The report of David Breck, Able Seaman aboard HMS Rhinocerus, then under the command of Lt the Hon. Henry Wooster, regarding the events of the night of the 2nd of August, 1871:
Commander Wooster arrived at two bells of the last dog watch1, and he had with him a large number of landlubbers. Some of them I'd seen before, as they were involved in the development of the rocket battery. Mr Seamus O'Flaherty, the boxer and former bodyguard to the Rocket Fellow. And there was Sir Cosmo, a royal commissioner of some sort. There was also the apprentice from Sir Cosmo's shipyard, Edward, as he was called. And Sir Spencer Cuthbert, the big game hunter. Some of the others I had seen before and didn't know their names. The apprentice, Edward, had a tutor, a lady who was in no condition to be travelling anywhere, if you don't mind me sayin', and a younger woman who I suppose must have been a governess, not to mention the two hindoos that sometimes travelled with them, a man and a younger lad. But that wasn't all this time, by any means, Her Ladyship, the wife of Sir Cosmo, was in attendance, not to mention her secretary, and Sir Spencer's neice, I think it is, plus a police inspector and a police clerk.
They were all come aboard with the Lieutenant, who gave orders for us to prepare to cast-off. We were to sail down river to the Plumstead Marches, in pursuit of kidnappers or theives, I never quite knew what was the object. We set to it and were on our way quite smartly. We received a few odd looks and calls from the ships in neighboring berths. The docks on both sides of the river at that point were full of quite an assortment of ships, as the port seemed to be busier than usual that summer.
We had barely gotten away from the docks and turned about with Mr Caine called out that one of the boats docked on the other side of the river was riding high. It was the German yacht belonging to a visiting admiral, the very same that our commander had visited earlier in the day, in fact. I'm not quite sure why Mr Caine was concerned with how high in the water a ship that had been in port for weeks was resting, I can't say.
So, with our gaggle of odd passengers, we sailed downriver to the marshes. The marshes run along the south side of the river for some miles, and in places can be quite dangerous for anything larger than a launch of dinghy. Rhinocerus has a shallow draft, but even so, we couldn't get very far into the marshes before we had to drop anchor and lower a pair of long boats.
Then we row off into the marshes, with all those landlubbers in the long boats with us. Commander Wooster made frequent consultations with Sir Spencer and the neice, then would tell us which way to row. We still didn't know exactly what we were searching for. Kidnappers and theives, I know, but we didn't know if the was in some shack built on one of the bigs of less soggy land, or was there a small boat hiding somewhere in the marsh?
Eventually we come up on a quite large, and old, barge. I don't know how it was maneuvers back there, but there it was, in a stretch of open water barely big enough to hold it. There were a couple small boats, one of 'em with a funnel that was still smokin', tied up to the side. There was some sort of structure--a storage building, like, up on the barge, and a lot of people moving about.
The barge was good-size, and not loaded down with much in the way of cargo, so it was riding quite high in the water. After a bit of discussion between the commander and the two sirs and such, it was decided that we would stay hidden behind this thick copse of reeds, while the two hindoos and Mr O'Flaherty made there way up to the barge and set up a distraction of some sort.
I'm not ashamed to say it were a bit queer. There we was, dusk upon us, laying in wait for a signal. Every now and then a strange voice would drift over the water to us from one direction or other. It was quite eery.
Then, suddenly, there was an incredible boom. Almost as if someone had set off a cannon! The boom was immediately followed by a lot of shouting and the unmistakeable sound of old wood giving weigh under a great force.
The Commander ordered us forward, and we rowed for all we were worth.
The top of the barge was a flurry of activity. There was men running to and fro, most of them seemed to be dressed in dark clothing. Hardly any of them had lanterns, but I kept seeming the glint of steel. The was all armed with bayonets or boarding cutlasses, it seemed.
One of them came sailing through the air, as if he'd been hurled by a giant. That must of been one that made the mistake of gettin' in Mr O'Flaherty's fist, we was thinking, as the body splashed into the water far past us.
We made it to the side of the barge. The Commander orders us to guard the boats and watch after the women, then he and Mr Caine, and the two policeman, and I'm not sure who all, started swarming up the two rope ladders that had been dangling down for the other boats.
Guard the women, the Commander said, except three of the woman ran up the ladders with all the rest. Only the tutor--who as I said was in no condition to be out and about--and Sir Spencer's neice stayed in the boat. And both of them, would you believe it? They pulled out guns from somewhere! Pistols it was. I wasn't surprised when Sir Spencer set himself in the back of one boat with one of his rifles, he could pick off any of the theives as put up a fight if necessary without being up in the field of fire himself. But what were the two ladies doing with guns? And why did three of the ladies rush up onto the barge with the rest?
There was the sound of steel on steel. And then an enormous racket like someone had set of a string of chinese crackers. There were screams and shouts, and more bodies flying off the barge.
The barge itself wasn't in great shape. We could still hear the sound of groaning wood and snapping timbers, and the rush of water rushin' into a hull. The barge was taking on water. And the deck, which had been a good nine feet above the sideboard of the long boats when we first arrived, was noticably descending toward us.
Among all this shouting a shooting and the clanging of swords, a strange gurgling sound came up to the starboard of our boat. I looked, and the water was a boiling beside us. For an instant I thought that the hole in the barge must be right under us, and I was about to call out, suggesting we move the boats away, lest one of them got sucked into the hull.
And then the steel hatch rose out of the water. There was some kind of boat under the water, and it was coming up!
There were more shouts, and the tutor, who was standing in the back of my long boat, yelled out something about submersion or something. Anyway, there was, somehow even more activity up on the barge, and a half dozen bodies fell over the side, landing all around us.
And I saw the strangest thing! A door, a wooden door like as you might see on someone's house, came flying through the are like a knife thrown across the room by the chap at the penny circus who throws 'em blindfolded at the interestingly dressed girl. You know how I mean? And at least two more people came flying off the barge after it, as if they'd each been launched by a catapult. One was the apprentice, Edward, they other I think was the older of the hindoos. Though it was hard to say, because I thought I saw a flash of pettycoats.
These two flew through the air and breifly collided, then Edward bounced off the other and came spinning through the air toward me!
That was when I saw the tutor lose her balance. She was falling right over the side. I tried to reach her, but our boat was rocking like we was in a very choppy sea, and it's like as not I only made it worse.
She went over the side, and landed right inside that funny steel boat what was coming up out of the water.
And Edward fell in right after her. I heard a loud exclaimation down there, but couldn't make it out because there was yet another explosion a bit aft of us, and a wave of water hit me, like we was in a storm on the North Sea. I had just reached the side of the boat, having grabbed a rope, and was about to call out, when other man, I don't know who. He was an officer of some sort, not one of ours, though, it weren't the commander. I had an impression of a greyer blue than our officers use in our uniforms. Maybe it was Dutch or Prussian. But he fell past me, right into the hatch and he pulled it closed behind him!
There were shouts all around, and I was reaching from the wheel in the middle of the hatch, thinking I could throw it open again, when…
Notes:
1. Approximately 7pm.
Proceed to Strangest duty I ever stood
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