“So ~ ” said Ralegh. “This is not to be borne! We’ll see what Essex has to say.”
He spoke to me, and I went with him gladly. Movement now helped to keep thought in check, to relieve tightened muscles, sweat on hands, the griping of fear.
Sir Walter went quickly down the rope ladder to his troy, his cloak billowing like an opening flower. Four men sat waiting to row. As I joined him a heavy ball struck the sea and drenched us with water.
Due Repulse looked enormous as we neared her. Fortunately the wind had left her sails and she was only drifting forward under her own momentum; Sir Walter clutched a dangling ladder as we went past and climbed rapidly up it. I was too late for the ladder but caught a rope which bruised me against the side of the ship.
When I got on deck hot words had already been exchanged: Essex had taken my master to task for anchoring at a distance from the enemy; Ralegh was saying in a biting voice: “I am a soldier, my lord, and do not like these long bowls any better than you; but since I’m debarred from boarding I’d more consideration for my men than to subject them to an endless small arms fire at close quarters while we wait for the flyboats. Where are the flyboats? My Lord Admiral was lavish with his promises.”
The Earl of Essex was in white satin under his armour. “The boarding parties were promised when the main guns were silenced. As yet they’re not silenced.”
“They will be; but not before Warspite is holed and sunk, as things go now. I ask your Lordship’s leave to board if the flyboats are not here within twenty minutes. Better to lose a Queen’s ship that way than the other.”
Essex stared through the forest of rigging towards the combat he was approaching. “I cannot give you leave, Sir Walter, but I’ll not stop you. Indeed, I’m tempted to join you when the time comes.”
Ralegh laughed. There was no mirth in it but a sudden release of tension. “In that I’d be greatly honoured. Give me leave to return to the fight.”
“We shall be there as soon as you.”
We clambered down the ladder again, while the guns of the Due Repulse opened fire at one of the frigates. In our tiny troy we danced away from the side of the battleship and four strong oars took us ahead of her and back to Warspite. In the interval of our being away a cannon ball had struck the high poop where we had been standing and had taken the leg off the sailor who had been there to relay the captain’s orders to the helmsman. Also Lord Thomas Howard, seeing Sir Walter absent, had ordered Nonpareil to weigh anchor and had edged ahead of Warspite into the position of honour.
Before Sir Walter, feverish with anger at this, could rail at Oakes for his negligence, Due Repulse came sliding into the line, swinging her stern with the tide. She narrowly missed Mary Rose, who was in combat with San Andrea, but could not right herself in time and crashed into the larboard quarter of Dreadnought. This broke the line and for ten minutes neither of the great ships concerned was able to concentrate its fire on the enemy.
Rainbow, with Sir Francis Vere, was now coming swiftly up from the right. Sir Walter ordered Oakes to weigh anchor and at all costs to get ahead of Non pareil. We began to drift nearer the enemy.
As we did so a heavy cannon ball split our foremast just above the main yard, and the shrouds fell over the forward chasers putting them out of action.
Drifting with the tide, we came up with Nonpareil; then, to the wolfish satisfaction of my master, dropped anchor only by the bows so that we swung broadside on to the Spanish, facing them at close quarters and almost blocking the rest of our fleet from direct contact with the enemy. Rainbow had now come up alongside Nonpareil and thrown a rope aboard her to warp herself into position for the fight. A hail of shot swept across the deck of Warspite, killing men and disabling guns.
Sir Walter was looking back. Some small vessels, a part of the Dutch squadron were advancing, but not the flyboats. Then Victor drew his cousin’s attention to the fact that Rainbow had thrown out another hawser, this time to Warspite and by means of it was stealthily hauling herself into the leading position.
Sir Walter shouted in his high angry voice: “Cut that line!” And it was cut, so that Rainbow fell away and drifted off.
It was we three who bore the brunt: Warspite, Nonpareil and Rainbow; all the others behind. The Queen’s flag was in ribbons; men lay about our decks groaning; half our guns were disabled, others fired through the fallen shrouds. Acrid smoke clouded out the sun.
San Felipe had suffered worse than we. Only two demi-cannon still fired; there were great holes in her sides and her upper decks had been swept clear of men.
“Loose that anchor!” Ralegh shouted. “Get a warp aboard her!“
He climbed on the rail and waved his sword as a signal to Essex and Vere. A thin cheer sounded above the noise of the guns. Both the other vessels answered his signal and began to drift forward with Warspite to collide with the enemy.
A great rushing and thunder-clap of noise; Ralegh was no longer standing but was lying with his purple cloak spreadeagled like a broken flower; Victor was down too but was crawling to his knees.
I went to Sir Walter. He was conscious but there was blood welling down one leg.
“Lie still!” I shouted.
“Out of my way!” He tried to get to his feet.
“Let me see!“
“It will wait. Prepare to board!”
“You must stop the blood “
“Damn you!” He was on his feet again. “Out of my way! Prepare to board ~ “
The Spaniards, seeing our advance and having suffered much, were giving up the fight. San Felipe was the first to slip her cable, the others followed. Some sort of sail was let go on such masts as remained and the four great galleons began to drift into the port, while the Portuguese and the Levanters retreated behind them.
Then it was seen that Oakes’s concern for Perspire was not mistaken, for within two minutes San Felipe and San Mateo had both grounded. Then San Andrea in a desperate effort to avoid a similar fate, collided with San Tomaso, and they both took the ground. Firing at the guns ceased and sailors abandoned their posts; dead and wounded men were left lying on the decks; San Felipe had taken on a dangerous list towards us so that all that happened could be seen. Pieces of ordnance slid across the decks, and some out of their ports into the water; men fell with them and others jumped.
Ralegh was holding his leg trying to staunch the blood and at the same time shouting:“Boarding parties away! Boarding parties awayI”
I snatched at the shirt of the dead sailor beside me and ripped it up; I went to Sir Walter and bound his leg above the knee where the wound was; he could barely suffer to be held; Nonpareil behind us was putting out small boats, some laden with soldiers, some to pick up the struggling men in the water.
A flicker of flames showed amidships of San Felipe, either a chance spark or the Spanish Admiral had resolved his ship should not be taken. By the time I had tied the knot with a stick to wind it tighter, one deck was blazing.
Now all were abandoning her for fear of an explosion; men leaped into the water in scores, some wounded, some already alight; a few tried to get down by rope ladder; dozens jumped into the water and broke their legs or arms on the scarcely hidden mud-bank; they fell from all quarters.
San Tomaso was also alight and the horror repeated; the other two galleons still kept up some resistance but half their crews were in flight. Many boats the English had put out to capture the galleons were given over to succour.