A “GLORIOUS FIRST OF JUNE.”
Mr. Binnacle took command of the privateer. The _Alger_, which was
evidently sinking fast, was now aflame with lights, and all firing from
her had ceased. The men clustered on her decks were shouting wildly for
help. Some even leapt into the water, and strove to reach the _Mary
Rose_ by swimming. Regardless, for the moment, of everything except
the saving of life, Binnacle ordered the boats to be got out, but soon
learnt that he had not a single boat of any kind which would float.
In the meantime the _Troude_ was warily coming up, with the obvious
intention of continuing the action. Binnacle’s decision was soon taken.
He steamed round the _Alger_ so as to place her between him and his new
enemy, and when he was as close to her as he dared venture, hailed her.
[Illustration: “THE ‘TROUDE’ WAS WARILY COMING UP.”]
“I have no boats,” he cried. “Signal to your consort to help you. I
won’t interfere unless she attacks me. God preserve you!” And then,
pretty confident that his permission would be gladly taken advantage
of, he steamed back to where the _Cécille_ lay motionless on the water
a mile or more to the eastward.
The _Cécille_, it was now plain, had struck, and as the _Mary Rose_
approached her, she hailed to say so. Binnacle replied, ordering her to
send a boat, and in five minutes a boat left her side.
The officer who came in her was a grey-headed captain in full dress. He
climbed on deck with some little difficulty, for his left arm was bound
up in a sling; but although, as his slit sleeve showed, he had put on
his full uniform after he had received his wound, and although he was
in considerable pain, there were about him no other traces of having
been in action. His face was clean, his linen was spotless, and his
hair and whiskers were carefully brushed. The side was piped for him,
and, hat in hand, he stood with bowed head asking in broken English for
the captain.
Binnacle moved forward, a great contrast in every way to his visitor.
The latter was clean, and almost spruce. The former had his clothes
burned full of holes, and wet blood upon his cuffs, while his face was
black, his hands were dirty, his head was bare, and his hair was badly
singed. “Have I the honour of speaking to the captain of this ship?”
asked the Frenchman in a voice which, though distinct, trembled with
emotion.
“The captain is wounded, sir,” rejoined Binnacle; “but I am in command.”
“Perhaps, nevertheless, you will conduct me to the captain.”
Bowling lay near the break of the poop, where Dr. Rhubarb was attending
to him. He had not received any further injury of importance. He had
merely fainted from the effects of excitement acting upon his already
sorely injured frame, and he was now regaining his senses. Binnacle
pointed him out to the Frenchman, who approached him. Bowling looked
up, and, realising the situation, struggled to his feet and took off
his cap. But that Mr. Nipcheese supported him he would, however, have
again fallen.
“Sir,” said the French captain, who had put his hat on the bitts, and
who now tendered his sword, “my engines are disabled, half my crew are
killed, and I have no choice but to surrender. It is a sad consolation
for me to know that I surrender to an officer of your distinguished
gallantry. Permit me to say that you have fought me splendidly, and
have handled your ship to perfection. I do myself the honour of
constituting myself your prisoner, and of begging you to assist my poor
fellows.”
He had prepared this little speech, no doubt, and had steeled himself
to utter it. When he had finished it he burst into tears and sobbed
like a child. Bowling, still dazed, grasped the proffered sword, and
attempted to reply, but was too weak to speak aloud. He could only
beckon Binnacle to him and whisper: “Poor chap! Tell him to keep it,
Binnacle. And do you carry on.” Then once more he fainted.
It was arranged that the prize should be towed to Malta, unless,
indeed, her engines could in the meantime be rendered serviceable, and
unless the other vessels of the enemy endeavoured to interfere. But it
soon appeared that the enemy had no further stomach for fighting.
The _Troude_, lying close to the _Alger_, was busily engaged in saving
the ship’s company of that ill-starred craft, which, before daylight,
but not until all her people had been removed, gave a great roll to
port, and pitching down by the bows, sank; whereupon the _Troude_
steamed slowly away to the westward. In the interval Lieutenant Tripper
had gone to take charge of the _Cécille_.
[Illustration: “ON BOARD THE ‘CÉCILLE’ A PERFECTLY AWFUL STATE OF
AFFAIRS WAS FOUND.”]
