Part 8 of Reale Ocho: Silvern at Bahia de Matanzas is posted at Pirates Ahoy! here: http://www.piratesahoy.net/
From Part 7...
Heyn smiled respectfully and bowed slightly again. He thought a short moment and answered, “My Lords, I am certain of the outcome and assure you that I will bring these privateering mongrels of Oostend to heel.”
“How can you be so confident and so sure of this outcome where so many others have failed Sir?” Van Noort querried.
Heyn answered confidently with a widening smile, “Its simple really My Lord. You see your Honors, its a matter of knowing their tricks and how turn them back upon themselves. In short Mijn Heren, it takes a hopelessly damned wretched pirate, to catch a hopelessly damned wretched pirate.” The aged Admirals all laughed in unison in answer – their laughter echoing throughout the gothic hall with a pitch and noise that outshone the ghosts haunting the ancient place.
(And now Part 8 of Reale Ocho: Silvern at Bahia de Matanzas)
“Captain Evertsen, Please inform Captain Heyn of the current situation.” Admiral Van Noort commanded.
“Very Well Sir”, young Captain Evertsen complied. “The Oostenders have been more aggressive than ever before in recent weeks. I am very surprised you were spared their attacks Captain Heyn. The convoy arriving just before yours lost nearly half their numbers to a lightning fast, well organized Privateer fleet. The pirates were so bold indeed that they seized the escort flagship Neptunus and took her a prize. The reports from the returning convoy captains was that the Ostender devils have built a new, specialized vessel. They say she came from nowhere and appeared to be some sort of a large fregatte-galleon combination. This hybrid warship was apparently the secret of their fleet's success, and why they were able to so handily take the flagship. It is said that she is as large as any two decker, but with a single, long, low main gun-deck, with smaller half gun-decks above on each side of her waist. With this configuration, she mounts nearly as many guns as a two decker, and for short range raiding she can be manned with double a two decker's numbers. But she is swift and low in the water as craft half her size. She is also shallower of draft and much faster than any equivalent ship of her size. Several of our agents lost their lives trying to find out who was in command of this fleet and this new ship. We have learned that she is named the Iris.”
Admiral Van Noort spoke, “Word of this attack and this new fleeting ghost ship has spread like wild-fire. Insurance rates have spiraled upwards in undue excess. The subsequent panic among investors has caused the Hereen XVII to call for more warships to be built immediately and for larger naval escorts to be provided for all merchant fleets. Many inland towns have come forward with promises to fund new warships. Both the VOC along with the smaller merchant companies - and even the Sea Beggar captains have all pledged their support in doubling the blockading squadrons around Dunkirk and Oostend.”
There was a brief pause as all admirals turned their gaze upon Heyn. Admiral Van Noort added, “Captain Heyn Sir, your commission to continue as captain of the Hollandia has been unanimously extended and expanded with a promotion to squadron commander. In addition to Hollandia, you now command the 40 gun warships Vergulde Leeuw, Haarlem, and Isaiah, along with two escort pinnaces, the 26 gun Hermes, and the 20 gun Dolfjin. In addition, young Evertsen here is now under your command. He is currently Dolfjin's captain. So Commander, will you take your squadron and go forward to bolster and command the blockade at Ostend?”
Piet did not answer immediately, smiling politely and surveying the faces of the sage, old admirals. He responded, “Nay Sir, I will not.” Van Noort reacted, “What, what? ...then what will you do Sir?”
Heyn answered, “We must not tarry nor wait upon the whims of our offenders Mijn Herren. We must hit them hard my Lords. We must move into the port before first light under cover of fog and darkness. We must cut out and recapture the Neptunus. In addition, we must seize and bring back this new Flemish raider Iris. In short, we must make them pay for their audacity. If you wish to send the Habsburg Flemish and Spanish dogs a bold message that matters, put a quick stop to this absurd panic, and bring carrying rates back down to normal, we must do this.”
Heyn paused and surveyed his captive audience and then continued, “I tell you Mijn Herren, I will be successful. I know a certain reliable person that will be my eyes in the darkness. To add, I think it may be vitally important to consider having a good look at this new ship. If her design is so superior, then perhaps our own shipwrights may wish to copy her - and this Gentlemen, could possibly give us great advantage in what we all know certain – continuing and expanding future conflict.”
