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Mayhem in the Mediterranean A “Galleys and Galleons” Battle
As Faithfully Described by S.
Pepys Esq. Clerk of the Acts
(Well… Peter Hunt really)
As fine a crew as any
captain ever had the pleasure to flog
From
L to R: Yeff Herbertzoom, Samuel Pepys, Sir Anthony Mathews, Jack Ward,
Don Nicholas Al’Terra, The Dey of Tunis, The Bey of Algiers. I knocked lightly at the door, politely awaited the growl that I knew to be permission to enter, went in with more than sufficient decorum and reverence, coughed timidly and finally addressed my Master: “My
Lord James, By the Grace of God Duke of York, High Admiral of England
and Scotland, Governor of Portsmouth and Lord Warden of the Cinque
Ports, I bid you good morning!” “You
again Pepys? What is it this time you snivelling, lickspittle,
ink-stained little quill pusher?”
This was indeed a gracious reply
from the Duke so I proceeded with half the truth. “I bring
good news your Grace.” “How so
man?” “Well
Sire, you remember that unfortunate affair at
Sidi Bir Tee where you were able
to sell your shares in
Company of Merchants of England trading to the Seas of the Levant
before their value crashed, and have since been able to buy them back at
a not inconsiderable discount, thus greatly enhancing your dividend
payout in terms of capital expenditure?” The Duke raised a suspicious eyebrow, fixed me in his stare and offered a suitably non-committal,
“So?”
“Well Sire, if you are swift, you could get to Jonathon’s Coffee House
and sell the shares again before the latest news from The Straits
becomes widely known…” The Duke raised his eyes imploringly to the heavens for succour, but for all his authoritarian manner, disinclination to seek or listen to advice, and ambiguous religious affiliations, he was no fool and immediately saw to the heart of the temporal matter:
“Rear-Admiral Sir Anthony Mathews and the Smyrna
Convoy?”
I nodded gravely. “Bought and sold by a Dutchman, and he didn’t even
know he was on the market by all accounts.”
“How bad is it?”
“Six tenths of our convoy and escort lost whilst the Dutch got off
scot free. The losses will only increase the value of the remaining
cargo, so the Butterballs will benefit twice over.”
“Call my chair. You can explain on the way.” And so, running alongside My Lord’s chair whilst inwardly reflecting that such untoward exertion would render me defussus of pleasuring Mistress Lane in the forenoon, explain I did...
The situation in the Straits (as the Mediterranean was habitually known,) was, shall we say, confused…
With the continuing political turmoil in the Grand Porte at Istanbul,
the Barbary Corsair rulers, the Bey of Algiers and the Dey of Tunis,
were both seeking to assert their influence, and, perhaps with the kudos
of a significant victory under their belt, achieve the position of
Kapudan Pasha, (Grand Admiral,) of the Ottoman Empire. Both sent forth
sizable galley squadrons into the Western Mediterranean in search of
plunder and glory.
The Bey of Algiers’ Fine Fleet
The pins on the sterns are to hold bead damage markers instead of using
dice as in the rules as written: an elegant idea.
The Bey and the Dey also had the presence of the
Renegardoes to consider:
Northern
Europeans who had “Turned Turk” and sailed in “roundships” rather than
galleys. These men were certainly loyal to the Faith, as the Christians
would hang any apostates that they captured, after they had extensively
tortured them first of course, but they could also be a law unto
themselves and hard to control. The Bey and the Dey had to vie amongst
themselves to offer the Renegardoes the most lucrative deal and thus
attempt to direct their aggression to best advantage.
It
is through these troubled waters that the British and the Dutch had to
sail their Smyrna Convoys: rich argosies laden with the wonders of the
Orient. Both proud nations had a convoy and an escort squadron en route
from the East, with a fair wind behind them. It was the accepted
practice to purchase a “licence” from one or other of the Corsair
sanjaks to buy a safe passage, but such expenses are open to negotiation
and can cut into the profits of what is, after all, a strictly
commercial venture.
To
the West, out of the Alboran Sea sailed the Spanish. Torn between their
dislike of the Northern Protestants and the Eastern Musselmen the Don’s
were happy to bring down a “plague on both your houses” and fight
anyone.