He found on board of her a perfectly awful state of affairs. Tompion
had worked his guns only too well. The _Mary Rose_, with her
concentrated broadside, had raked the great French cruiser fore and
aft along nearly the whole length of her spacious decks; and by that
one terrible discharge had not only killed or wounded 239 out of the
486 officers and men in the _Cécille_, but had dismounted two out of
six 6·4-in. and four out of ten 5·4-in. guns; had carried away the
foremast close to the deck, had demolished the forward funnel, and had
literally filled up the open engine-room hatch with heavy _débris_
from the foremast, the funnel, the fore-bridge, the boats, and the
deck structures. The _débris_ had choked and jammed the engines, and
had so caused a general dislocation of the machinery. Two out of
the three 9·4-in. shells had, it appeared, burst high up under the
upper deck, and, besides tearing it open and covering the upper deck
from end to end with splinters, had spread equal devastation on the
lower deck, which was in places actually covered with the mangled and
unrecognisable remains of brave men, and across which a wash of blood
swept from side to side as the ship rolled. Tripper was not squeamish.
He had already seen some frightful sights in his own ship. But when
he first went down to the _Cécille’s_ lower deck and experienced the
horrible warm odour of the slaughter-house there; when, lantern in
hand, he saw the splashed brains, the fragments of flesh, and the
trickling streams of crimson; and when he heard the sounds that filled
that den of terrors, he could barely force himself to remain. Here a
6·4-in. gun, weighing about four tons, had been torn from its mounting
and flung upon three men, whom it had crushed out of all shape of human
kind; there again a body cut in half lay across the gangway and oozed
blood and horror. The new war methods may not be more cruel, nor even
more fatal than the old, but they are a hundred times more fearful.
When matters had been put a little ship-shape on board the prize, and
when some of the prisoners had been removed from her, and a small prize
crew, which could hardly be spared, sent on board from the _Mary Rose_,
a hawser was passed to the _Cécille_, and she was taken in tow.
Malta was about 750 miles steam from the scene of action, and had the
privateer been alone, she would probably have reached Valetta Harbour
by six o’clock on the evening of Saturday, the 16th. With the French
cruiser astern of her she did not, however, reach it until twenty-four
hours later, and even then she made very good time, seeing that she
covered the distance at an average speed of over 11·3 knots. This she
could not have done had not a favourable wind sprung up, and had not
the prize been able to slightly help her by hoisting a certain amount
of sail.
During the passage Bowling picked up wonderfully, as did also
Maintruck, Day, and Salthorse, and when, late on Sunday afternoon, the
_Mary Rose_ and the _Cécille_ dropped anchor, by direction from the
Admiral, off Point Bichi, all four of the wounded officers were not
only on deck, but on their legs. For a fortnight Malta had been almost
cut off from the rest of the world. A few Italian small craft had run
across from Syracuse and Alicata, but they had busied themselves with
the bringing of supplies rather than of news. All the cables were cut;
a torpedo boat, which had been sent for orders to Messina, had not
returned, and was supposed to have been captured; and a considerable
French force, including the ironclads _Richelieu_, _Friedland_,
_Bayard_, and _Duguesclin_, and the cruisers _Milan_, _Jean Bart_, and
_Faucon_, having been observed off the island, it was not difficult
to account for the non-arrival of the duplicate dispatches which, as
Bowling knew, had been sent overland from London at about the time of
his own departure from the Tyne.
The arrival of the two ships caused a scene of the wildest enthusiasm.
Within a few minutes the harbour, as if by magic, became crowded with
boats, the occupants of which seemed to be never tired of staring at
the blue ensign which floated above the tricolour at the _Cécille’s_
peak, or of examining the various marks of rough usage with which
both vessels were liberally covered, and ever and anon some excitable
person on the water started rounds of cheering for the mysterious
British cruiser, and for her gallant but unknown captain, officers, and
complement.
The warships in harbour or in dock were the _Colossus_, _Sanspareil_,
_Polyphemus_, and _Surprise_, besides the half-dismantled _Orion_ and
the _Victoria_, which was, for the time, absolutely unserviceable.
Their boats came off to the strangers, and many of those who came in
them were rather astonished to find on the _Mary Rose’s_ quarter-deck
old shipmates, or at least old friends. The Admirals, also, too
anxious to be able to stand strictly on their dignity, came off, the
Mediterranean Commander-in-Chief in the _Sanspareil’s_ galley, and
the Admiral-Superintendent in his steam launch. To the latter officer
Bowling had the satisfaction of personally handing Sir Humphrey
Thornbeigh’s dispatch. Warm indeed were the congratulations which he
received from all ranks when, in as few words as possible, and very
modestly, he told his story.
