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But all he could see was a tumbling waste of black and silver water as clouds crossed the moon, the spume smoking off the wave crests as they tumbled down wind.
    A squealing of gun trucks told where the men of the larboard gun battery were hand-spiking their carriages round to bear on the enemy. The Spanish frigate was ahead of
Cyclops
but when the British ship drew abeam they would be about two cables distant.
    â€˜Make ready!’
    The order was passed along the dark gun-deck. In his foretop Drinkwater checked the swivel. Under the foot of the topsail he could see the high Spanish poop. Tregembo swung the swivel gun round and pointed it at where he judged the Spanish officers would be. The other seamen cocked their muskets and drew beads on the enemy’s mizen top where they knew Spanish soldiers would be aiming at their own officers.
    The Spanish frigate was only two points forward of
Cyclops
’s beam. In the darkness of the gun-deck Lieutenant Keene, commanding the larboard battery of twelve pounders, looked along the barrel of his aftermost gun. When it bore on the enemy’s stern his entire broadside would be aimed at the frigate.
    A midshipman dodged up to him touching his hat. ‘Captain’s compliments, sir, and you may open fire when your guns bear.’ Keene acknowledged and looked along the deck. Accustomed to the gloom he could see the long line of cannon, lit here and there by lanterns. The men were crouched round their pieces tensely awaiting the order to open fire. The gun captains looked his way expectantly, each grasping his linstock. Every gun was shotted canister on ball . . .
    A ragged flash of fire flickered along the Spaniard’s side.The noise of the broadside was muted by the gale. Several balls thumped home into the hull, tearing off long oak splinters and sending them lancing down the crowded decks. A man screamed, another was lifted bodily from the deck and his bloodily pulped corpse smashed against a cannon breech.
    Aloft holes appeared in the topgallant sails and the master’s mate astride the fore topgallant yard had his shoes ripped off by the passage of a ball. With a twang several ropes parted, the main royal yard, its sail furled, came down with a rush.
    Orders were shouted at the topmen to secure the loose gear.
    Meanwhile Keene still watched from his after gun-port. He could see nothing but sea and sky, the night filled with the raging of the gale and the responsive hiss of the sea.
    Then the stern of the Spanish frigate plunged into view, dark and menacing; another ragged broadside rippled along her side. He stepped back and waited for the upward roll:
    â€˜Fire!’

Chapter Four
January 1780
The Spanish Frigate
    Frigates varied in size and design but basically they comprised a single gun deck running the full length of the ship. In battle the temporary bulkheads providing the captain and officers’ accommodation were removed when the ship cleared for action. Above the gun deck and running forward almost to the main mast was the quarterdeck from where the ship was conned. A few light cannon and anti-personnel weapons were situated here. At the bow a similar raised deck, or fo’c’s’le, extended aft round the base of the foremast. The fo’c’s’le and quarterdeck were connected along the ship’s side by wooden gangways which extended over that part of the gundeck otherwise exposed and known as ‘the waist’. However the open space between the gangways was beamed in and supported chocks for the ship’s boats so that the ventilation that the opening was supposed to provide the gun deck was, at best, poor.
    When the larboard battery opened fire the confined space of the gun deck became a cacophonous hell. The flashes of the guns alternately plunged the scene from brilliance to blackness. Despite the season of the year the seamen were soon running in sweat as they sponged, rammed and fired their brutish