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When Philip returned to the boat some hours later, he saw rich, black smoke pouring from Badger's funnel. She lay at single anchor, and as the boat pulled him out to her, he saw that the cable was up and down. "Thick and dry for weighing," he said to Lt XXXX, once the lieutenant had welcomed him aboard and informed him of that fact, "we will get under way at once." He glanced at the dog vane quickly, then added, "engine ahead one quarter," for though the breeze might bring them out of the harbor, it would not serve to take them beyond the reef.

This dealt with, he moved to his cabin. Here, [his steward] had laid out coffee, and after hanging his griego on a nail provided for that purpose, he sat down and poured himself a cup. "[Steward]", he called, "if the doctor is at leisure please send him aft."

The doctor was at leisure, and a minute or so later he appeared. "Doctor, sit and have a cup!" said Philip. And as the doctor sat, "in an hour or so I hope to show you what the Badger can really do. There is a fine, fat merchantman creeping out of XXXX, unescorted, and we will snap her up."

Author's note

When writing of the Royal Navy of the mid-19th Century, it is difficult for the author to gild the lily. England, of course, was fighting for her very life, and it was only through the skill and determination of the men (and some occasional women) of her navy - often badly supplied and badly fed, and always badly paid - that she survived; for France held dominion over almost all of Europe, with its vast reserves of men and the raw materials of war.

The writer of fiction about this period is thus at a serious disadvantage if he chooses to create his own engagements, for nothing that he creates can compare with the true events. None but the most fertile of imaginations could see Captain Wilson and the crew of the 14-gun sail sloop Valkyrie (and fourteen miserable 4-pounders, at that) storming the 90-gun steam/sail battleship Intrépide and taking her in a matter of 20 minutes. Thus, I have borrowed heavily from history, borrowing and indeed stealing the actions of actual sailors for those of my own, though I have kept, as much as my research has allowed, very closely to the actualities of these engagements in terms of shots fired, maneuvers taken, mistakes made and capitalized upon, and casualties suffered.

For the sake of an authenticity where the resolve and activity of the Royal Navy in this period is concerned, I hope that the reader will grant me this degree of license.


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