As Master and Commander, t is so much more satisfying to sail a Surprise with a full compliment of men (240) , than as a Lieutenant (only 150). Since, being promoted and receiving a full crew I have mastered the art of turning a ship through the wind (tacking) without much problems. That alone makes me very happy. The success on the seas has been even greater. With a full crew, I no longer worry about brigs. I can lay next to them and board. They have half the crew as my surprise and are an easy prize. Still, with all the advantages of having more men, I have managed to be sunk twice in various battles today.

The first started out with a strange group of bed partners. A fleet consisting of 2 Danish Constitutions, 2 Danish Frigates, four Pirate Frigates and two French Frigates was sitting outside of our port, when I went to sea yesterday. Within a moment, I knew I was outgunned and started sending massagers out to find other British officers and their ships. Within a very short while, our number grew to three British ships, with more signaling that they were in route. Taking my small yacht out of the port far enough to see the enemy, I noticed that they were simply waiting on prey to either enter or leave the port. The British fleet we needed was nowhere close to assembling. The enemy fleet had taken enough ships within the hour since they visited our port that they decided to move on. Heading Southwest from Haiti, they were aiming at our ports on Jamaica. Since, half of the British ships were sending messages from Jamaica, we decided to meet there and put an end to the dastardly deeds that the peculiar foreign fleet was making in our waters. Going back into the port I traded my yacht for my Surprise and headed out to sea. With the wind blowing directly from my course, sailing to Jamaica was slow going. The closer I came, the more numerous grew the reports of enemy sightings. Near to one of our harbors I saw the main battle under way. The majority of the Danes and Pirates were engaged with the British ships. To join in as soon as possible I headed towards the battle, almost ether my Surprise was intercepted by two French Frigates. Seeing their size and knowing that our fellow officers were in need of more ships, I sailed directly away from the French and left the battle within a few minutes. Alas, it was too late to join the main battle (it was already closed). Looking to the north, I saw two British ships coming and we formed a small Fleet to engage the enemy. At this point in time, there were three battles under way just outside one of our ports. As a group, we then proceeded to target the French vessels, having to sail again, directly into the wind to join the battle. The first two of our fleet made it into the battle, before it closed and I was left outside with another officer from the Royal Navy. Officer Zoglot, (spelling?) in his yacht and I in my Surprise then took on a Spanish Fleet of trade Brigs, who happen to be passing by at the precisely the wrong moment. Entering into the battle, we quickly realized that we were greatly out-numbered. One Spanish Constitution along with six brigs and three trade lynx were waiting for us. Knowing that if we engaged the Spanish, we could expect help from other British ships when their battles were finished, the two of us dove into action. Zoglot fought brilliantly, darting in and ranking the rear of the constitution, as I got off a broadside to the constitution on one side and the rest of the ships on the other side. They were so tightly packed together that I could barely miss a shot. Firing too high at one ship, simply meant hitting another ship or two behind it. It was an absolutely brilliant battle. As the battle progressed we had luck on our side. I was able to sink a brig and take half of the armor off the constitution. Every time he tried to hit me, half of his shots hit his own Spanish fleet. The chaos of the battle actually worked to our advantage. Just as I was about to sink another brig, British ships starting joining in on the battle. The newcomers started targeting the constitution and within a few minutes actually sunk her. Left among the brigs, I started hammering them as hard as I could, but the state of my ship by that time was poor. My armor was gone on both sides; I had 6 leaks and my crew needed to cool down after the continuous fighting. That’s when it happened. My Surprise sank out from under my feet and we had to take the long boats to the nearest port. Even with the lost of my beloved Surprise the results of the battle were great.

Lt. Maxer der Grosse
Master & Commander in His Majesty’s Royal Navy
On Patrol in the Caribbean