The purchase or agreement of licences to ensure
safe passage through the Mediterranean was often negotiated at state
level with the British, French or Dutch paying off, and implying
recognition of, the Barbary state in question. It was never a totally
secure arrangement as Corsairs from one Barbary State would not
recognise the license from another. And to make matters worse the more
ardent Christians such as the Spanish and the Knights of St John
recognised no deal with the Ottomans and so felt free to act in their
own piratical way against northern European ships carrying Muslims or
Ottoman owned goods.
However, in this particular case the
admirals were left to negotiate their own licenses being empowered to
offer one or both of the Corsair leaders part of the convoys’ profits.
That, at least was the theory, but a long
afternoon in the great cabin of the Dutch flagship “Helderenburgh”
changed all that.
xxxxx
It might have been the Mediterranean heat after a
fine repast that fuddled Rear-Admiral Sir Anthony Mathews’ brain.
Certainly the copious quantities of good Maderia Wine, followed by
toasts in jonge
jenever, to the King, the Grand Pensionary, the Royal Navy, the Five
Admiralties, Olde England, the Zeven Provincien, and many more beside,
did not help his calculations, especially when the Dutch admiral
insisted on toasting his wives and sweethearts individually rather than
collectively as the Royal Navy is wont to do, and it wasn’t even a
Saturday! Maybe Mathews fell into braggadocio to impress the young
ladies who seemed to adorn the Admiral’s cabin, an unusual, but not
unheard of, occurrence in a man-o-war in this modern age, prohibited in
the Royal Navy but the Dutch are much more “continental” when it comes
to this sort of thing. Perhaps it was just Mathews’ natural English
obduracy and preference to pick a fight when compromise would be easy,
acceptable, and in the long term much cheaper. Probably the young
Mathews was just overawed by that force of nature that is the old seadog
Schout-bij-Nacht
Yeff Herbertzoom.
So, the precise reason will remain unknown but by the time that his
barge came alongside to take him back to his own ship Mathews had agreed
wholeheartedly that it would be ungodly, unmanly, and unnecessary given
the evident strength of his fleet, to even consider negotiating with a
bunch of heathen pirates and paying for a licence to traverse the sea
which by all the laws and traditions of man and God was free to all men.
Only one point remained to be resolved: which fleet would take the
shorter, but more dangerous inside passage past the Corsairs’ lairs and
which would sail further from the arid, North African shore? Both would
want the position of honour nearest the threat. Herbertzoom suggested
that they toss a coin for it.
“Call Sir!” Invited Herbertzoom.
“Heads!” Cried Mathews.
Herbertzoom took a coin from his pocket, flicked it high with forefinger
and thumb, adroitly caught the spinning disc on the way down and slapped
it on the taffrail. The Schout bij Nacht withrew his hand slowly, looked
down, and the smile drained from his face. “Egad Sir…Heads it is!”
He said with more than a hint of sadness, “I so wanted the position
of glory but I know that you would not consider giving it up now, and
neither would I if I had won!”
Mathews nodded his agreement, offered, “Don’t worry old chap, I’m
sure that your chance will come one day soon too,” in somewhat
insincere commiseration. As he climbed down the ship’s ladder he felt
pride and good fortune washing over him. Was he not doubly blessed? He
had already won the lottery of life by being born an Englishman and now,
on the toss of a coin, he had won the chance for untold glory as the
epitome of British pugnaciousness by taking the position of highest risk
and honour in the inevitable victory that would follow.
Herbertzoom
took the coin from the taffrail, inspected
the head on each side, replaced it carefully in his right pocket to
distinguish it from the double tailed coin in his left pocket,
and waved farewell to his fellow admiral in
the barge below him, all without ever letting his visage of sadness
slip.
The Approach to Battle
From the bottom clockwise: The Spanish, The Dutch Merchants, The Dutch
Escorts, The British Merchants, The British Escorts, The Dey of Tunis,
Jack Ward’s Renegardoes, The Bey of Algiers. The wind is blowing down
the table from top to bottom with the Dutch and British running before
it. North is on the right of the woodcut.
XXXXX
When it came the battle did fall on a Saturday,
and many a wife and sweetheart would rue the day. With 47 vessels, eight
squadrons and six commanders it was a confused and bloody affair.
