Ramage At Trafalgar

This part of the Thames was grim: to larboard, the Yantlet Flats were flat fields of thick, stinking and bubbling mud with what were like ditches where scour had cut runways. To starboard, the names on the chart told a similar but less smelly story - West Knock and East Knock were the entrances to a deeper cha

As the hoys came into sight, Ramage cursed himself for a weakling; he had done nothing about the gu

Ramage could imagine arguments with both Boards - "I can't send him away in charge of expeditions" - "Give an example" -"Well, I haven't one because I daren't send him off" - "Then how do you know you can't trust him?" And so on.

Well, soon they would be alongside a hoy and taking on nearly ten tons of powder in 120-pound cases and 90-pound barrels. Ramage could be sure that both Aitken and Southwick would be watching every move, whether by seamen or the gu

Gunpowder. Curious stuff, just an i

Well, that was the gu

One hour later the Calypso was secured alongside a hoy: bow, stern, breastropes and springs had been adjusted and the staytackle rigged, Aitken reported. Ramage had given orders to start loading the powder, after a second check had been made that the galley fire was out, that no men were smoking, that the fire engine had been hoisted up on deck and the cistern filled with seawater, and finally that the washdeck pumps were also rigged and the decks well wetted - ru

Going into action? Ramage considered it was nothing compared to taking on powder. When going into action his mind was full of a dozen different problems, quite apart from giving orders and watching the enemy, but taking on powder - there was just the rattle and squeak of the blocks as the men hauled on the tackle to hoist the net on board, and he either paced the deck or sat in his cabin and thought of a tiny dribble of that grey powder falling on the deck, and something crushing it: just enough pressure to cause a detonation. No flame or spark needed. There would be a gigantic explosion and in the place of the Calypso and the hoy there would be a great circle of roiled water with planks and spars (and bodies) falling like solid rain . . . They'd hear the noise as far away as Chatham and Greenwich - and few would doubt what caused it.

With five tons of powder hoisted on board and carried below, Ramage decided he would inspect the magazine and powder room. He had not been inside either since inspecting every inch of the ship when she was captured from the French. That was not quite true, since every Sunday he made his routine inspection of the ship, when he put his head round the door, but he did not enter because no one was allowed in unless he was barefoot or wearing felt shoes (and had been searched for any ferrous object that could clink and make a spark).

He sat down on the settee in his cabin and took off his shoes. Silkin would not be very pleased to find his master had been walking round the ship in white silk stockings, but Silkin had an easy-going master, in Ramage's view; the captain's servant was a valet and many of them serving penurious captains had to spend much of their time mending stockings, shirts and stocks, so a little extra laundry would not overtax Silkin.

He padded out of the cabin, ignored the Marine sentry's startled gaze but returned his salute as usual, and went on deck calling for Aitken.

The first lieutenant joined him by the capstan and was careful to keep his eyes above shoulder level.

"Don't be so damned tactful," Ramage growled. "Go below and take your shoes off - we're going to give the magazine and powder room a close inspection. Tell the gu

Aitken gri

Ramage went below, waited for Aitken, and then led the way along the passage leading to the magazine and powder room. The passage had the silent, cold feel of the entrance to a vault but, like the rest of the area, it was specially constructed.

To begin with, both the magazine and powder room were called officially the "hanging magazine", because not only were both built below the waterline, but they were placed four feet lower than the deck level, like a large inset box, so that anyone entering had to go down several steps. More important, in an emergency it could be flooded with seawater and both magazine and powder room would be submerged instantly, along with the powder, whether in case, barrel or fla

The passageway and both magazine and powder room had the floors plastered with mortar, and over that had been laid a dry lining of narrow strips of deal planking, little more than lathes. Then all three had been lined with lead sheeting weighing five pounds to the square foot, Ramage recalled inconsequentially as he tapped with his knuckle, making sure that none of the sheeting had "crept", coming away from the lathes-and-mortar base.

At the end of the passage the magazine door (which was also the entrance to the powder room) was hung with heavy brass hinges which were secured with copper screws. The big lock was made of solid copper, and the huge copper key (which always made your hand smell if you had to carry it) was normally kept by Aitken and issued to the gu

The only illumination came from the little light room, a wedge-shaped glass cupboard, accessible only from outside, in which stood a lantern which shone into the magazine with its flame separated from the powder by a thick glass window.

Ramage stood back to let four sailors pass him with cases of powder. The dim, yellow light of the lantern showed that the passageway was clean and none of the sheeting bulged on the sole, bulkheads or deckhead. Once the seamen had left the magazine, Ramage walked in. With its many shelves, which would soon be filled with fla