Ilatsiak - 5
All that happened in March, just about the time of his birthday, and now it was May 19, 1845, the day of departure. Much had taken placed during those months. David now knew the ships, their officers and in the last few days was getting to know all the other men who were to sail with them. The two ships had been recently towed to the small port village of Greenhithe for final fitting out, which included fitting the new steam engines, something David was very proud to have aboard. His ship was to be fitted with all the latest technology and modern scientific gadgets.
The Commander, Sir John Franklin had come aboard the night before, but immediately retired below. He seemed to be moody and Mr Reid, who David had liked immediately, told him that the Commander had the flu. David had never met Sir John, but had seen him engaged in meetings with the officers and Captain Crozier of the HMS Terror, their sistership for the voyage and was sure he was a kind and gentle man.
“Be attentive, in case you’re needed, boy, but otherwise be silent.” were Mr. Reid’s words of instructions.
However, early on the nineteeth, all seemed gay again and full of exciting things to do and see. The docks were lined with people waving and cheering. Hankies seemed to wave in the breeze like wild flowers in a meadow, hundreds of colours and a sea of shapes. David could see Lady Franklin. Wouldn’t she be proud to see her husband home for good once this voyage was done and he a national hero having finally found the Northhwest Passage’s secrets for England. David’s thoughts again went back to the night a few days previous when Lady Franklin had presented the crew with various gifts including their mascot, Jacko, the monkey! He was such a little devil, he was glad he wasn’t put in charge of him. That job had fallen to George Chambers, the other cabin boy on the Erebus.
The two ships leaving that bright and sunny English day, The command ship HMS Erebus and the almost identical HMS Terror, both stubby Hecla class bomb vessels with fresh coats of black paint with yellow trim, three tall masts and, of course, the newly installed 20 hp auxiliary steam engines borrowed from the railways and driving screw propellers, the very latest technology. These would enable these large ships to plow through ice and push their over 300 tons through the Passage unlike any other ship so far had been able to do. It was the single great advantage which would make navigating the Passage a possibility. All too often in the past ships driven only by sail would sit facing a wide open sea to the west, the way through clear and free, yet not a drop of wind to sail in. With the engines, this would not happen to Erebus and Terror.
As the ships were turned by the tugs and given their final signals, Fitzjames turned to his mate and casually said, “Shall we be underway, Mr. Des Voeux?” Immediately he turned and the orders rang into the rigging, “Away aloft! Trice up and lay out!” David took his position along the rail out of the way, but ready if called. The topmen scrambled upward and then edged out along the yards. “Let fall and sheet ‘em home, sheet ‘em home. Man your halliards: haul tight and belay, ‘em!” The sails billowed out as the sheets were trimmed to take advantage of the favouring winds and tide. Men began springing into action, preparing the ship for sea, running the remaining fathoms of cable in as briskly as the capstan could handle it. “Lay me a course north by north-east as you clear the last river buoy, Mr. Des Voeux.” Fitzjames then headed below. Unlike the more casual action of Fergus’s crew, the naval sailors made setting sail a spectacle for all who watched. After all, these men were the pride of England, the men who ruled the seas.
David loved the feeling of a ship as it began to feel the long set of the waves at sea. The heel of the ship to the wind as it settled into the groove it carves in the ocean’s watery field delights every sailor and no less so David. He was on deck every chance he could find from his duties. As the Erebus left the land she turned further northward and laid a course for the Orkneys at the northern end of Britain. First however, there would be a mail drop at Harwich just up the coast.
The Commander, Sir John Franklin had come aboard the night before, but immediately retired below. He seemed to be moody and Mr Reid, who David had liked immediately, told him that the Commander had the flu. David had never met Sir John, but had seen him engaged in meetings with the officers and Captain Crozier of the HMS Terror, their sistership for the voyage and was sure he was a kind and gentle man.
“Be attentive, in case you’re needed, boy, but otherwise be silent.” were Mr. Reid’s words of instructions.
However, early on the nineteeth, all seemed gay again and full of exciting things to do and see. The docks were lined with people waving and cheering. Hankies seemed to wave in the breeze like wild flowers in a meadow, hundreds of colours and a sea of shapes. David could see Lady Franklin. Wouldn’t she be proud to see her husband home for good once this voyage was done and he a national hero having finally found the Northhwest Passage’s secrets for England. David’s thoughts again went back to the night a few days previous when Lady Franklin had presented the crew with various gifts including their mascot, Jacko, the monkey! He was such a little devil, he was glad he wasn’t put in charge of him. That job had fallen to George Chambers, the other cabin boy on the Erebus.
The two ships leaving that bright and sunny English day, The command ship HMS Erebus and the almost identical HMS Terror, both stubby Hecla class bomb vessels with fresh coats of black paint with yellow trim, three tall masts and, of course, the newly installed 20 hp auxiliary steam engines borrowed from the railways and driving screw propellers, the very latest technology. These would enable these large ships to plow through ice and push their over 300 tons through the Passage unlike any other ship so far had been able to do. It was the single great advantage which would make navigating the Passage a possibility. All too often in the past ships driven only by sail would sit facing a wide open sea to the west, the way through clear and free, yet not a drop of wind to sail in. With the engines, this would not happen to Erebus and Terror.
As the ships were turned by the tugs and given their final signals, Fitzjames turned to his mate and casually said, “Shall we be underway, Mr. Des Voeux?” Immediately he turned and the orders rang into the rigging, “Away aloft! Trice up and lay out!” David took his position along the rail out of the way, but ready if called. The topmen scrambled upward and then edged out along the yards. “Let fall and sheet ‘em home, sheet ‘em home. Man your halliards: haul tight and belay, ‘em!” The sails billowed out as the sheets were trimmed to take advantage of the favouring winds and tide. Men began springing into action, preparing the ship for sea, running the remaining fathoms of cable in as briskly as the capstan could handle it. “Lay me a course north by north-east as you clear the last river buoy, Mr. Des Voeux.” Fitzjames then headed below. Unlike the more casual action of Fergus’s crew, the naval sailors made setting sail a spectacle for all who watched. After all, these men were the pride of England, the men who ruled the seas.
David loved the feeling of a ship as it began to feel the long set of the waves at sea. The heel of the ship to the wind as it settled into the groove it carves in the ocean’s watery field delights every sailor and no less so David. He was on deck every chance he could find from his duties. As the Erebus left the land she turned further northward and laid a course for the Orkneys at the northern end of Britain. First however, there would be a mail drop at Harwich just up the coast.
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