There was a sudden uproar of mumbling speech between the admirals as they all agreed and disagreed among themselves. Admiral Van Noort raised his voice, “Gentlemen if you please! …...Pray lets continue... you wish to add something Admiral de Zoete? You have a concern?”
De Zoete countered, “I do Sir. Pray, who is this man we must rely on for your certain sight in the darkness, of which the success of this raid wholly depends Heyn? I think we deserve at least knowing, considering how much we have to lose in the matter.”
“I cannot tell you that Sir.” Heyn answered. “I cannot compromise his identity or he will be useless to us. I can tell you that he is a both a Fleming and the most skilled of pilots - that should suffice.”
Van Noort turned his head towards a clearly wealthy, very opulently dressed man (for Dutch standards) that was sitting next to him, “Laurens?” The illustrious Dr. Reale, visiting from Amsterdam was grimly serious and spoke firmly, “Can so bold a raid be successful? What if you should fail Sir? How will you know in such poor conditions of visability what exact locations these specific vessels lie in? Rather risky don't you think Heyn?”
Heyn fired back, “There is always risk in anything worth doing My Lords. But I ask you this.... where does my own Hollandia lie now? She is moored at the central pier where the people can gaze upon their newly returned symbol of national admiration. I must admit I remain dumbfounded by her popularity, but everyday since I have returned, there is a crowd of onlookers at the pier. This Gentlemen, is because of the stories of her success - which I never could have imagined would have travelled half a world away here - to stir and inspire Dutch pride.”
He continued, “I tell you that the Oostenders have done the same. This Iris and the Neptunus will be at the center of public attention and adoration for another fortnight at least. I will gather all the additional intelligence available concerning their locations. This raid WILL be successful..... or I will not return from it. Gentlemen, Last, I have to insist and stress that you MUST NOT utter any word of my plans outside of this hall – or we are doomed.”
That evening, Piet Heyn was invited to an event in his honor by the wealthy Rotterdam merchant Claes de Reus, in their fine home upon the Oude Haven's waterfront. Also attending were many notable leaders in the community - some from as far away as Amsterdam, Dordrecht, and Den Haag. All of Heyn's officers, to include his newly assigned captains were in attendance as well. Jacobi no longer wore his Jesuit habit and was now dressed in the dark breeches, doublet, and thick white lace colar of a Dutch gentlemen with a tall, black, swept brimmed hat topping off the ensemble. Musicians played, gentry mingled, and men discussed politics, commerce and war. De Rues introduced Heyn to his lovely daughter Anneke and the whole reason for the event was realized when terms for a scheduled courtship between Piet and Anneke were agreed upon.
Heyn was glad when the evening had ended, though he felt an exited thrill knowing that he was courting such a beautiful, humble young woman that also appeared equally eager to be in his company. Heyn had never been good with women. He abhorred vanity, arrogant pride and trifles which in his mind was what made up the majority of the character of most currently available young ladies. He always seemed to say the wrong thing and was not good at all in the art of flattery. He was no courtier and never wanted to be one of those churlish fops. He was a soldier and sailor and refused to present himself as anything but what God had made him. He was outspoken and told the truth no matter how unseemly, and this always seemed to deflect the weaker sex. Indeed Jacobi and Piet had spoken of this very subject and Jacobi had attempted to school the Captain in a little ettiquette concerning courting. Heyn had put the lessons to good use this evening and was beaming with happiness as he entered the carriage with Jacobi – imparting to him the good use of his lessons and the words that had been spoken between the couple. Heyn thanked Jacobi for his excellent tutoring.
After this grand social event was concluded, Heyn's new captains and his own first and second lieutenants - Van Dorn and Van Broekel - as well as Jacobi all met in the dark third story chamber of Het Oude Desiderius, an old Rotterdam tavern that was a somewhat popular haunt of old Dutch seamen. Heyn and his father used to go there a thousand years past after returning from successful hauls. Heyn moved to a dark corner of the pub and sat down with a wisp of a man smoking a long white pipe at a dim table. He was grey haired and thin with a ruddy, leathery countenance. He wore a black cloak and low, wide brimmed black hat that hung over his face. His eyes were so grey that they almost seemed white and he smiled slightly as he looked up at Heyn sitting down next to him.