Sailing out of the East with a fair
following wind came the British escorts, the British convoy, the Dutch
escorts, and the Dutch convoy; each squadron in line ahead and each
further from the hostile shore. To their South-West stood the galleys of
the Dey of Tunis, coming on fast in two columns. The Dey had invested
heavily in gaining the support of the Renegardoes and had placed them on
his port side, presumably to make a double envelopment of the enemy, but
the roundships would have difficulty working against the wind to do so.
Still further to the South-West came the
galleys of the Bey of Algiers in line. Finally, out of the West tacked
the Spanish squadron, making slow progress against the wind.
This was no meeting of the leviathan fleets that
fought it out in the North Sea. There were no mighty line-of battleships
on any side. The focus was on the large, lumbering merchantmen that made
up the largest ships on either side and their small escorts and prey.
The Spanish and Renegardo flagships were both the match for the
merchants in size but most of the ships on both sides were 5th
and 6th rates and nimble galleys, lanternas and galliots. The
merchants were well armed but without trained gun crews and sea-soldiers
their long range gunnery was poor and they were vulnerable to boarding.
Leading the English line in a scouting role the
little sloop Henrietta was exposed to the long range fire of the Dey’s
galleys and the Renegardoe’s roundships and suffered heavily. Minutes
later the Corsairs crashed into the centre of the British line boarding
the two 5th rate frigates “Charles Galley” and “Sophia.”
Behind them the 6th rate “Lark” pulled out of line to take
the Corsair column in the flank but she, in turn, was boarded and the
melee became general.
The First Onslaught
The Dey’s galleys assault the rear of Sir Anthony’s Line.
Thus, in one fell swoop, the British convoy had
lost all of its escorts, although the three frigates were tying down
nearly 40% of the total Corsair strength, so although the merchants were
exposed there was, for now at least, no immediate threat to them. The
answer to this predicament seemed easy and clear…. The convoy gybed up
on a North-Westerly course to bring them to their fastest speed broad
reaching away from the enemy which would carry them through the Dutch
escort squadron to safety beyond.
There now followed the most controversial moment
of the battle: As the British merchants bore down upon the line of Dutch
escorts Herbertzoon stood foursquare on the poop of the “Helderenburgh,”
raised his speaking trumpet and bellowed at the British Commodore
“Bear away, you will not pass through my line, the risk of collision is
too great!” The Commodore remonstrated, after all the Dutch had
only to back sails with the rear part of their line and the British
could safely pass through. But Herbertzoom was adamant and would not
sacrifice his own tactical cohesion to save the British. The Commodore
could have, literally, pushed the issue and tried to force a way through
the Dutch formation at the risk of collision, but at the last moment he
turned away and ran parallel to them…. And in a reversal of the natural
order of things now the line of British merchants would protect the
Dutch warships from the Corsair onslaught.
Then Herbertzoom, never one to waste a good
idea, signalled his own merchantmen to do just what the British
merchants had been hoping to do, and they turned North-West to take them
as far away from the Turkish onslaught as possible.
XXXXX
The Critical Decision
Herbertzoom has closed ranks to prevent the British merchants (the third
squadron from the left) passing through his line so they have altered
course exposing themselves to the Bey’s clever curving approach.
Clockwise from the British merchants the woodcut shows the British
warships and the Dey’s galleys in their life and death struggle, the
Renegardoes sparing with the British small fry, the Dons and the Dutch.
The consequences of Herbertzoom’s decision were
soon evident. In a display of the advantages of the galley in the benign
waters of the Mediterranean the Bey of Algiers had turned his column
into line and then led them across the wind, neatly allowing space for
the Renegardoes’ line to pass, and then turned directly
into the wind to launch a head on attack on
the British merchants. This manoeuvre, which would have been impossible
for sailing ships, allowed him to close the British without exposing
himself to their broadsides, pass beyond the front of their line and
then, with his galleys turning as individuals to pick their targets,
bring four of his vessels against the first three British merchants.
Mathews’ squadrons were now caught up in two swirling melees. Whilst the
two front ships of the escorts and the two rear ships of the convoy were
able to break off and escape towards the South-West, every other British
ship was embroiled in a fierce boarding action, taking on the forces of
both the Dey and the Bey as the Dutch sailed blithely on.
