The Wreck Of The President

Page 5

Captain Hide and his crew had no reason to be alarmed when this fleet sailed out toward them; they slowed their ship expecting news, or the opportunity for some private trading. Four of the pirate vessels, two-masted ghurabs full of troops, closed in quickly with the intention of grappling themselves to their victim on all sides and boarding her in one mad rush. The two other larger ships turned suddenly and, to the utter astonishment of the Englishmen, they fired their guns.

This was the signal. Grappling hooks were thrown from the low pointed prows of the approaching ghurabs at the President’s lower rigging. Others fired guns, shot arrows and did everything they could to stop the English sailors from unhooking them or cutting the ropes.

Cannonfire, gunfire and the shouting of hundreds of voices merged together into one continuous din. Men were running this way and that, the English sailors were trying to organize themselves into a proper defence, the pirates were trying to board the President in sufficient numbers to stop them.

Captain Hide was in charge on the open deck. Here the fighting was all hand-to-hand using knives, swords, axes and poles – whatever was available. But there were so many pirates, the English crew were completely outnumbered and gradually they were forced down from the quarterdeck and along the main deck.

But not all of the President’s crew were up on deck fighting. Down below on the gundeck about a couple of dozen men were running about frantically cutting down the hammocks and kicking aside all the normal clutter to make way for the ship’s own guns. These were tied up hard against the inside of the hull to stop them rolling about the deck in rough weather, now most of the ropes were being cut away as fast as possible.

On a warship guns like these would each have a crew of about eight men, sometimes more. But down there on the gundeck there was only about one man per gun. So they ran in small groups from gun to gun making each one ready and loading it then moving quickly on to the next.

With trembling and bleeding hands they fought to turn each gun so that it could be loaded without having to open the gunport in the ship’s side, that would give the game away, they needed to surprise their enemies. At last the guns were ready. Twenty-two cannons, eleven along each side. Each was sitting loaded and pointing toward the inside of its closed gunport.

The men gathered around a few of the guns and, judging their moment, they pulled together on the many ropes. The gunport lids suddenly swung up, the guns rolled forward through the open ports and with an ear-splitting crash they fired straight into one of the attackers’ ghurab vessels.

The pirates’ were amazed; they had thought that all of their victims were out on the open deck involved in the fighting. There they all were on their own deck, waiting to climb aboard the English ship when to their surprise, some of its ports flew open and out came five or six of the main guns right beside their heads!

Those pirates climbing aboard the President from the other end of the ghurab looked back, stunned, at the cloud of smoke where their comrades had been. As it cleared they saw the damage, the terrible carnage, the horror, the dying and the dead. Some climbed back down to help their fellows while the others screamed in anger and leaped up more determined than ever to take the ship.

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