“Hello Frans, have you considered my proposal?”
The old pilot replied, “Aye Pieter. It's all aranged. The plums are exactly where I said they would be - ripe for the picking. If you follow my lead exactly, we will have those oaks.” The men paused thoughtfully for a few moments.
Heyn spoke, “You know you will never be able to go back to Ostend again Frans.”
Frans answered, “I know Pieter. I owe your father my life and I am sick of the damned Dons in a city that used to be free anyway. I have held on to the past quite long enough. It's time for me to move on. Aye, it's true that my family are all buried there, but so are some eighty-thousand others from that damnable Dago seige. Been almost fifteen years now. I can't bring back the dead. Need to move on now. I appreciate the opportunity Cap'n. You can rely on me Pieter.”
“So you think the plan we discussed last evening can be carried out then?” Piet asked. “Aye Sir, I know it can Sir. With my little hoy leading the way, and you close behind in the heavy morning fog, the watches will recognize both the cut of my prow and the answer of my voice.”
“Good man Frans”, Pieter replied. “Let's join the others upstairs.”
The men clod up the thin stairwell to the third story of the aging building, the floor creaking as the mens footsteps trampled forward up to the table where the waiting officers all stood.
“Evertsen, do you have the maps Sir?” Pieter asked.
Jan Evertsen replied, “Indeed Sir”, as he rolled them out onto the great table that the men huddled around in the light of the lanterns. Heyn pointed down at the map moving his fingers and hands over it's parchment features to point out their imminent destiny. He continued, “Mijn Herren, here before you is Oostend, the destination of our next enterprise. Out here is our own blockade. In the city's outer northwest port are our objectives. We are to capture and escape with the ships Neptunus, a VOC 40 gun warship, and the so called ghost ship that I'm sure you have all been hearing about....the Iris.”
Jacobi laughed a little to himself and Heyn clearly annoyed and surprised at this behavior scolded his friend, “Is something amusing Jacobi?”
“Well yes Sir. Don't you see it Sir? Quite an appropriate name don't you think?” He looked at the officers, who all blankly seemed to miss the humorous discovery all-together. Jacobi continued, “I mean her name Sir, Iris....she travelled swiftly over the bridge of the rainbow. She was the messenger of the gods just as Hermes was.... but she was a goddess of discord. She brought all of the really bad messages of forboding and doom. An appropriate name for this “ghost-ship” don't you think Sir?” He smiled sheepishly.
Heyn turned away in slight disgust from his scholarly friend and continued with his briefing. “Our first order of business two days hence will be to sail to join the Oostend blockade. Once there, the Vergulde Leeuw, and Haarlem will stay with the blockade and move the majority of their crews aboard the Hermes and Dolfjin. I want those ships crammed so full - with every man they can hold and every weapon that can be carried possible that there will be room for nothing else. I will be aboard the Dolfjin with Evertsen. The Hermes will follow closely upon our heels in the fog. I will capture the Iris....here, and Van Broekel aboard the Hermes - with his own sizeable boarding party, will seize the Neptunus...located here.”
“The Hollandia and the Isaiah will follow closely behind and then move to position their broadsides laterally, and if necessary, engage the gun batteries on each side of the De Guel channel in support of both the attack and withdrawal - as we enter and exit the main channel. No lanterns will be lit. When we have determined the wind conditions, my pilot will guess our entry time and I will flash a latern for every ten minutes of estimated time. Based on that signal, the whole blockade will move half a league closer to the shallows of the “Strand”, within cannon range of Oostend's batteries. It will be light by the time we are on our way out of the channel and if the fog has cleared, they will be pouring fire down upon us. All ships outside of the harbor will offer supporting fire. Are there any questions gentlemen?”
Van Dorn spoke up, “Why don't we take more of the squadron into Oostend and give the damned Dago, Flemish dogs a good pummelling Sir?”
