- Come on, come on. It's all right.
Yes, yes, it's all right.
Wake up, Will.
Starboard bow ahoy!
- What is it, Slade? - Thought I heard somethin'.
Sounded like a bell.
- Native fishermen, perhaps. - Or a reef marker, sir.
Mr Calamy, the lead, if you please.
- By the mark, five fathom. - Five fathom!
- Sand and broken shell. - Sand and broken shell.
What is it?
Um...
Two points off the starboard bow, in the fog bank.
What was it? A sail?
- I don't know what it was. - Should we beat to quarters?
- I can't be certain. - You're officer of the watch.
Hollom, you must make a decision.
We shall beat to quarters!
Rouse up! Rouse up! Sleepers awake!
Move! Move along! Move along!
Jump to it, boys! Jump to it!
Light along there!
Sighting in heavy fog.
- Handsomely on the yards tackle. - Topmen aloft.
- Where away? - Uh...
Two points off the starboard bow, sir. Not a mile distant.
- You sure, Mr Hollom? - Yes, sir.
Man-of-war?
I don't know, sir.
It was only for a moment. I thought I saw a shape.
- Did you see it, Mr Calamy? - No, sir.
Well, you did the right thing, Mr Hollom. Go to your stations.
The deck's yours, Tom.
Sir.
Clear away! And launch boats!
- Quit your dawdling! - You heard the man!
Lower away!
Haul both your yard tackles!
Strike the bell!
Down! All hands down!
Hands to your stations! Mr Hollar, damage report, if you please.
18-pounders. We'll have to get closer. Run out the starboard battery.
Mr Allen, come up on the wind. Lay me alongside at pistol-shot.
Sharpshooters to the tops, Mr Howard.
Sergeant! Take your section into the main top.
We stand tall on the quarterdeck, son. All of us.
- Mr Boyle, run up the colours. - Aye, sir.
Note for the log, Mr Watt. "Engaged enemy frigate at six bells. "
- Straight at 'em, Mr Mowett. - Straight at 'em, sir.
Bill!
Leave the swords! Get the captain's silver below.
She's not in range yet! Stand fast till she's close enough!
- Close with him amidships! - Midships it is, sir!
For God's sake, don't drop anything!
Steady!
- Hold your positions! - Hold your position! Courage, now!
- Hold steady, boys! - Don't worry, lads, we'll serve 'em out yet!
Mr Pullings, sir. Davies, Jemmy, get Mr Pullings below.
Aye, sir.
Mr Blakeney, pass the word for the captain.
Clear the forward pin rails!
More sand on the floor!
On the up-roll... fire!
Down!
Relieving-tackles on the tiller! You men, collect these wounded!
- Keep 'em spitting, Mr Calamy. - Aye, sir. Reload and give 'em hell!
Sir! To the taffrail!
The rudder's shot away. The steering don't answer, sir.
We're fish in a barrel.
Why are we not firing?
Let me through.
Here, Joe! Here!
Hold it in there!
- He's on the larboard bow, sir. - Bring up your small arms!
Prepare to repel boarders.
Seize your weapons and wait for the word.
Your orders, sir?
Call the gun crews to deck. Rig man-ropes over the stern and pull the boats in.
Put us in that fog, Tom.
Pull together, men!
Pull for the fog bank!
Run 'em out! Run 'em out!
Fire!
She's opened up a seam! We need to get some oakum and pound it in.
Joe, a mallet and some irons!
She's gaining on us.
- We're nearly there, boys! - Pull! Pull!
- Reach for it, men! - We're home inside that fog!
Fire!
Pull for Lucky Jack!
We've done it!
Pipe down. Silence on deck.
They'll not find us in here!
Quiet, lads. No shouts, no calls.
Avast rowing.
Well done, lads.
Two feet six inches, sir... and holding.
- Good work, Mr Lamb. - Thank you, sir.
So, what's the butcher's bill?
Nine dead, 27 wounded.
Joe Plaice.
He has a severely depressed fracture of the skull. I don't think he'll see out the night.
Lord Blakeney.
Just a broken arm, sir.
Well, you're in very good hands.
I’m doing everything I can. I know you were close to his father.
His father would've understood. He knew the life. His mother, however...
Let me take a look at that brow of yours.
What?
Damn, he was good. Just came out of nowhere.
Hit us with a full broadside, cut across our tail and took out our rudder.
Damn fine gunnery.
We only slipped away because of the fog. Quite fortunate, really.
He may have had the weather gauge, but we had the weather gods.
I have no idea what it is you're talking about, but he did seem to come off rather well.
