Dudley Pope: Ramage's Diamond

The voice was neutral and told Ramage nothing of what the Admiral had actually said or any opinions he might have expressed. They reached the taffrail and turned inwards together to begin the walk back to the quarterdeck rail.

‘The Admiral is in a rather difficult position at the moment, Ramage,' Edwards said quietly. 'When you came out in the Juno, you carried orders for the Admiral from Lord St Vincent. You know that, of course.'

'For some special service, yes, sir.’

'Did His Lordship tell you what the special service was?'

'No, sir,' Ramage said, realizing that this encounter with Captain Edwards had been far from accidental.

‘Nor did His Lordship hint that you might be entrusted with it?'

'No, sir. You see, I had just completed some particular service for His Lordship - it was of a very secret nature,' he said apologetically. 'There had been other things, too, and His Lordship made me post after I had reported to him. He gave me the Juno and said I was to serve under Admiral Davis. He told me I was to get under way as soon as possible because of the urgency of the dispatches I was to carry. He also mentioned that I would be carrying orders to the Admiral concerning some special service, and I'm afraid I immediately showed interest, thinking it concerned me. His Lordship made it quite clear that the choice would be up to the Admiral.'

Edwards nodded. 'Hmm, that was the impression the Admiral had and he entrusted the service to his senior frigate captain . . . Well, there have been, er, well, unexpected difficulties, with the result that the particular service has yet to be carried out.'

Edwards paused, and Ramage said in a neutral voice: 'I understand, sir.'

The Captain looked sideways at him and sighed. Clearly he was not enjoying the role the Admiral had given him. 'Good, I thought you would, and you can probably guess the rest.'

'I hope so,' Ramage said cautiously.

'I'm sure you do,' Edwards said, making no attempt to disguise the relief in his voice. 'One thing is important, though: do you have complete trust in your officers and ship's company?'

It was an unexpected question, and Ramage hesitated as he remembered a similar one from Admiral Davis when he first arrived in Barbados. 'In the Master, petty officers and seamen, complete trust, sir: after all, I couldn't have ...'

'Of course,' Edwards said hurriedly. 'But the officers?'

'I'll only have the Master and one lieutenant left,' Ramage pointed out, 'The others will be new.'

‘Quite so,' Edwards said hurriedly. 'Well, wait here, I'll be back in a few minutes.'

When he returned his face was completely expressionless. 'The Admiral is ready to see you now.'

Admiral Davis was sitting in the same chair at the table, with several papers in front of him, and he waved Ramage to the chair opposite, while Edwards excused himself and was promptly told to sit down. The Admiral looked up to bid Ramage a gruff good morning and then continued reading. The Invincible was swinging slightly at anchor as the wind eddied off the land. Ramage saw the headland at the foot of Diamond Hill and a minute or two later, as the ship's stern swung, he saw the Diamond Rock. A sharp eye might detect the tiny signal mast, and Ramage realized that at this very moment French patrols along the coast would be looking at it through telescopes, trying to spot where the batteries were, counting ships, preparing a full report for the Governor. Not, he thought with satisfaction, that there is a damned thing the French can do.

Suddenly the Admiral unfolded a paper and pushed it across to Ramage, who recognized the Admiralty seal. 'Read it,' he said abruptly.

Three paragraphs, after the usual long-winded and stylized beginning, about the Jocasta. The reasons for Captain Edwards's questions about the officers and ship's company were now only too clear. Ramage folded the paper, and the Admiral slid a sealed envelope across the table. ‘They are your preliminary orders - based on what you've just read. The Surcouf will be bought into the King's service, and you will command her. You collect up your former ship's company, unless you want to leave the garrison on the Diamond, in which case Captain Edwards will let you have an equivalent number of men from this ship.'

'And my new officers, sir?'

The Admiral shook his head. 'You get only one lieutenant.'

Ramage looked puzzled and was trying to phrase a mild protest when the Admiral said: 'Aitken and Wagstaffe want to stay with you. I've never heard of a first lieutenant trying to avoid being made post, but that young Scot seems to have a very strong loyalty to you. Not related, are you?'

When Ramage shook his head the Admiral added: 'I tried to persuade him - persuade him, if you please! - to allow me to promote him into the Juno, even though I have several other very deserving young officers. But he said he needed more experience, and he wants to stay with you. So he'll remain as your First Lieutenant in the Surcouf. I gave young Wagstaffe the chance of being La Comète's First Lieutenant, but he preferred to remain your Second rather than have a long stay in a hot dockyard. Lacey will be the only one to gain out of your action; I'm giving him the Créole - the Diamond, rather - because he seems full of initiative and knows Diamond Rock. Baker will be out of hospital by now and he'll be sent up to join you in Antigua.'

'I'm most grateful, sir, and -'

'I want you ready to get under way for English Harbour at dawn. Shift to the Surcouf and I'll send someone over to command the Juno. Leave the two ships' companies as they are - we can sort that out in Antigua. The Invincible will tow La Comète and I'll send prize crews over to the merchantmen. You'll stay in company with the Invincible - a taste of escorting a convoy will do you no harm. You have your final orders . . . No,' he said grimly, interrupting Ramage, 'if you've given any thought to the First Lord's letter you know you've nothing to thank me for.'

In 1804 Commodore Samuel Hood, who was responsible for blockading the French in Martinique, reported to the Admiralty that he had taken possession of Diamond Rock, writing: 'I think it will completely blockade the coast in the most perfect security . . . Thirty riflemen will keep the hill against ten thousand...'

Unfortunately Hood gave the Admiralty very few details of how he put the 74-gun Centaur alongside the Rock and swayed up 24-pounder guns to the top, but it was seamanship of epic proportions. The garrison held the Rock for seventeen months, and the episode has become one of the legends of the Royal Navy in the Caribbean.

While sailing past the Rock some years ago, my wife and I became fascinated by Hood's feat. The adventures of Captain Ramage described in this book are the result, and they bear out the adage that truth is stranger than fiction. Although the Fort Royal of Ramage's day is the Fort de France of today, the Rock remains unchanged. Recently some of the cannons swayed up by Hood (using the method adopted by Ramage) were recovered from the sea below the site of one of the batteries.

DP.

Yacht Ramage

Tortola, B.V.I.

West Indies