Heyn chuckled lightly and smiled, shaking his head side to side, “Karl, while Oostend may be very well known by reputation, and is indeed immense as far as fortresses are concerned, it is quite small in the way of a city. The port is tightly enclosed and littered with a maze of drawbridges and fortified star or arrow shaped bastions. Any other ships going in behind our smallest would just get in the way of our escape and serve as great targets for our enemies. No, Van Dorn, I will not bring any larger ships into the channel. As you can see by the map, the city is surrounded by two starworks-fortified walls. The action of seizing and extracting our prizes, will actually occur at this northwestern section of the town on this single inlet between the first and second walls. Fortunately, my intelligence sources tell me that no warships currently reside in the Niewe Poort. All of the opposing fleet's warships are a bit further inland anchored on the De Guel channel or within the city's eastern entrance, here at the Spanichen Bulwarke. They will not have time to respond or to mount an effective counter-attack. The few patroling craft forward of the Strand will be small shallow-draft scouting craft of less than 30 tons and merely a nuisance. If you run into them, seize them as prizes and put their crews to the sword if they put up resistance.”
Two days later the ships of Commander Heyn's squadron were assembled and ready for their intended mission - hove to and bobbing in the darkness a little over a mile off Ostend's strand in a heavy fog on a high tide. The Dolfjin was moored closely to the side of the Hollandia. Heyn turned to face his men before departing. He shook hands with Jacobi and Van Dorn.
“Good Luck Sir”, Luitenant Van Dorn interjected.
“Indeed Sir, God's blessings upon you Pieter”, Jacobi added.
“Thank you Gentlemen”, Heyn responded. Goodbyes said, Captain Heyn climbed down into the much smaller Dolfjin and joined Evertsen on the little quarter-deck. Evertsen saluted and shook Heyn's hand. “Your man Frans just signaled from the little hoy that he is ready. He only left fifteen minutes past and stated that we have a perfect wind. We will be able to sail reaching both going in and out and will not be against it at any time. He said to signal four lanterns to the fleet.” Heyn knodded his head, “Forty minutes then.....God help us.”
Stay tuned for Part 9 of Reale Ocho: Silvern at Bahia de Matanzas next week....MK
Stay tuned for Part 9 soon.
MK
From Part 7...
Heyn smiled respectfully and bowed slightly again. He thought a short moment and answered, “My Lords, I am certain of the outcome and assure you that I will bring these privateering mongrels of Oostend to heel.”
“How can you be so confident and so sure of this outcome where so many others have failed Sir?” Van Noort querried.
Heyn answered confidently with a widening smile, “Its simple really My Lord. You see your Honors, its a matter of knowing their tricks and how turn them back upon themselves. In short Mijn Heren, it takes a hopelessly damned wretched pirate, to catch a hopelessly damned wretched pirate.” The aged Admirals all laughed in unison in answer – their laughter echoing throughout the gothic hall with a pitch and noise that outshone the ghosts haunting the ancient place.
(And now Part 8 of Reale Ocho: Silvern at Bahia de Matanzas)
“Captain Evertsen, Please inform Captain Heyn of the current situation.” Admiral Van Noort commanded.
“Very Well Sir”, young Captain Evertsen complied. “The Oostenders have been more aggressive than ever before in recent weeks. I am very surprised you were spared their attacks Captain Heyn. The convoy arriving just before yours lost nearly half their numbers to a lightning fast, well organized Privateer fleet. The pirates were so bold indeed that they seized the escort flagship Neptunus and took her a prize. The reports from the returning convoy captains was that the Ostender devils have built a new, specialized vessel. They say she came from nowhere and appeared to be some sort of a large fregatte-galleon combination. This hybrid warship was apparently the secret of their fleet's success, and why they were able to so handily take the flagship. It is said that she is as large as any two decker, but with a single, long, low main gun-deck, with smaller half gun-decks above on each side of her waist. With this configuration, she mounts nearly as many guns as a two decker, and for short range raiding she can be manned with double a two decker's numbers. But she is swift and low in the water as craft half her size. She is also shallower of draft and much faster than any equivalent ship of her size. Several of our agents lost their lives trying to find out who was in command of this fleet and this new ship. We have learned that she is named the Iris.”