From where he stood on the poop of his flagship
“Sophia” it seemed to Admiral Mathews that the wine dark Mediterranean
had turned into a sea of fire.
Ahead of him the Tunisian capitana “The
Rose” assisted by the smaller “Half Moon” had captured the frigate
“Charles Galley” after a bloody melee. Alongside him the first attempt
to board the “Sophia” by the large galley “Flying Horse” had been
repulsed and a devastating broadside from the flagship had set the Turk
ablaze, so at least here there was cause for hope. Behind him the plucky
little “Lark” had captured the small galley “Full Moon” but being
assailed by the galliot “Kalat” and a flotilla of fustas the “Lark”
could not afford to put a prize crew on her and so fired the galley
instead. The blaze soon spread to the “Lark” and the “Kalat” so as
Mathews looked on it seemed that all the ships abeam and astern of him
were being consumed in one giant conflagration. It was clearly time to
cut the grapples and make off before the fires reached the magazines.
The Sea of Fire The
Kalat, Lark, Full
Moon
and Flying Horse all ablaze
The commodore of the British merchant convoy did not even have the
satisfaction of seeing off one of his enemies.
The lead merchantman “Hercules,” assailed
by two Turks quickly struck, although command problems on the Algerian
side prevented them from putting a prize crew on her. The other two
merchants put up a better fight against lesser odds but the writing was
on the wall for them too.
As the British vainly battled the Corsairs
on their larboard Herbertzoom’s Dutch warships sailed serenely by on
their starboard and then, in everyone’s minds but the Dutch, added
insult to injury by firing broadsides into the “Hercules” to ensure that
when the Turks eventually did board her she would be a wreck.
The Second Onslaught
As the British East India Merchant and John & Katherine break off and
run for safety the three lead British merchants are left to their own
devices against the Bey’s galleys as the Dutch warships pass to their
starboard without helping. Beyond them the Renegardoes and the Dons are
working against the wind to come into action.
xxxxx
Slowly tacking towards
this melee came the squadron of “foul Renegardoes” under the Englishman
Jack “Birdy” Ward,
also known as
Yusuf Reis.
Ward
was considered by the Venetians to be “beyond a doubt the greatest
scoundrel that ever sailed from England,” and by the British as “lewd
and ill-disposed,” but today his lewdness was restrained and his mind
focused on rewards of a more financial nature.
Off to his larboard tacked the Spanish
under Don Nicholas Al’ Terra. Initially the two admirals kept a wary eye
on each other but did not engage, their task being made more difficult
by the wind backing from West to North-West. But Spaniards and Renegades
could not co-exist in the same sea for long and the account was opened
by Spanish outlier the Havana Fregata “Santa Anna” successfully taking
on the tiny “Little John” and “Carminati” at the rear of Ward’s line.
This skirmish meant little to Ward and Al’Terra however as they both had
bigger fish to catch: the fast approaching Dutch squadrons.
The Big Picture At the bottom of this woodcut
from right to left we see the Dons and the Renegardoes converging on the
Dutch merchants. Herbertzoom has just changed course to bring his
frigates crashing into the Renegardoe’s line. When it came
to his dealings with the English and the Turks Herbertzoom’s attitude
may readily be described as self-serving. But when it came to his own
countrymen Herbertzoom clearly knew where his duty lay. As the renegades
bore down on the Dutch merchants he left the English to their fate
behind him and set his warships straight for Ward’s flagship. The two
leading Dutch frigates “Asperen” and “Helderenburgh” crashed into Ward’s
line. But a mere frigate was not enough to stop Ward’s flagship, the
“Reniere e Soderina,” a mighty Venetian argosy captured and now pierced
for 60 guns. With the fat, juicy merchants directly ahead Ward would not
be delayed, and shaking off the frigates like a bear in the pit shakes
off the snarling dogs the “Reniere” swept down on her prey. Less than a
cable separated Ward from his prize, if he could make that distance he
would board and easily carry any of the merchantmen and disrupt the line
of the remainder which would then fall easy victim to the rest of the
Renegardoes and the Spanish.
