Patrol ship

“ Then there is the ship's police, headed by the master-at-arms or "jaundy". [80] These men are recruited from all branches of the navy, and perform much the same duties as the "bobby" on shore, look after the prisoners in cells, and are supposed to detect all irregularities that may take place on board and to bring the delinquents to justice.
If a ship is a flagship there is naturally a more important personage on board than any of the officers whose ranks and duties have been detailed—the admiral in command of the fleet [241] or squadron. ”

“ The ship was brought to the wind on the starboard tack, a manoeuvre which was followed in succession by the other vessels of the squadron, which had been previously directed to keep, though still within signal, at long distances from each other during the day, closing up at night, in order to spread a broad clew and give greater chance of meeting the enemy.
The young captain paced the quarter-deck alone—no man is ever so much alone among his fellows as the commander of a ship—a prey to his own sad thoughts. ”

“ It is very sad, but this is war time, and the fleet must be manned.
All day long duty-boats keep going up and down. Now it is an admiral’s twelve-oared barge with the flag at the bows; now a captain’s gig, or a pinnace, pulling between ship and shore; now a midshipman’s boat scurrying off to answer the flagship’s signal. Ships’ long-boats with water-casks and pursers’ stores for various men-of-war in harbour, pass and repass, and beer hoys and yard craft of all kinds. ”

“ In an instant the orderly ship was a babel of apparently hopeless confusion; the men running hastily to and fro about their various duties, the sharp commands of the officers, the shrill piping of the whistles, and the deep voices of the gun captains and the boatswain's mates, made the usually quiet deck a pandemonium. Some of the seamen stowed the hammocks on the rail to serve as a guard against shot and splinters, others triced up stout netting fore and aft, as a protection against boarders. ”

“ Once a night throughout the year, in every Dockyard Port in the kingdom, a launch slid away from the Depot jetty, slipped in and out among the anchored ships, and returned to her moorings when the patrol was completed. Why? Some grim significance surely lay in the duty, in the abrupt hails that stabbed the stillness, greeting the throb of her engines: in the figure of the armed man in the bows with the megaphone, ready to fling back the reassuring answer.... ”

“ The captain opened the proceedings.
“No one will doubt that, should the sail in sight prove an enemy—for that has not yet been ascertained—we should run for it,” he observed. “There is no disgrace in that; our business is to carry passengers and cargo, and we shall do wisely to stick to our business as long as we can; but the question, gentlemen, which I have to submit to your consideration is, shall we fight and defend our ship, the passengers and property confided to our care, or shall we yield to what may prove superior force?”
“Superior force or not, I say, sir, by the powers! ”

“ It may be that the commander is trying to balance a plate of heavy German soup in his hand as a cry comes from a lookout.
"Smoke on the horizon, off the port bow, sir."
The commander withdraws from his food, shouts an order and an electric alarm sounds inside the hull. The ship buzzes with activity. The guns on deck are hastily housed. Bridge appurtenances are housed also, and sailors dive down through the deck-holes. The commander follows. Water begins to gurgle into the ballast-tanks while the crew seal every opening. ”

“ When the captain in command at the station hails on board, every man and boy of the crew, from the powder-monkey to the first-lieutenant, are mustered in pipe-clay on the quarter-deck, and there, with the ship's commission in his hand, every one must report himself as he calls over the names. ”

“ His attention was caught by a signal from the other vessel, and a keen-eyed sailor wig-wagged back an answer. It was all right, although at first I still remembered the timely warning regarding the slightly submerged mine. As a matter of fact, it was merely a desire of the sister ship's captain to turn around and "sweep back," as the land-lubber might term it.
"Let's see," said the commander, "where was I.... Oh, yes.... Realise that we go out and save lives that the enemy imperils far out at sea? ”

“ Thus, getting under weigh, or going into harbour, or at divisions and quarters, all hands are at their proper posts at the same time. Each top has its proper crew, who are known as fore-top men, main-top men, and mizzen-top men, whose duty is to tend the sails above them. On deck there are the sheet-anchor men stationed on the forecastle, whose duty is to tend the head-sails, anchors, etcetera, and consequently the most trustworthy veterans are selected for the office. In what is called the waist, or the centre of the ship, the landsmen and least skilful of the crew are placed. ”

“ Seamen, under the orders of the lieutenant, are kept at the mast-heads during the day, and in proper stations during the nights, to be continually on the look-out; and if a stranger, that is, an unknown sail, should be seen in the night, the captain has intelligence of it directly, for a midshipman is sent to him by the lieutenant, who is to prepare the ship for action, taking care that the vessel is kept out of gun-shot of the strange ship until all is ready for an engagement. ”

“ That five officers of the land service, unaccompanied by a single sailor, should leave their vessel on the open ocean, and from mere curiosity, visit a strange sail at such a distance, was, he declared, most extraordinary. He said they had observed our ship early in the morning—had been occupied (like ourselves) in vain endeavors to make us out—had remarked an object, a mere speck upon the sea, leave the vessel and move towards them, and when at length it was made out to be a boat, the probable cause of such a circumstance had given rise to many surmises. ”

“ In order to render the ships stiffer, and to enable them to carry more sail abroad, and to prevent their labouring in hard gales of wind, each captain had orders given him to strike down some of their great guns into the hold. These precautions being complied with, and each ship having taken in as much wood and water as there was room for, the whole squadron was ready for the sea; on which the tents on shore were struck, and all the sick were received on board. ”