Admiral Van Noort spoke, “Word of this attack and this new fleeting ghost ship has spread like wild-fire. Insurance rates have spiraled upwards in undue excess. The subsequent panic among investors has caused the Hereen XVII to call for more warships to be built immediately and for larger naval escorts to be provided for all merchant fleets. Many inland towns have come forward with promises to fund new warships. Both the VOC along with the smaller merchant companies - and even the Sea Beggar captains have all pledged their support in doubling the blockading squadrons around Dunkirk and Oostend.”
There was a brief pause as all admirals turned their gaze upon Heyn. Admiral Van Noort added, “Captain Heyn Sir, your commission to continue as captain of the Hollandia has been unanimously extended and expanded with a promotion to squadron commander. In addition to Hollandia, you now command the 40 gun warships Vergulde Leeuw, Haarlem, and Isaiah, along with two escort pinnaces, the 26 gun Hermes, and the 20 gun Dolfjin. In addition, young Evertsen here is now under your command. He is currently Dolfjin's captain. So Commander, will you take your squadron and go forward to bolster and command the blockade at Ostend?”
Piet did not answer immediately, smiling politely and surveying the faces of the sage, old admirals. He responded, “Nay Sir, I will not.” Van Noort reacted, “What, what? ...then what will you do Sir?”
Heyn answered, “We must not tarry nor wait upon the whims of our offenders Mijn Herren. We must hit them hard my Lords. We must move into the port before first light under cover of fog and darkness. We must cut out and recapture the Neptunus. In addition, we must seize and bring back this new Flemish raider Iris. In short, we must make them pay for their audacity. If you wish to send the Habsburg Flemish and Spanish dogs a bold message that matters, put a quick stop to this absurd panic, and bring carrying rates back down to normal, we must do this.”
Heyn paused and surveyed his captive audience and then continued, “I tell you Mijn Herren, I will be successful. I know a certain reliable person that will be my eyes in the darkness. To add, I think it may be vitally important to consider having a good look at this new ship. If her design is so superior, then perhaps our own shipwrights may wish to copy her - and this Gentlemen, could possibly give us great advantage in what we all know certain – continuing and expanding future conflict.”
There was a sudden uproar of mumbling speech between the admirals as they all agreed and disagreed among themselves. Admiral Van Noort raised his voice, “Gentlemen if you please! …...Pray lets continue... you wish to add something Admiral de Zoete? You have a concern?”
De Zoete countered, “I do Sir. Pray, who is this man we must rely on for your certain sight in the darkness, of which the success of this raid wholly depends Heyn? I think we deserve at least knowing, considering how much we have to lose in the matter.”
“I cannot tell you that Sir.” Heyn answered. “I cannot compromise his identity or he will be useless to us. I can tell you that he is a both a Fleming and the most skilled of pilots - that should suffice.”
Van Noort turned his head towards a clearly wealthy, very opulently dressed man (for Dutch standards) that was sitting next to him, “Laurens?” The illustrious Dr. Reale, visiting from Amsterdam was grimly serious and spoke firmly, “Can so bold a raid be successful? What if you should fail Sir? How will you know in such poor conditions of visability what exact locations these specific vessels lie in? Rather risky don't you think Heyn?”
Heyn fired back, “There is always risk in anything worth doing My Lords. But I ask you this.... where does my own Hollandia lie now? She is moored at the central pier where the people can gaze upon their newly returned symbol of national admiration. I must admit I remain dumbfounded by her popularity, but everyday since I have returned, there is a crowd of onlookers at the pier. This Gentlemen, is because of the stories of her success - which I never could have imagined would have travelled half a world away here - to stir and inspire Dutch pride.”
He continued, “I tell you that the Oostenders have done the same. This Iris and the Neptunus will be at the center of public attention and adoration for another fortnight at least. I will gather all the additional intelligence available concerning their locations. This raid WILL be successful..... or I will not return from it. Gentlemen, Last, I have to insist and stress that you MUST NOT utter any word of my plans outside of this hall – or we are doomed.”