“By Gad, Bowling,” said the Admiral-Superintendent, a little man, who
habitually jumped about as if he were treading upon hot bricks, “to
be able to say that I had done what you have done, I would willingly
surrender all this gold lace. Damme, sir; if they don’t make a K.C.B.
of you, I shall leave the service in disgust--when the war is over, of
course.”
“I’m more desirous to get a little of the gold lace, sir,” laughed
Bowling. “If they will give me my three stripes I shall be content,
although that would involve my leaving the ship.”
The two Admirals, as soon as they had satisfied a little of their
natural curiosity concerning what Bowling could tell them, took
possession, without any ceremony, of his cabin, and in privacy
opened Sir Humphrey’s dispatch. It was externally addressed to the
Admiral-Superintendent, because Sir Humphrey, when he wrote it,
was of course ignorant as to the whereabouts of the Mediterranean
Commander-in-Chief, but it was internally addressed to the senior
officer at Malta. It directed him to spare no efforts in getting ready
for service as many vessels as possible, and then, taking command,
to proceed to sea with them; running as little risk as might be, yet
if necessary at all hazards. The object to be strictly kept in view
was to make a rendezvous at one o’clock a.m. on Monday, June 1st,
five miles south of Europa Point; and to effect this everything was
to be sacrificed. “At the place and hour mentioned,” continued the
dispatch, “I purpose to concentrate all available forces from Malta,
from Gibraltar, and from home, in order, if the French Fleet be still
off the Rock, to annihilate it; and if that Fleet be gone elsewhere, to
resume our command of the Mediterranean, and then to follow the enemy,
should they have left it for the Atlantic or the Channel.”
The dispatch--which was a long one--need not be further quoted. It
contained plain directions as to the manner in which each squadron
was to approach the rendezvous; a special code of signals; and minute
instructions as to the course to be pursued in almost every conceivable
combination of circumstances; and it concluded with the expression of
a hope that the senior officer would treat Captain Bowling of the
_Mary Rose_, letter of marque, with favourable consideration, and would
utilise the services which Captain Bowling, Sir Humphrey felt sure,
would be very eager to render to Her Majesty’s officers.
From that moment, Bowling, although he had no rank, held a unique and
exceptional position. He was taken into the councils of the Admirals to
an extent to which even the oldest post-captains were not; his advice
was not merely asked, but frequently followed, and he was offered every
facility which the dockyard officials, without prejudice to the naval
service, could supply towards refitting his ship and bringing her
sorely reduced complement once more up to the mark. Of men there was no
lack, for many large merchant ships, including several vessels of the
P. and O. Company’s fleet, were laid up in harbour. Indeed it was found
possible to refit and re-man the _Cécille_ as well as the _Mary Rose_.
The former was re-named _Rose_, and the Commander-in-Chief suggested
that, unless Bowling very much desired to keep her under his orders,
she should be purchased into the Navy and officered by naval officers.
Bowling preferred the latter course; whereupon the Admiral assumed
the responsibility of the bargain, and the prize having been duly
condemned, he gave Bowling bills for the very large amount at which she
was officially valued.
In pursuit of the orders from home, Malta Dockyard, which had been
busy enough before the _Mary Rose’s_ arrival, became busier than ever.
The _Sanspareil_ was in No. 4 Dock, the _Colossus_ in Somerset Dock,
and the _Polyphemus_ in No. 2--Inner Dock--so that the other vessels
of large size had to make shift to repair alongside; but labour being
plentiful, and the Admiral-Superintendent having with foresight erected
some temporary but very powerful shears, it was found possible to
lighten both the _Mary Rose_ and the _Rose_ sufficiently to enable
their underwater injuries, which were not extensive, to be got at and
set to rights. The Commander-in-Chief decided to sail on the evening of
Wednesday, the 27th; but he did not allow his determination to become
known to anyone except his brother Admiral and Bowling. Everyone,
however, knew quite well that exciting events were in the air. Such
matters seem to have mysterious tongues of their own, and to be unable
to keep silence concerning themselves, even although they do not always
blab of particular details.
