The sun was half-way down on its daily trip into the waves on the horizon and the Bluefish was sailing easily over the open water of the Caribbean off the coast of Puerto Rico when the lookout at the platform at the top of the topgallant mast sang out "Sail Ho, four points off the port bow, sailing Nor'east".
Captain Horace Riggins lifted his telescope and scanned the horizon, found the ship that was sailing in the opposite direction, and then smiled.
"She flies the Spanish flag and she's riding low in the water. Likely she is loaded with sugar, though most also carry Mexican pieces of eight. Sugar will bring a fair price in Nassau and any silver will be sauce for the pudding.
"She'll be heading for the ocean current off Barbados, but she isn't making much headway because she's beating into the wind that now favors our passage."
Captain Riggins turned to the man on his right, the First Mate named Thomas Bodine.
"Mister Bodine, maintain two watches on deck tonight and light only the binnacle. We'll come about once the sun sets and follow her lights. Spread as much canvas as the Bluefish can carry. We will catch her by daybreak and take her then."
Master Bodine said "Aye, Captain" and then left for the fo'c'sle to inform the crew. They would have heard the lookout's cry and wouldn't be surprised. He also had no reservations that Captain Riggins' plan would succeed. The "Bluefish" was a fast and maneuverable brig. She could easily overtake the full-rigged ship.
The crew of the Bluefish had executed this plan before. They would reduce sail to slow their progress on a Westerly heading until darkness fell. Then, the Bluefish would reverse course, set as much sail as could be safely carried, and begin chasing the other ship. All commands, the commands usually barked by the mate standing on the quarterdeck, would be passed along in whispers once the Bluefish was within a league of the larger ship. Before that, the winds would carry voices away from the larger ship instead of toward her.
When the Bluefish was within a league of the other ship, the crew would silently load the deck guns, run them out, and the gunners would stand by with their matches at the ready.
The Bluefish would pace her until dawn and then close to within firing range. The other ship would probably know the Bluefish was stalking her then, but could do nothing about it without making a slow turn to enable her to use her broadside guns in defense. As soon as she did, the Bluefish would also make the turn, but the Bluefish could make the turn faster. When the larger ship was halfway through her turn, the Bluefish would send her volley of cannonballs into the sides and stern of the other ship.
The captain of the large ship would then have two choices. He could continue to fight, or he could surrender. His ability to fight would have been severely diminished by the initial shots from the Bluefish. Some of her gun ports would be just open holes in her sides and the cannonballs would have damaged many of the other guns and killed some of the crew. Taking further cannonballs would only kill more of her crew and would eventually send her to the bottom or strand her on one of the islands that dotted the Caribbean.
Most captains would surrender in order to prevent that. There was always more sugar and tobacco and other goods including gold and silver to be had in the Spanish controlled islands of the Caribbean. By surrendering the cargo, the larger ship had a good chance of survival, and losing the occasional cargo was cheaper and faster than building a new ship and recruiting and training a new crew.
The pirates who frequented the waters of the Caribbean knew this as well, and their aim was to cause a ship to surrender out of practicality rather than fight until most of her crew had been killed and she was near sinking.
The pirates also knew they were more of a nuisance to the Spanish Crown than a real threat. The Spanish Crown allowed piracy to continue only because doing so required fewer Spanish Navy ships and crews in the Caribbean. Were the pirates to begin the wholesale killing of crews and sinking of ships, the Spanish Crown would have reacted by sending an armada of men of war to hunt down and kill every pirate in the area.
Captain Riggins was roused from sleep by a knock on the door to his cabin and the second mate's voice.
"Cap'n Riggins, it's mornin' and we be a little over a league from the ship."
Captain Riggins quickly dressed and then went to the quarterdeck. Mister Bodine was there and looking through his telescope. When he heard steps behind him, he lowered the telescope and turned.
"Mornin' Cap'n Riggins. She's setting more sail so I think she's seen us."
Captain Riggins nodded.
"Aye, likely so. She can't get away now though. Guns ready?"
Mister Bodine glanced down at the main deck and then back to Captain Riggins.
"Aye, sir. Port and starboard. Three on each side with chain shot for the rigging and six with ball. The sea is calm this morning and the crew is ready."
"Run up the black flag", replied Captain Riggins. "With luck, we'll be done with her and on our way before the sun is overhead."
Within half an hour the Bluefish had closed the distance between her and the larger ship to within firing range. As the large ship made her turn onto the starboard tack, Captain Riggins gave the order to follow her. At about the same time, he made out her name -- Santa Isabella. When the Bluefish was broadside to the Santa Isabella's aft quarter, Captain Riggins shouted, "Fire".
A second later the nine guns on the port deck of the Bluefish erupted in flames and dense smoke as the nine charges left the muzzles on their way to the Santa Isabella. There was a cracking sound as the mainmast and foremast rigging was torn away by the chain shot. When the smoke cleared, Captain Riggins smiled to himself. The chain shot, two balls linked by half a fathom of heavy chain, had ripped though the starboard shrouds and backstay on the main topgallant mast and snapped off the entire mast and sails of the fore royals. Without the support of the backstay, the main topgallant was leaning toward the bow from the pressure on her sails. A few moments later, the main topgallant mast and yards came crashing down on the deck and took the foresail mast and yards with it.
The other six guns had found their mark as well. Three of the aft gunports of the Santa Isabella had been blown open and he could see that the cannons inside had come loose from the gun tackles. Those same cannons had likely careened around the interior of the ship, wreaking havoc among the remaining gun crews. The large ship wasn't damaged beyond repair, but she could no longer hope to win the fight.
The guns on the Bluefish had been quickly reloaded and run out, this time all with ball. Captain shouted, "Fire", and when the smoke again cleared, Captain Riggins saw that four more gunports on the main deck had been blown apart and there was a gaping hole in the planking of the quarterdeck. As he watched, the large ship slowed and began turning to port. A look at her rudder told him the reason. It was hard to port, probably because the ball that had burst open the quarterdeck had either killed the helmsman or cut the rudder cables.
Captain Riggins gave the order to shorten sail when the Bluefish was abreast of the Santa Isabella. He chuckled to himself then. With no foremast and only half a mainmast, the captain of the large ship had run his white flag of surrender up the short mizzenmast at the aft end of the ship. He gave the order, "Boarders Away", and then watched as his crew threw grappling hooks over the side of the disabled ship and then used the capstan on the Bluefish to pull the two ships together.
There was no resistance from the crew of the Santa Isabella. They had thrown down their muskets and pistols and stood lined up against the port rail. The captain, a tall and slender man with a beard, approached Captain Riggins.
"Sir, I surrender to you. I assume you will take my cargo and then depart with your crew of heathens and leave us to make such repairs as we are able. I give you my word that none of my crew will intervene."
Captain Riggins laughed.
