Prison Ship Read Free Page A

bright day, the French coast around Calais could easily be seen from England. I could imagine their leader, Napoleon, standing on the beach looking over to the cliffs at Dover and plotting an invasion. All at once I felt proud to be a British sailor.
    John Giddes was still sullen, sipping his grog and shovelling down his pease. ‘Cheer up,’ I said, ‘at least we’ll be helping to defend our country from the tyrannous French!’
    â€˜Hark at the little hero,’ sneered Giddes. ‘Are you tellin’ me being pressed isn’t tyranny?’
    James laughed nervously and made a swift attempt atchanging the subject. ‘Ye know, ten year or so ago, when the press gangs came roond Newcastle and Sunderland, the sailors in the harbour taverns got together and fought ’em off with their fists. Ye don’t often hear aboot that in Portsmouth or London.’
    â€˜You’re a bunch of hard bastards you Geordies – is that what you’re sayin’?’ laughed Tom.
    â€˜Aye,’ said James. ‘Not like ye spineless Cockneys!’ The pair then began a mock sparring contest.
    Then James got serious, and lowered his voice to a whisper. ‘I’ve got me doubts aboot this experdition. Yer Vice Admiral, Hyde Parker, his heart isn’t in it. What would you rather be doin’ if ye’d just married a bonny young girl like what he has? Pacing yer quarterdeck in a freezing fog or entertaining yer new bride in a big four-poster?’
    â€˜But Nelson is sailing with us too,’ I said.
    â€˜True enough, lad,’ said James, ‘but he still has to do what Hyde Parker tells him.’
    â€˜Maybe the Danes will have quite a fleet waitin’ for us?’ said Tom quietly. ‘Maybe twice our number?’ This was all treacherous talk, not for the ears of any passing bosun’s mate.
    Then John Giddes spoke up. He seemed impatient, exasperated, even. ‘Yes but most of the Danish fleet is made up of old vessels. And their crews will be poorly trained, if that. Denmark ain’t been at war for the bestpart of a century. There’ll be plenty of volunteers all right – we’re out to attack their ’andsome capital after all – but they’ll barely know one end of a gun from another.’
    We all looked on, astonished. This was the most we’d heard him say so far. And I couldn’t help noticing that although he usually talked like a Cockney, occasionally he sounded oddly well spoken.
    â€˜So, my friend,’ said Tom, turning to Giddes with a new-found respect. ‘What did you say you were doing before the press gang got you?’
    â€˜Never you mind,’ he said, and that was the end of that.
    As our voyage progressed the weather steadily worsened. We pressed on through endless fog and put down our anchors every evening. Vice Admiral Hyde Parker, it was said, was wary of travelling at night for fear of his ships colliding. On some mornings we spent an hour chipping ice from the rigging and clearing snow from the deck before we could weigh anchor. During the day, snow and sleet came and went, and the ship’s timbers seemed so sodden I wondered that the
Elephant
did not sink. There was no respite from the cold. When we ate and slept, great howling draughts whistled around the ship.
    â€˜There’s enough of a draught in here to turn a bloodywindmill,’ Giddes said. I was sure he wasn’t really a Cockney.
    Then two and a half weeks after we had left Portsmouth we peered through the snowflakes and could dimly make out a long low sandbank to the starboard bow. This was The Skaw – the northernmost point of Denmark. Copenhagen lay a few days’ further sailing to the south. Reaching the coast brought no improvement in the weather. Giddes and Tom continued to argue about the fighting merits of the Danes. We would find out soon enough who was right.

Chapter 2
Enter the Admiral

    Close to the coast we