"Where away?"

I asked after the report of a ship being seen.

"Two points off the larboard bow, sir," came the reply.

I busily scanned the rougher than usual waters of Elliot bay, "Man of War?"

"Aye, frigate sir," the dutifull young officer replied.

"French?" I asked. But before the reply could come I suddenly saw the tri-barred colors unfurl from the aft of the foreign ship and despite my astonishment at seeing a frog frigate in Puget Sound I acted quickly, shouting, "Beat to Quarters!"

The men around me sprung to action as I called out further orders, "We have the weather guage Mr. Pullings, let's not fail to use it. From here we'll rake her stern and then lay us alongside at pistol shot."

"Aye sir!" Mr. Pullings called and then relayed my orders before heading down to the car gun deck.

"Fire as they bear!"

Then suddenly, we were rudely interrupted, "Can I have your attention please...we are now arriving at our destination. Drivers please return to your vehicles and all passengers must disembark the vessel."

"Bloody hell...where's the grog, I could use some before boarding a dowtown Seattle bus."

What on earth was a French frigate doing in Elliot Bay?

Comments

Munkee said…
Old Boney is up to no good I tell you!
Anonymous said…
Decoy. He'll raise the Stars and Bars when you engage him.

- Steve K
Anonymous said…
James, tut tut, I knew something wasn't quite right with this anecdote. When acknowledging a command from an officer, a seaman responds, "aye, aye, sir". Never a single "aye." Right??

Not showing respect to a commanding officer?? Take that man's name! Punishment at six bells!

- Steve K
fdj said…
LOL,,,still wanna know why he was there to begin with...seriously.

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