In the battle off Toulon both the 111-ton guns of the _Sanspareil_ had
been put, or rather had put themselves, out of action, but as at Malta
there were neither reserve guns nor appliances for, in so short a time,
lifting out the old ones, they were obliged to be left in the ship. The
accident was a very serious one, for it condemned the most important
portion of the great vessel’s armament to inactivity, and deprived the
craft of the whole of her bow fire. This being so, the Admiral, though
very unwilling to desert her, felt it incumbent upon him to haul down
his flag in her, and to transfer it to the _Colossus_. He even went
so far as to question whether he should allow the _Sanspareil_ to go
to sea at all, and only at the urgent solicitation of her captain
did he at length consent to permit her to accompany the squadron when
it should leave harbour. In the meantime, and in order to neutralise
to some slight extent the ship’s absence of heavy guns forward, he
succeeded in getting a couple of 4·7-in. quick-firing guns mounted
behind shields on the spar deck abreast of the funnels, so that they
were partially protected by the otherwise useless turret, and could
fire over it.
The ten days that were spent by the _Mary Rose_ at Malta went very
quickly. Work went on by night with as little interruption as by day,
and upon the morning of the 27th all the vessels with which the Admiral
intended to sail had hauled out from their docks and jetties, and lay
at anchor in harbour, fully coaled, and in all respects ready for sea.
During these ten days very little news of a trustworthy nature dribbled
in from the outer world. It became known, however, that a further
attempt by the French against the ships collected at Spithead had been
repulsed without serious loss on the British side; but that, on the
other hand, several open towns on the south coast had been bombarded
by French cruisers, after having declined to pay ransom; that the
Channel trade, so far as Great Britain was concerned, was almost at a
standstill; and that in some parts of the country bloody bread riots
had occurred, while in London itself there had been much disorder,
owing to the supposed undue dilatoriness of the Board of War, and to
the great rise in prices. Sir Humphrey Thornbeigh had been burnt in
effigy in Trafalgar Square, and had immediately afterwards ridden out
of the Admiralty court-yard, addressed the crowd from on horseback, and
been cheered by the rabble as he returned. It became known also that,
as late as the 22nd, the nightly bombardment of Gibraltar was being
continued, and that the French were pretty confident of reducing the
place by the end of the month, as they had improvised some floating
batteries, armed with mortars of the largest calibre, throwing mélinite
shells, which were excessively destructive.
Bowling was almost well, and, but for the loss of his eye, was very
little the worse for having been in action. Hard work, indeed, seemed
to be the best restorative for both him and his officers.
The 27th of May was a magnificent day. The sky was clear and of the
deepest blue, and the gentle breeze was barely sufficient to blow out
the bunting of the ships in harbour and the Union Jacks of the forts on
shore. At ten o’clock the Admiral suddenly signalled for steam to be
got up ready for 12 knots at five o’clock; at half-past four, having
already un-moored, he signalled “Prepare to weigh,” and at five he
weighed and led his ships out. Earlier in the day he had sent torpedo
boats to scout all round the island, and, as they returned reporting
no signs of the enemy, he did not hesitate to put to sea before dark.
It subsequently appeared that the French vessels, which for a time had
formed a squadron of observation off Malta, had, two days earlier,
been ordered to reinforce the Fleet off the Rock, preparatory to the
general and, as was hoped, the final bombardment, the French Admiralty
having made up its mind that the ships in Malta were too badly damaged
to venture much for some time to come, and too weak to dare to come
out, even if they were patched up. Only a single cruiser had been left
to watch, and she had, it turned out, gone off in chase of a vessel
which she took to be British, but which was really the Italian corvette
_Cristoforo Colombo_, bound for Palermo. The excellent Italian captain
did not deem it to be his duty to enlighten his French “opposite
number,” and steamed gaily away at 14 knots without answering the
signals which the cruiser made to him. He was at length overhauled, and
he then made, of course, most courteous explanations; but by that time
the British squadron was at sea, and well on its way to the westward.
When the cruiser returned to her station it was too dark for her to
discover that the bird had flown. Next morning she did discover it,
and then she pelted off to Toulon with the news, and received from
the Commander-in-Chief there a sound rating for having been lured
away by an Italian, who, as the Admiral chose to put it, was “only an
Englishman in disguise.” There may have been an atom of truth in this
assertion, for throughout the war the Italians certainly, although they
always spoke French with the greatest politeness, spoke it, as used to
be said at the time, with a decidedly English accent. In other words,
they scarcely disguised their sympathies, and would, upon the smallest
encouragement, have openly declared them. Happily for all parties, they
managed to preserve for themselves that greatest of blessings--peace.
[Illustration: THE “CRISTOFORO COLOMBO.”]
[Illustration: “IN THE DAYS OF SAILING SHIPS.”]