That evening, Piet Heyn was invited to an event in his honor by the wealthy Rotterdam merchant Claes de Reus, in their fine home upon the Oude Haven's waterfront. Also attending were many notable leaders in the community - some from as far away as Amsterdam, Dordrecht, and Den Haag. All of Heyn's officers, to include his newly assigned captains were in attendance as well. Jacobi no longer wore his Jesuit habit and was now dressed in the dark breeches, doublet, and thick white lace colar of a Dutch gentlemen with a tall, black, swept brimmed hat topping off the ensemble. Musicians played, gentry mingled, and men discussed politics, commerce and war. De Rues introduced Heyn to his lovely daughter Anneke and the whole reason for the event was realized when terms for a scheduled courtship between Piet and Anneke were agreed upon.
Heyn was glad when the evening had ended, though he felt an exited thrill knowing that he was courting such a beautiful, humble young woman that also appeared equally eager to be in his company. Heyn had never been good with women. He abhorred vanity, arrogant pride and trifles which in his mind was what made up the majority of the character of most currently available young ladies. He always seemed to say the wrong thing and was not good at all in the art of flattery. He was no courtier and never wanted to be one of those churlish fops. He was a soldier and sailor and refused to present himself as anything but what God had made him. He was outspoken and told the truth no matter how unseemly, and this always seemed to deflect the weaker sex. Indeed Jacobi and Piet had spoken of this very subject and Jacobi had attempted to school the Captain in a little ettiquette concerning courting. Heyn had put the lessons to good use this evening and was beaming with happiness as he entered the carriage with Jacobi – imparting to him the good use of his lessons and the words that had been spoken between the couple. Heyn thanked Jacobi for his excellent tutoring.
After this grand social event was concluded, Heyn's new captains and his own first and second lieutenants - Van Dorn and Van Broekel - as well as Jacobi all met in the dark third story chamber of Het Oude Desiderius, an old Rotterdam tavern that was a somewhat popular haunt of old Dutch seamen. Heyn and his father used to go there a thousand years past after returning from successful hauls. Heyn moved to a dark corner of the pub and sat down with a wisp of a man smoking a long white pipe at a dim table. He was grey haired and thin with a ruddy, leathery countenance. He wore a black cloak and low, wide brimmed black hat that hung over his face. His eyes were so grey that they almost seemed white and he smiled slightly as he looked up at Heyn sitting down next to him.
“Hello Frans, have you considered my proposal?”
The old pilot replied, “Aye Pieter. It's all aranged. The plums are exactly where I said they would be - ripe for the picking. If you follow my lead exactly, we will have those oaks.” The men paused thoughtfully for a few moments.
Heyn spoke, “You know you will never be able to go back to Ostend again Frans.”
Frans answered, “I know Pieter. I owe your father my life and I am sick of the damned Dons in a city that used to be free anyway. I have held on to the past quite long enough. It's time for me to move on. Aye, it's true that my family are all buried there, but so are some eighty-thousand others from that damnable Dago seige. Been almost fifteen years now. I can't bring back the dead. Need to move on now. I appreciate the opportunity Cap'n. You can rely on me Pieter.”
“So you think the plan we discussed last evening can be carried out then?” Piet asked. “Aye Sir, I know it can Sir. With my little hoy leading the way, and you close behind in the heavy morning fog, the watches will recognize both the cut of my prow and the answer of my voice.”
“Good man Frans”, Pieter replied. “Let's join the others upstairs.”
The men clod up the thin stairwell to the third story of the aging building, the floor creaking as the mens footsteps trampled forward up to the table where the waiting officers all stood.
“Evertsen, do you have the maps Sir?” Pieter asked.
Jan Evertsen replied, “Indeed Sir”, as he rolled them out onto the great table that the men huddled around in the light of the lanterns. Heyn pointed down at the map moving his fingers and hands over it's parchment features to point out their imminent destiny. He continued, “Mijn Herren, here before you is Oostend, the destination of our next enterprise. Out here is our own blockade. In the city's outer northwest port are our objectives. We are to capture and escape with the ships Neptunus, a VOC 40 gun warship, and the so called ghost ship that I'm sure you have all been hearing about....the Iris.”
Jacobi laughed a little to himself and Heyn clearly annoyed and surprised at this behavior scolded his friend, “Is something amusing Jacobi?”