Like Bulldogs on a Bear The Dutch frigates Asperen and
Helderenburghhead for the Renegardoe’s line. And then the wind changed… The
“Reniere” had been close hauled on the starboard tack when the wind
backed again, throwing her into irons. She was taken aback and stopped
in her tracks. Worse she was stopped in her tracks within point blank
range of the Dutch merchants.
The
merchants were well armed and, although for lack of trained gun crews
they would have difficulties hitting anything at long range, at this
short range and presented with a tempting bow rake all that they had to
do was load and fire. And load and fire they did, the merchants each
spewing out broadside after broadside as they sped past broad reaching.
Perhaps now Ward regretted having the “Reniere” pierced for 60 guns, as
in doing so he had weakened her structure. She could not stand up to the
rakes and several holes twixt wind and water saw her slipping ‘neath the
pellucid Mediterranean. As the waters closed over him Ward’s language,
whether out of anguish or anger, was certainly “lewd and ill-disposed”
as befits an Englishman cheated of his just deserts.
A Mighty Argosy Ward’s flagship the Reniere e
Soderina. This woodcut was carved only minutes before she met her fate
at the guns of the Dutch merchant squadron mercilessly raking her at
point blank range as she was taken aback by the wind change. The same
wind change that had stymied Ward stymied Don Nicholas, with the Dutch
squadrons broad reaching past him he could worry them with his bow
chasers but not stop them. Herbertzoom
saw the way to the West, the way to safety
and considerable profit, open and free. So spare
a thought for the anguish of Ward and Al’Terra, to come so close to
great riches and glory yet to be denied by Aeolus’ whims. Spare a
thought too for the anguish of Rear Admiral Mathews, breaking free from
the “Flying Horse” just in time to see her put out her fire and live to
fight another day, whilst the “Lark” burnt on and the “Charles Galley”
was taken as a handsome prize for the Dey’s fleet.
Spare a thought, if you can, for the Bey of
Algeirs who by seizing the “Hercules” and her consorts stood to make a
tidy profit from the day’s proceedings only to have his margin
substantially reduced when, in the very last act of the battle the
Spanish “Esteyvar’s Galley,” rowing straight into the wind, quickly
disposed of the “Hercules’” prize crew and in as neat a case of daylight
robbery as you will ever see stole her out from under the Corsairs’
noses.
The End At the bottom left of this woodcut
the Tunisians have put out the fire on the Flying Horse but the Lark,
Kalat and Full Moon are consigned to the flames. They have captured the
Charles Galley but Sir Anthony has successfully broken off in the Sophia
and will shepherd his last two merchantmen to safety. At the top right
the Renegardoes, and Dons are converging on the Dutch but the wind
change will stop them dead. In the middle the Algerians have already cut
loose the Hercules with a prize crew aboard as they finish off the other
two British merchants. They have yet to notice Esteyvars’s Galley
lurking at the rear of the Spanish line which, not constrained by the
wind, will swoop in and make a prize of their prize. And, if
you have any humanity at all, spare a thought for the anguish of the
poor sailors on the “Hercules”: refused refuge by the Dutch, then cut
down by the Turks, then shot at by the Dutch, then captured by the Turks
to face a lifetime chained to the benches of a Corsair galley, and then,
finally, captured by the Dons to face a lifetime chained to the benches
of a Spanish galley.
Surely “them that survived would envy them
that died.” Well might they lament:
The nightingales are sobbing
in
(W.H.Auden.) And that
My Lord James, By the Grace of God Duke of York, High Admiral of England
and Scotland, Governor of Portsmouth and Lord Warden of the Cinque
Ports, is what happened that fateful day, without exaggeration,
embellishment or omission.
xxxxx The Game The Game was
staged to celebrate the fleeting return of Nick to Home Waters. It was
played on All Fools Day, which suited us to a tee, using Nick Wright’s
splendid “Galleys and Galleons” Rules with my amendments that allow for
ships to move and fire in squadrons. Turn order was decided by a simple
card pull with one card in the deck for each squadron, but even this
proved problematic for a bunch of admirals who were recovering from old
hangovers, or working on new ones, or who couldn’t remember if they were
a heart or a diamond, or who couldn’t tell the difference between a
spade and a club. Despite this in four hours we got through eight moves
which amounted to 64 squadron moves at a little under four minutes each.