In the days of sailing ships pre-concerted action between fleets or
even between single vessels was difficult and precarious. It was not,
for example, of much use for the Admiralty to base important plans upon
the junction at a particular time and in a particular place of two
forces. It might be absolutely impossible for one or both of the forces
to reach the spot within a month of the specified hour,--impossible,
not because of the occurrence of unforeseen accidents, but simply
because of the normal and natural conditions under which the work had
to be done. If the wind did not blow, the ship did not go. But in
modern days ships are independent of winds, tides, and currents. Mail
steamers run, and have run for years, between points thousands of miles
apart with almost the punctuality of railway trains; and if it were
desirable that at eight o’clock in the morning of every Monday in the
year a vessel should leave New York, and that, at eight o’clock in
the morning of the following Wednesday week she should drop anchor in
the Cove of Cork, there is no doubt whatever that in fifty cases out
of every fifty-two, the programme could be literally carried out. If,
in short, a slight margin over and above the time actually necessary
for the voyage in moderate weather be allowed, ships can, barring
unforeseen and unpreventible accidents, now move about with something
akin to absolute punctuality. This fact lies at the root of all modern
naval strategy, and at the root, also, of much of modern naval tactics;
but it had never before been so frankly recognised and so boldly
utilised as it was for the combined operations which were planned
at Whitehall to be carried out on the 1st of June in the Strait of
Gibraltar.
The gallant Admiral whose flag flew in the _Colossus_ took care to keep
a certain amount of time in hand from the beginning. At twelve knots,
Gibraltar is, as nearly as possible, ninety-six hours’ steam from
Malta. The rendezvous was for one o’clock a.m. on June 1st; therefore
in order to keep it, a squadron steaming the whole distance at twelve
knots, with a little speed in hand, was not obliged to leave Malta
until one a.m. on the morning of May 28th. But the Admiral prudently
allowed himself an additional eight hours; and thus, towards the end of
his cruise, when he might reasonably expect to fall in with the enemy,
he was able to go warily.
The last day was indeed an anxious time. To approach the African
shore was to risk encountering French vessels on their way to or from
Gibraltar and Algiers. To approach the Spanish shore, on the other
hand, was to risk encountering French vessels on their way to or from
Gibraltar and Toulon. Upon both routes men-of-war must necessarily
be continually moving, Toulon being the repairing, and Algiers or
Bizerta in all probability the coaling depôt for the hostile Fleet;
and although the Admiral had come out to fight, he had come to fight
in a particular place at a particular time, and not otherwise. In
this difficulty the _Rose_ was useful. Her French build and rig, and
her general resemblance to other cruisers which still flew the
tricolour, rendered her, the Admiral felt, invaluable as a scout; and,
as a matter of fact, in the early morning of the 31st she was able,
without exciting suspicion, to warn the squadron of the vicinity of a
French ironclad which, although she might have been captured, might
also have fatally delayed the combined movements upon which the success
of the entire scheme depended. The Admiral kept for the most part a
course as equidistant as possible between Spain and Africa all that
day, the order being _Colossus_, _Sanspareil_, _Polyphemus_, and _Mary
Rose_, in column of line ahead, with the _Rose_ on the port and the
_Surprise_ on the starboard bow of the column at a distance of five
miles. Bowling was treated almost exactly as one of the captains of the
squadron, and obeyed signals, etc., just as they did; nor, owing to the
good services which he had already done, was there the least trace of
jealousy concerning him. Indeed, the squadron was proud of him.
The grand bombardment of Gibraltar began on the night between May 30th
and May 31st. The French had previously collected for the purpose a
fleet of twenty-five ironclads, inclusive of armoured coast-defence
ships, ten floating batteries specially prepared, and numerous small
unarmoured vessels, each mounting a single heavy gun. Attached to this
force were two large squadrons of cruisers, one of which was disposed
fan-wise at the Atlantic end, and the other at the Mediterranean end
of the Straits, so as to give timely alarm in case of any threatened
interference with what was going on at the Rock. In fact, almost
the whole available resource of the French Navy was concentrated
for the occasion, it having been determined in Paris that--at all
costs--Gibraltar must be made to fall. Many of the most enlightened
French critics doubted the wisdom of this policy; and, among others, M.