“Well yes Sir. Don't you see it Sir? Quite an appropriate name don't you think?” He looked at the officers, who all blankly seemed to miss the humorous discovery all-together. Jacobi continued, “I mean her name Sir, Iris....she travelled swiftly over the bridge of the rainbow. She was the messenger of the gods just as Hermes was.... but she was a goddess of discord. She brought all of the really bad messages of forboding and doom. An appropriate name for this “ghost-ship” don't you think Sir?” He smiled sheepishly.
Heyn turned away in slight disgust from his scholarly friend and continued with his briefing. “Our first order of business two days hence will be to sail to join the Oostend blockade. Once there, the Vergulde Leeuw, and Haarlem will stay with the blockade and move the majority of their crews aboard the Hermes and Dolfjin. I want those ships crammed so full - with every man they can hold and every weapon that can be carried possible that there will be room for nothing else. I will be aboard the Dolfjin with Evertsen. The Hermes will follow closely upon our heels in the fog. I will capture the Iris....here, and Van Broekel aboard the Hermes - with his own sizeable boarding party, will seize the Neptunus...located here.”
“The Hollandia and the Isaiah will follow closely behind and then move to position their broadsides laterally, and if necessary, engage the gun batteries on each side of the De Guel channel in support of both the attack and withdrawal - as we enter and exit the main channel. No lanterns will be lit. When we have determined the wind conditions, my pilot will guess our entry time and I will flash a latern for every ten minutes of estimated time. Based on that signal, the whole blockade will move half a league closer to the shallows of the “Strand”, within cannon range of Oostend's batteries. It will be light by the time we are on our way out of the channel and if the fog has cleared, they will be pouring fire down upon us. All ships outside of the harbor will offer supporting fire. Are there any questions gentlemen?”
Van Dorn spoke up, “Why don't we take more of the squadron into Oostend and give the damned Dago, Flemish dogs a good pummelling Sir?”
Heyn chuckled lightly and smiled, shaking his head side to side, “Karl, while Oostend may be very well known by reputation, and is indeed immense as far as fortresses are concerned, it is quite small in the way of a city. The port is tightly enclosed and littered with a maze of drawbridges and fortified star or arrow shaped bastions. Any other ships going in behind our smallest would just get in the way of our escape and serve as great targets for our enemies. No, Van Dorn, I will not bring any larger ships into the channel. As you can see by the map, the city is surrounded by two starworks-fortified walls. The action of seizing and extracting our prizes, will actually occur at this northwestern section of the town on this single inlet between the first and second walls. Fortunately, my intelligence sources tell me that no warships currently reside in the Niewe Poort. All of the opposing fleet's warships are a bit further inland anchored on the De Guel channel or within the city's eastern entrance, here at the Spanichen Bulwarke. They will not have time to respond or to mount an effective counter-attack. The few patroling craft forward of the Strand will be small shallow-draft scouting craft of less than 30 tons and merely a nuisance. If you run into them, seize them as prizes and put their crews to the sword if they put up resistance.”
Two days later the ships of Commander Heyn's squadron were assembled and ready for their intended mission - hove to and bobbing in the darkness a little over a mile off Ostend's strand in a heavy fog on a high tide. The Dolfjin was moored closely to the side of the Hollandia. Heyn turned to face his men before departing. He shook hands with Jacobi and Van Dorn.
“Good Luck Sir”, Luitenant Van Dorn interjected.
“Indeed Sir, God's blessings upon you Pieter”, Jacobi added.
“Thank you Gentlemen”, Heyn responded. Goodbyes said, Captain Heyn climbed down into the much smaller Dolfjin and joined Evertsen on the little quarter-deck. Evertsen saluted and shook Heyn's hand. “Your man Frans just signaled from the little hoy that he is ready. He only left fifteen minutes past and stated that we have a perfect wind. We will be able to sail reaching both going in and out and will not be against it at any time. He said to signal four lanterns to the fleet.” Heyn knodded his head, “Forty minutes then.....God help us.”
Stay tuned for Part 9 of Reale Ocho: Silvern at Bahia de Matanzas next week....MK
Stay tuned for Part 9 soon.
MK