This speed of play is a fine tribute to the basic rule system that
survived the “herding cats” nature of staging a six player game. The
winner would be the player with the highest profit as a proportion of
his starting strength. My idea was that the British and Dutch would
negotiate prices for licences with the Corsairs, so they would probably
end up only facing one Corsair each, with the merchantmen and corsairs
who negotiated a better deal having an advantage in terms of
profitability. This went right out the window before we even started as
Jeff and Tony decided that they would not negotiate anything. They
really did toss a coin to see who would have the dubious distinction of
sailing closest to the Corsairs. Only the romantic in me believes that
Jeff used a double sided coin.
On the Corsair side James bid massively for
Neil’s services and later admitted that he had lip-read Frankie’s,
(already silly,) bid to me and simply topped it… hardly a sound
investment strategy on several levels. The battle
went as described, with very little exaggeration, embellishment or
omission. There really was a heated discussion about the British
merchants seeking safety behind the Dutch warships, with the stated
result. There were only two wind changes in the entire game, both of
which helped the Dutch, but equally important was the versatility of the
galleys and Frankie and Nick both exploited their ability to row where
they want, regardless of wind direction. In victory points terms Tony
was taken to the cleaners, James recouped his investment to Neil, Neil
only had only to stay alive to win but having your flagship sunk
underneath you has to go down in the accounts as an extraordinary loss,
Frankie would have won if Nick hadn’t nicked the “Hercules” off him,
which left Nick ahead on points when we called the game as there was
dinner to eat before Nick had a plane to catch. But really the day
belonged to
Schout-bij-Nacht
Yeff Herbertzoom. After the game Jeff summed it up with his usual
modesty and humility:
“Took no losses, sunk one... then the
losers won on points... yawn. Still celebrating my victory...hic....”
Me: “"Took no losses...." Errmmm,
that is because the British took all the losses for you....”
Jeff: “And your point is?”
xxxxxx
Afterthought: “I Blame the Dice”
Although they would be the first to dispute, it the British were quite
lucky in their swirling melees with the Tunisians and Algerians, simply
because both of the Corsairs managed to throw a goodly number of
“turnovers” -two or more fails- in their action attempts. This slowed
down both attacks and with better luck the Turks would have overwhelmed
the British much more quickly.
Which set me to thinking: what is “better luck” in “Galleys and
Galleons?” What are the odds that you can expect? I would argue that
this is a pointless question on two counts: statistical and
psychological.
Statistically you can work out the overall odds easily enough but they
are still subject to the deviation that comes from rolling one, two or
three dice, and no game will be so long or have anywhere near enough
dice throws for that deviation to approach the average result. So, in
that respect, whilst you can hope to “play the odds” it still remains a
game of chance. And even more a game of chance since all dice throws are
not created equal. A turnover that happens in the early approach phase
of the battle when everybody is out of range may have no significant
effect. A turnover at the beginning of a turn when your ships are all
engaged in life-or-death struggles could have a devastating effect on
your chances. So even if you had an “average” number of turnovers it is
when they happen, not really how many happen, that can be the decisive
factor.
Psychologically the thing that I like most about the “Songs of…”
activation system in “Galleys and Galleons is that “you only have
yourself to blame,” because you choose how many activations you want to
attempt by throwing that number of dice and a turnover only occurs if
you throw two or three fails. Theoretically you could play completely
safely and just attempt one activation for each vessel. In this case
although you might fail some activations you would never suffer a
turnover since you could not fail with two or three dice. However, if
you did adopt this strategy I suspect two things: First that you would
be quickly beaten by a bolder opponent. Second that you are not a real
wargamer, for real wargamers, as we all know, are congenitally incapable
of telling the difference between what they need, and what they want.
T’were it not so real wargamers would not have so much lead lying around
their homes that they can confidently absorb the effects of a nuclear
near-miss.
But I worked out the odds anyway so, if you do not wish to ascribe your
defeat to statistical deviation or mental aberration, here are your
chances of getting actions and turnovers computed for a crew quality of
4, which I use as pretty much standard, and a crew quality of 3, which
clearly shows the advantages of a better crew or of gaining a +1 on the
dice by sticking near your admiral.
The Galleys and Galleons Blame it On the Dice Table
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