the Grampus was held any length of time in Punta Arenas, pending an investigation, the Japanese boat would have time to get around to Smyth Channel before Matt and his friends could reach the Pacific. ”

“ The foetus of this Whale has a few hairs; the number of phalanges in the two middle digits is very great, as many as eleven to fourteen. G. scammoni, G. brachypterus, and G. indicus are other reputed species of the genus allowed by True and Blanford.
Grampus is a genus allied to the last. It has no teeth in the upper jaw, and but three to seven in the lower jaw, near the symphysis of the mandible. The pterygoids are in contact. There is no beak, and the pectoral fin is long. There are twelve pairs of ribs, of which six are two-headed. ”

“ As the air within became more and more depleted, the steel cylinder rose higher and higher in the water.
For a lad so deeply in love with motors as was Matt, the novelty of that ride could not fail to appeal to him. He was safe, at least for a time, and felt sure that ultimately he would gain the shore or be picked up by a coastwise ship. As for the Grampus, there were cool heads and steady nerves aboard of her, and the submarine's safety would be looked after. ”

“ We gave some extra dips, like taking off our hats two or three times in succession, in order to thank him for his courtesy; and a great courtesy it was, in view of the strained relations existing at that time between our respective countries. I wondered, as I looked at the graceful figure of the Grampus dancing on the water, whether there were any impressed Americans serving on board of her, and perhaps looking over the rail in our direction, wishing, oh, so earnestly, that they were on board the Washington, under their own dear flag, and sailing for home. ”

“ As long as our enemies were in a steamboat, and compelled to remain on the surface, it was easy to keep away from them; but now, no matter where we go, they can follow us."
"I don't know anything about this French boat," returned Glennie thoughtfully, "but I'll bet something handsome she's not half so good a craft as the Grampus. There's a big advantage for us, right at the start. Then, again, about the only thing we're to fear from the stolen submarine is the torpedo work. Captain Pons says there were only two torpedoes in the craft. ”

“ Townsend, otherwise Captain Nemo, Jr., of the submarine Grampus, had some work in which he wanted Matt and his friends to assist him, and he had asked Matt, Dick and Carl to remain a week in New Orleans, at his expense, until he should be well enough to tell them about the work and get it under way. ”

“ I had heard of a small vessel escaping even from under the very guns of a big enemy, and I intended not to throw such a chance away. I called my crew aft.
“My men,” said I, “I won’t ask you to stick to me to the last, because I know you will. Those ships astern are enemies: we’ll do our best to escape from them, and if we are taken and the chance is given us, we’ll endeavour to heave our captors into the water, and to re-take the schooner, won’t we?”
“Yes, sir, that we will,” answered Grampus. ”

“ It seems much too big for the largest Dolphins, porpoises, or sword fishes, and too little for a true or grown whale, but may be the bone of some big cetaceous animal, as particularly of that which seamen call a Grampus; a kind of small whale, whereof some come short, some exceed twenty foot. And not only whales but Grampusses have been taken in this Estuarie or mouth of the fenland rivers. And about twenty years ago four were run ashore near Hunstanton and two had young ones after they came to land. ”

“ Captain Packenham was not a man to run away from either one or the other, so we backed our main-topsail, and lay-to for them. We watched them with no little anxiety till they drew near. I forgot to say that my old friend O’Driscoll had joined the ship as a supernumerary, and that I had once more with me my faithful companions in many an adventure, Nol Grampus and Tom Rockets. Nol did not look a day older than when I first came to sea. Rockets was now grown into as stout, active and strong a seaman as any in his Majesty’s service. ”

“ This thought cast a depression over the motor boys. Captain Nemo, Jr., was a good friend of theirs, and all of them liked him. The Grampus was the triumph of the captain's career, and if he was to be stricken down just as the boat, in charge of the motor boys, was to pass successfully through the Golden Gate, the elation Matt and his friends would otherwise feel must give way to dejection and sorrow.
The victory of this successful cruise was entirely theirs, but the loss of Captain Nemo, Jr., would rob the victory of all pleasure for them. ”

“ As soon as the ships ceased firing, our boats, of which I commanded one, were ordered to aid in towing the flat-bottomed boats on shore. As soon as the troops had landed, leaving Grampus in charge of my boat, I, with another midshipman and Tom Rockets and two other men, followed them into the entrenchments, and found myself shortly in the rear of a body of Hessians as they charged over the ground. A poor American was flying for his life, shrieking out for mercy. ”

“ That for the purpose of fixing the time at which shall commence the pensions, under the existing laws, of the widows of the officers, seamen, and marines, who were lost in the United States schooner Grampus, as well as the time to which the said officers, seamen, and marines, shall be allowed, the twentieth day of March, one thousand eight hundred and forty-three,March 20, 1843, to be considered the day the Grampus foundered ”