E. Weyl, the distinguished naval editor of _Le Yacht_. In the course of
an article, which he published within a few hours after the scheme had
been decided upon, he wrote:--
“We shall never deal an effective blow at the naval power of Britain by
hurling ourselves against her fortresses. We have rightly made up our
minds, for the present, to leave Malta alone. Why not deal in a similar
manner with Gibraltar? And why not consistently pursue those principles
which, in the ardour of the moment and before the theorists had time
to make themselves heard, we put in force off Toulon on the glorious
day of the 28th of April? Gibraltar, like Malta, stands or falls with
the British Navy. On the other hand, we may possess ourselves both of
Gibraltar and of Malta without materially or permanently diminishing
the power of our opponents on the sea. It is our duty, rather, to keep
a single eye on the Navy of the enemy. If we destroy that, we gain
everything; if we do not destroy it, all our other gains will be vain
and illusory. Let us, then, implore the Ministry to alter its plans
while there is yet time. Let us seek for a decisive action on the
ocean. Already, in the past, Gibraltar has been the scene of one of the
most costly of naval follies. Surely we are not about to deliberately
repeat the stupidity of 1782? To attack Gibraltar with this huge
force is to court disaster.”
[Illustration: AN ATLANTIC GREYHOUND.]
But the French Ministry did not listen to the advice of M. Weyl, and of
those who, with him, were students of the great principles enunciated
by Captain Mahan. The official mind could not resist the specious
reasoning: “If you place the tricolour on Gibraltar you become the
doorkeeper of the Mediterranean;” and so, as has been said, the grand
bombardment, began. It was resumed on the night of May 31st-June 1st,
and fearful indeed upon forts, towns, and rock itself was the effect of
that unexampled fire. But for two nights only did it continue.
At dusk, on the evening of the 31st, the little squadron from Malta
slowed down to nine knots, being then about fifty miles from the Gut
of Gibraltar. Steam was, however, kept for full speed, and the Admiral
signalled that, as soon as any French cruiser should be observed
ahead, full speed should be put on, and that the squadron should
thenceforward restrain its pace only by the best speed of the flagship.
The _Surprise_ and _Rose_ were directed to fall back before the enemy,
and to take station astern of the other vessels, and avoid engaging.
The incidents leading up to the battle off Toulon and to the passage
of the Straits by the _Mary Rose_ had been exciting; but they were far
less so than the incidents which were now leading up to an action,
the nature and results of which not one man of the thousands who were
about to take part in it could form even the faintest idea of. Three
separate forces were moving independently upon the scene and towards
the great French Fleet. None knew for certain how any one of the
others was composed; none had any means of making sure that any one
of the others would arrive at the right moment; and none knew either
the strength or the disposition of the foe. Only afterwards did the
world at large learn that the Fleet from Spithead consisted, so far as
armoured ships were concerned, of two divisions--the first composed of
the _Royal Sovereign_ (flag), _Anson_, _Camperdown_, _Howe_, _Rodney_,
_Aurora_, _Immortalité_, _Narcissus_, and _Galatea_, and the second
of the _Hercules_ (flag), _Triumph_, _Neptune_, _Audacious_, _Iron
Duke_, _Superb_, _Northampton_, _Nelson_, and _Shannon_; that the
_Trafalgar_, _Dreadnought_, and _Australia_ issued from Gibraltar, and
that from Malta came the _Colossus_ (flag), _Sanspareil_, _Polyphemus_,
and _Mary Rose_. The first Spithead and the Gibraltar and Malta
divisions--fifteen ironclads in all--had orders to effect the junction
at the rendezvous at one o’clock a.m. The second Spithead division, to
which were attached an exceptional number of fast protected cruisers,
had orders to make the same rendezvous forty minutes later, and had, in
fact, left British waters two days earlier than the second division.
[Illustration: “GIB.”]
The arrangement seems to have been upon the whole a very prudent one.
The second Spithead division was the weakest and slowest. Its numerous
fast scouts would bring it, while on the passage, early information of
the approach of an enemy, and would enable it, if necessary, to fall
back upon the first and most fast and powerful division. On the other
hand, the first division, in conjunction with the modern ships from
Malta and Gibraltar, would, if the French were still engaged at the
Rock, bear the first brunt of the fight, and allow the second division
in its wake to come fresh upon a partially disorganised and probably
badly damaged foe. The weakness of the scheme, if weakness there were,
lay in the fact that at the outset fifteen British ironclads might be
opposed to twenty-five French. But it must be recollected that while
nearly all these British ships were vessels of very large size and
modern design, at least half the French ships were smaller and older,
and several of them, as, for example, the _Colbert_, _Richelieu_,
_Bayard_, and _La Galissonnière_, were partially built of wood. Even
the ships of the second Spithead division were most of them, vessel
for vessel, nearly equal to the average of the French battleships off
Gibraltar.
