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Sunday, 18-Oct-1715


Maxer der Grosse

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Lieutenant Grosse in His Majesties Vessel the Surprise, 38 guns.
Receiving orders from the Admiralty, I was sent on a mission to explore the regions north of Cuba. From the Bahamas out, I was to head for the shores of Spanish Florida and wreak havoc along the coastline while mapping the ports. Setting out from Haiti, I took my Surprise and dear crew north to the Inagua Islands. In sight of Motimer Town, a small costal village invested with the lowest of life forms, i. e. pirates, we caught glimpse of a French Navy Brig and set her to the bottom. Which was not what I intended to do. Initially, we hammered her hard, until her crew had been cut in half and we boarded her. Just as boarding was finished and we took the day, she sank from beneath our feet. We were lucky to have not lost members of our own crew in the event. Damn disappointing for the crew and myself. I was looking forward to selling the trader for hard earned gold to refit my surprise with yet larger guns.

 

Making course North-North-West we ran into a British fleet of 6 74s. It was very reassuring to have her in the vicinity as we made our way between Cuba and the outer reefs. Two days out from port we encountered another French Brig. This time she was a trader loaded with hemp, because we limited the ball shot used against her, setting grape in for care of the crew. We boarded and took her soundly, sending her with a small crew back to a port in Jamaica. Having lost contact with the British Fleet, we were on our own again. But, even there I was receiving messages from my good friend Captain Maxwell. How he was able to send messages along the fishermen’s villages along my route, I will never imagine.. Unfortunately, I was on a mission for God and King, and could not join him in ridding the Caribbean of Pirates and Spanish gold transports.

 

Day four at sea, we ran into literally a wall of shallows / reefs, which would not allow us to past more to the North-East, even though we could see shipping lanes on the other side. Frustrating to the T, it was when we saw small Lynx sized vessels sailing through the shallows as if them werent here. Sighting a Spanish trading lynx we followed her almost to the cost of Cuba before we were close enough to fire upon her. Near the Port of Puerto del Padre we almost boarded the trader, when three Spanish Brigs appeared from the port. So far from our homeport and without any back up, I cautiously kept my distance from the Spanish. Within a few moments, two Spanish Frigates joined in on our fun and I ordered my crew to make haste. Following Cubas coast to the Northwest we saw many trade vessels. Putting a days worth of sailing between the Spanish fleet, and us, we targeted another Spanish trade brig. We almost had her when more Spanish frigates appeared. They must have some sort of signally towers along the coastline, because they were extremely proficient at protecting their trade vessels near to shore.

 

Day six we discovered a pirates town half way up the Northern coast of Cuba, at Cayo Romano. Anchoring in front of their port, we waited to engage one of their ships, but I fear they were all too drunk to even come to sea. Not one of them dared engage us. Turning north, we had favorable winds and we set course for The Bahamas. What we reckoned to be half the sea distance to the main island appeared full of shallows again. This time we spotted a trade brig sailing through a small opening between the reefs and followed her north. We ran into an Island with a harbor on it. Unfortunately, it was surrounded by shallows not deep enough that even my Surprise could make it close enough to identify the port. Sailing further north, we pasted Small Island after island without any chance of coming close to them due to the depth of the water. On the North end of the chain of Islands was another port. We could see a British flag flying over the harbor, but were damned, due to the shallows, to not make it to her. Not being able to identify the ports certainly, I can only assume that we had made land fall in the Bahamas. Sighting yet another Spanish Trade brig, we sank her on the spot and turned our vessel around and headed for home. With the numerous battles we had had at sea, our lovely ship was in dire straits. The trip homeward was fairly uneventful, until I had reached the first British port and found out that I had been promoted to Master and Commander and would be receiving a full crew of 240 men for my Surprise. That news compensated by far for the quiet return journey we had.

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