“ The men at the wheel, the lookouts kept constantly at the mastheads, the marines doing sentry duty, with the midshipmen of the watch and the officer of the deck busily pacing to and fro, were the only people, out of the six hundred and odd men who made up the ship's complement, who presented any appearance of activity whatever. ”

“ From the guns, the engines, the helm, the mute tension of a thousand men flows back to the turret, the brain of a cruiser. In this armored enclosure are stationed the commander, his two officers in charge of the firing, his navigating officer. They know that the safety of the ship depends on the [46] clearness of their judgment. With lowered voices, as if they were conversing on matters of no importance, they address sailors who transmit their orders. ”

“ No signal boy ever forgets himself or the dignity of his place in a game of talk. Besides, there might be officers observing things and it is never nice to have your name put on the report. You are brought up at the mast and you might get five days in the brig on bread and water or something like that if you exchanged language that was not seemly for use on a warship's signals.
And then in bridge work in cruising there is that difficult job of keeping distances. The favorite cruising formation in this fleet is at 400 yards distance from the preceding ship. ”

“ We live with them as they work their little vessel back to the muddy waters of the Hooghly and sight a pilot brig lying at anchor on her station, and their joy is ours when the pilot, with his leadsman, servant, and boat's crew, comes on board. ”

“ Dock policemen and soldiers on guard began boring a wide lane through the throng of people on the pier. A huge black transport ship lay moored along the opposite side to that on which the guns and troopers were embarked, and for hours bales, boxes and barrels had been swallowed up and stored in her capacious depths until now, over against the tables of the Red Cross, there lay behind a rope barrier, taut stretched and guarded by a line of sentries, an open space close under the side of the greater steamer and between the two landing stages, placed fore and aft. ”

“ Ships in ordinary hoist merely an ensign. The boatswain, gunner, and carpenter, who are called the warrant-officers, always remain on board, even when the rest of the officers and crew are paid off, and the ship laid up in ordinary. These valuable personages, under the general superintendence of the captain of the ordinary, an old officer of rank, and assisted by a few lads to row them to and from the shore, keep the ships clean, and guard against fire and pillage, to which they might otherwise be exposed at their moorings in the different creeks. ”

“ And if there be any sail perceived by any of the ships of any squadron, it shall be lawful for the next ship, having the wind, to give chase, the ship descried being to the windward; and the like of any that shall he nearest to bear up, if the sail be descried to the leeward. [56] But because, upon every chase, all will be apt to follow the same, and so be led away upon every occasion from the Fleet, it shall not be lawful for any second ship to follow any chase (one having undertaken the same) , unless the admiral of the squadron hang out two flags, one over another. ”

“ The number of men appointed to the small arms, on board his majesty’s ships and sloops of war, by order of the admiralty, are,
The lieutenants are usually stationed to command the different batteries, and direct their efforts against the enemy. The master superintends the movements of the ship, and whatever relates to the sails. The boatswain, and a sufficient number of men, are stationed to repair the damaged rigging; and the gunner and carpenter, wherever necessary, according to their respective offices. See also the articles Cannon and Exercise. ”

“ Of the military, the officer commanding, some few of his juniors, a group of other ranks, stand by. The senior officers of the ship, a muster of seamen, a few stewards, are banded with us at the last. We expect no further service of the destroyers. The position of the ship is over-menacing to any approach. They have all they can carry. Steaming at a short distance they have the appearance of being heavily overloaded; each has a staggering list and lies low in the water under their deck encumbrance. ”

“ All in all, in patrol, in convoy duty, in actual combat, our navy in the war accomplished with utter precision a stupendous task, a task of multifarious phases—all performed in that clean-cut, vigorous, courageous, painstaking, large-minded way which we, throughout ail the years, have been proud to regard as typical of the American Navy. ”

“ The New Navy of small craft, created by the special needs of the War ... has every reason to be proud of its share in bringing the War to a victorious conclusion. The good wishes of the Board of Admiralty and the Royal Navy will follow the armed yachts, trawlers, drifters and motor-boats after they have hauled down the colours they flew as His Majesty's Auxiliary Patrol Vessels. ”

“ Officers, soldiers, and women rushed at once without dressing on deck, where the confusion and screaming for some minutes became fearful; but the captain and agent assured us that there was land in front of us and that come what may we need not be alarmed for our lives, as we could all be landed with safety. Meanwhile two of the boats were lowered and carried our anchors astern, and with hawsers from these we tried to work the ship off the rocks into deep water, and my endeavours were equally pressing to clear the decks and to get all who were not wanted for work to go below. ”

“ The Captains of the squadron speak in the wannest terms of their officers and men, particularly of their first Lieutenants, Dickenson, Henderson, and Wolridge; and the behaviour of my own officers and ship’s company, who have been with me so long, was every thing I expected from their tried worth; but I must not particularize where all are equally meritorious. The damage the ships have sustained is very considerable, and I fear will render us totally incapable of keeping the sea. ”

“ At present I shall carry on till he comes up within range: and then, to keep the Company’s canvas from being shot to rags, I shall shorten sail; and to save ship and cargo and all our lives, I shall fight while a plank of her swims. Better to be killed in hot blood than walk the plank in cold.”
The officers cheered faintly: the captain’s dogged resolution stirred up theirs....
“Shorten sail to the taupsles and jib, get the colors ready on the halyards, and then send the men aft....” ”

“ On Sundays, and Holidays, when cargo is not being worked, and when the ship is at rest, an officer should be told off to stand day's duty. He should see that the vessel is in shipshape order, falls neatly coiled, decks clean, Irish pendants all removed, awnings hauled out taut, flags closely mast headed and kept clear, and that everything is kept in immaculate order about the gangway. ”