It is hopeless to attempt to describe in detail the episodes of a great
Fleet action. The best general description of the battle of Gibraltar
is contained in the official dispatch which was afterwards addressed by
the Commander-in-Chief to the Chief Director of Fleets, and which is
here copied:--
“_Royal Sovereign_, Gibraltar Bay,
“_June 1st_.
“SIR,--I have the honour to inform you that it has pleased God to
bless Her Majesty’s arms with signal success, and that the combined
movements which were directed to be carried out by the Fleet under my
command, and by the squadrons at Malta and Gibraltar respectively,
have been performed, and have to-day resulted in the gaining of a
victory which, while it will, I trust, add a ray of glory to Her
Majesty’s crown, will also, I pray, tend in no small degree to
benefit the Empire and to bring to a speedy conclusion the present
unhappy war.
[Illustration: THE “ROYAL SOVEREIGN.”]
“The second division of the Spithead Fleet, composed of H.M. ships
mentioned in the margin, sailed from Spithead on the 24th of May.
The first division, with my flag in the _Royal Sovereign_, followed,
in pursuance of your instructions, on the 26th. Neither division
encountered on the passage any force of the enemy, and on the 31st,
at noon, I communicated with and passed the second division, and
proceeded at 13 knots for the mouth of the Strait. Shortly before 11
p.m., at which hour we could distinctly hear that the bombardment
of Gibraltar was being vigorously continued, my cruisers, the night
being clear and brilliant, sighted the cruisers of the French Fleet
about six miles ahead, and soon afterwards exchanged shots with
some of the most advanced of them. The French cruisers presently
withdrew, and I increased speed to 14 knots, formed my command into
quarter line, and disposed my cruisers on the quarters and at the
rear of the division, with orders to them to expose themselves as
little as possible, to keep out of the way of the second division
as it came up forty minutes later, and, generally, to be prepared
to render assistance to the battleships. The French Fleet, upon
receiving intelligence of our approach, must have relinquished the
bombardment, and in a formation of which I could not learn the
nature, steamed leisurely to the eastward. At this time we had not
ourselves sighted it, but a little before one o’clock, when we were
already nearly abreast of Europa Point, and when the _Trafalgar_,
_Dreadnought_, and _Australia_ were visible coming out of the Bay,
we discovered the enemy about seven miles ahead, fiercely engaged
with the squadron from Malta. This consisted only of the _Colossus_,
_Sanspareil_, _Polyphemus_, and _Surprise_ of Her Majesty’s Navy,
but attached to it, and obeying the orders of the Vice-Admiral,
were the _Mary Rose_, armoured privateer, commanded by Mr. Thomas
Bowling, late a lieutenant of the Royal Navy, and the _Rose_, late
_Cécille_, a prize which was captured from the French Navy by the
_Mary Rose_ in a very gallant manner on the 14th ult., and which
had been purchased into the service and manned at Malta by the
Vice-Admiral upon his own responsibility, a course which I venture
to hope will meet with approval. The Malta squadron was handled with
conspicuous ability, but, ere I could come up with the enemy, was, I
regret to say, very severely mauled, the _Sanspareil_ being rammed
by two ships, and sinking with her colours flying and guns firing,
and the other vessels being much damaged and losing heavily. The
squadron, however, broke through the French Fleet, which followed
it, maintaining a running action until I was able to interfere.
The enemy was by that time in somewhat confused formation; and my
division in its original order, but reinforced, passed through it
with less loss than might have been expected, and then altered course
sixteen points together and returned, executing the whole movement
at full speed, and with a precision which I have never seen equalled.
Unhappily in this second passage, the _Howe_ became unmanageable,
and was torpedoed, rammed, and sunk. I am proud to be able to report
that, except the vessels which received damage to their machinery or
steering gear, and which were thus obliged to quit the line, all my
ships preserved their stations, and that, so far as the British Fleet
was concerned, there was nothing in the shape of a chance _melée_.
Having twice passed through the French, and perceiving that they
were falling into disorder, I led the way through once more, so as
to place them between my own ships and the second division. In this
passage I had the misfortune to lose the _Dreadnought_, which, after
joining from Gibraltar, had taken station in the line, and which was
blown up by the concentration of the depressed heavy gun fire of
three French ships upon her low deck. After the third passage the
enemy ceased to manœuvre as a fleet, but his single ships fought
with great determination. As soon as I observed the approach of the
second division I made the signal, ‘Ships will engage the enemy
independently,’ and also that for close action. The latter, however,
I presently annulled, it rapidly becoming clear that for a vessel to
obey it was to unnecessarily expose herself to the French torpedoes.
