CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
It took two days to reach Plymouth. The fleet anchored just inside the sheltered bay off Kingsand and Cowsand on the evening on the sixth of January. Storms were coming in from the North West bringing sleet and snow and the bay area was well sheltered. Contact was made with the British navy to arrange a meeting after the fleet had paid their respects to the dead and tended to the wounded.
A meeting of fleet captains aboard the Conquistador brought home to Fial the damage done to gun crew by heavy artillery cannon aboard the ship. The Conquistador had ten 32 pounder long guns used for artillery bombardment of coastal fortifications and during the assault on Brest one had broken its recoil chains in the heavy sea as the fuse was lit and the gun’s muzzle came inside the hull. The muzzle blast was flashed back to surrounding crew members as it fired and killed six men around the gun. Their bodies looked fine but blood vessels in eyes and ears were shattered and they were killed instantly as their lungs deflated and choked them. Some crew members beyond the gun were badly wounded by the muzzle blast but survived with horrific eye, ear and brain damage. Men of war ships of the time often used kidnapped men or prisoners to man heavy cannon as accidents like this were common. These men were not kidnapped or prisoners and the service for the fallen reflected this aboard the ship.
Fial hatched a plan with his fleet to present to the British government before they had time to muster enough power to Plymouth to control the fleet. They felt if they did not receive pardons they would put to sea and return to Ras al-Khaimah in the Persian Gulf. The messages they had received were only rumours and required official written approval, although no British ships had attempted to attack the fleet. Many ships of the fleet had suffered damage; death and injuries leaving Fial with a clear mandate on an agreement with the British navy.
Fial attended a meeting with Claremont and Lord Dreyfus at the dockside at a tavern; a place Fial stated to be neutral ground. Claremont had wanted a meeting on board the Ghost but Fial would not let them near the ship which was undergoing repairs with the rest of his fleet. Lord Dreyfus had correctly predicted the port Fial's fleet would lay anchor at based on the fact that no fleet could do what they had done without requiring repair and supplies quickly. They had placed themselves there to see if the fleet materialised and to bolster the chance of quick dialogue with Fial.
Dreyfus was only half right; a ship in each section of the fleet carried only supplies and Fial assured them they could attack at full strength any time if required. The meeting was tense and some of the members of Fial's fleet had been wanted by the British for years. The Corsican ships of the Ricard brothers, the Conquistador captained by Louis Zachariah and the Castela captained by Lord Smithers had immense political power. If these ships became part of the British fleet officially it would send a clear message to the French that the British were gaining support in areas previously believed to be supportive of the French. Fial demanded the paperwork be in place within a week and his fleet be given supplies and assistance with repairs. Any build up of ships in the port or nearby would be seen as a threat and they would put to sea.
Fial waited a day and was about to order to put to sea when a longboat approached the Ghost with Claremont aboard. Fial launched a longboat and met them in the harbour in bitter cold. Fog had reduced visibility to less than half a mile. Fial read the paperwork. Claremont wished to attend to the signing of the documents on land but Fial took them to the Castela, taking some hours before the group had visited every ship to exchange signatures. Fial finally signed his document of appointment last as a privateer to the British navy in his own blood, drawn from a cut he made near his wrist. He warned Claremont that if they should renege on the agreement he would return for his blood himself. Fial took the quill pen he had used and put it through his coat lapel. Claremont found the negotiations an ordeal and he did not fully approve but could not deny the weight carried by the flamboyant Irishman.
Fial's fleet was assisted with supplies and repairs. The crews went ashore in groups made up of a few members of each ship, making big enough packs to avoid any trouble but leaving the ships well manned should they not return. The British were busy with the final stages of Copenhagen and preparing the Duke of Wellington’s assault on Portugal. It soon became news that Fial's fleet was in a British port causing concern amongst the French ranks as the tales of San Sebastian and Brest became known. The plan was working for all involved with the exception of Fial.