I made instead a signal ordering the ships of the first division to
keep to westward of the enemy, and to engage as much as possible
beyond torpedo range. It was now 1.45 a.m., and the second division
had opened fire. I had ceased to have any doubts as to the general
results of the action, but I was scarcely prepared for the effect
which the arrival of the fresh ships had upon our opponents. The
French had lost terribly, and were thoroughly disorganised; and when
they found themselves placed between two fires, and with retreat
cut off in both directions by forces of the exact strength of which
they were no doubt ignorant, they evidently lost heart. So bright
was the moonlight that we could distinctly see some of them strike
their flags. Upon this, using the electric semaphore, I directed
the Vice-Admiral in command of the second division to send his
torpedo gun-vessels into the French Fleet. With admirable alacrity
these little craft obeyed the order. The French, whose cruisers and
torpedo boats were nearly all to the eastward of us, and were easily
kept at a distance by the fire of our quick-firing guns, made some
considerable resistance, and, I am sorry to say, sank two of our
gun-vessels. But when three of their number had been torpedoed, the
rest, to my great relief, surrendered, and were before three o’clock
taken possession of by the ironclads of the second division. The
cruisers of the combined Fleet were meanwhile dispatched in general
chase of the cruisers of the enemy, and as I write are beginning to
return. So far as I can at present ascertain, they have destroyed
four and captured two of the cruisers which were attached to the
French Fleet, but several reports have yet to come in. Concerning the
losses on both sides in armoured ships I can inform you more exactly.
We went into action with, in all, twenty-four vessels, including the
_Mary Rose_, of this class. Of these, four are sunk or blown up, two
have had to be run ashore to save them from sinking, and seven are so
badly damaged as to be totally unfit for future service for some time
to come. The enemy went into action with twenty-five armoured ships,
and of this number she has not preserved one. Fourteen have been sunk
or blown up; three are ashore; and eight, all more or less damaged,
are now at anchor here under my orders. As to the losses in officers
and men, they are, I am pained to inform you, exceedingly serious. My
own flagship has over 400 killed and wounded; and many other ships,
especially those of the first division and of the Malta squadron,
have suffered heavily in proportion. The names of the ships lost and
captured are set forth in the margin, and in an enclosure are such
detailed statements as have yet reached me of the loss in officers
and men.
[Illustration: “I HAD THE MISFORTUNE TO LOSE THE ‘DREADNOUGHT.’”]
“All ranks behaved in a manner which merits my warmest approbation,
and which is worthy of the finest traditions of our country and of
the service. In a future dispatch I hope to render to individuals
that particular meed of praise which as yet I lack the necessary
materials for fairly apportioning. Of Mr. Bowling of the _Mary
Rose_, whose situation both before and during the action has been
an exceptional one, I cannot delay speaking. To do so would, I am
convinced, be to hurt the feelings of every officer and man under
my command. On the 14th ult. he, being at the time entrusted with
duplicate dispatches to the Admiral-Superintendent at Malta, ran
through the French Fleet into the Mediterranean, sinking the
cruiser _Davout_, and badly damaging the ironclad _Terrible_ and
the cruiser _Tage_. In this gallant exploit he was badly wounded.
On the following day, pursued by the cruisers _Cécille_, _Alger_,
and _Troude_, he took the first, which is now H.M.S. _Rose_, sank
the second, and only permitted the third to escape because she had
taken on board the survivors of the second. He was again injured. In
the action of this morning he behaved with a courage and coolness
to which I cannot do justice, passing four times through the French
Fleet, handling his ship in the most magnificent manner, and, I
regret to have to add, being once more severely wounded. It will be
within your recollection that a month ago the name of Mr. Bowling was
removed from the list of Her Majesty’s Navy. I venture respectfully
to represent that the Royal Navy would be greatly honoured by having
it restored, though in what rank I do not venture to suggest. I
merely, with all the urgency which I can attach to my words, beg that
the magnificent services of Mr. Bowling and of his officers--nearly
all of whom are retired from the Royal Navy--may be recognised in a
manner that will partially repay the country’s great indebtedness
to him and to them. In thus specially mentioning Mr. Bowling, who,
on account of his wounds, goes home in the _Surprise_--his own ship
being on shore badly damaged--I am acting not only in accordance
with my own promptings, but also in accordance with the wishes of, I
believe, every officer and man in the Fleet which to-day has had the
happiness to gain for Her Majesty a complete and conclusive victory.”