Seven weeks sailing, and he happens in darkness on our exact position.
Hm.
Well, the French have their spies in England and elsewhere. As do we.
Indeed.
If he knew we were looking for him, he could have stood to sea and passed well clear.
Well then, perhaps he was looking for us.
If she was a frigate, then I am a Dutchman!
It was an unfair match. There was no dishonour in it.
She was more like a ship of the line.
You have to wonder about her hull. Our shots wouldn't penetrate.
Triple-shotted at 200 yards - no effect.
She had the weather gauge and a clear advantage in firepower.
What is the weather gauge?
- Shall I show you again, Stephen? - Not on the cloth!
It means she had the wind in her favour, therefore control of the engagement.
And she had longer guns, so she could hit us beyond our range.
The simple fact is we were soundly beaten.
- Heavy frigate like that in the Pacific... - Could tip the war in Napoleon's favour.
By comparison, the Surprise is a somewhat aged man-of-war.
- Am I not correct? - Would you call me an aged man of war?
The Surprise is not old. No one would call her old.
She has a bluff bow, lovely lines. She's a fine sea boat, weatherly, stiff and fast.
Very fast, if she's well-handled.
No, she's not old.
She's in her prime.
We can patch up the main and mizzen. Foresail's gone, so we'll bend our spare.
Mr Lamb is confident with basic repairs. We can get home as we are.
We're not going home.
But to refit we need a port, and the Acheron may be still looking for us.
We can refit at sea. Here, where it shoals.
As you said, Mr Allen, she is taking the war to the South Seas. We are supposed to stop her.
But, sir - with respect - she's a vastly heavier ship. She's out of our class.
She could be halfway to Cape Horn by the time we're repaired.
Well then, there's not a moment to lose.
Is it true they put the last stitch through your nose?
What do you mean?
Joe said when you die, they stitch you in your hammock with the last stitch in your nose,
just to make sure you're not asleep.
Not through the nose. You'll tell them?
It's all right. It's just the laudanum speaking.
I've never seen a braver patient.
Poor darling. Never mind, soon have you fixed up.
I want good work now.
I'll need two men into the starboard fore channels. Roberts, Chadwick.
That's nice work there.
Repair won't do here. I need these replaced.
Mr Calamy. There's something might interest you here.
Look. The captain carved that. When he was a mid, no more than your age.
He's known this ship man and boy.
He says there's enough of his blood in the woodwork for the ship to almost be a relation.
I do understand your point, Mr Allen. Your knowledge is beyond question.
However, a week in the Brazilian rainforest looking for a new mast simply will not do.
The Acheron will be halfway to China.
Mr Lamb, as always, will do his best. Which is all I can hope to expect from any man.
Is them his brains?
No, that's just dried blood. Those are his brains.
Physician, he is. Ain't one of your common surgeons.
- Can I have the coin, please? - Sir.
He wouldn't look at you for under ten guineas on land.
And he knows his birds and beasts.
You show him a beetle and he'll tell you what it's thinking.
Back to work, you loafers! Eckhart, use your pipe.
Let's get on with it, gentlemen.
You're not a pennyweight of use gawpin' here!
Still hasn't said a word, sir.
Lord Blakeney. Feeling better?
Much better, thank you, sir.
Well, good. Good.
The doctor told me you were fond of reading, so I...
It has all of his major battles and some fine illustrations.
Thank you, sir.
Did you ever meet Lord Nelson, sir?
I had the honour of serving with him. At the Nile. A great victory.
You can find it in here, actually. Page 135, if I’m not mistaken.
Yes.
May I beg you to tell me what kind of man he is?
You should read the book.
I will, sir. Thank you.
Here we go again. Scrape-scrape, screech-screech.
Never a tune you could dance to, not if you were drunk as Davy's sow.
How about this?
Or are you in the mood for something more aggressive?
Salute.
Hats off.
What's all this about?
- What's this? - It's the phantom, sir.
Excuse me. That's what the men call it. It's the Acheron, sir.
You see, Will here, he seen her being built.
In Boston, sir. During the peace. But she's Yankee-built, sir.
He was getting married, and his wife's second cousin works in the yards,
so Will here saw the ship out of water.
Sir, I saw there was something right strange about her, so I asked Joe...
So he described it to me and I knocked you up a model, sir.
- And this framing is accurate? - Exactly accurate, sir.
- Thank you, lads. - Thank you, sir.
Killick, an extra ration of rum for these men.
Thank you very much, sir.
- Which I was saving for Salutin' Day. - We'll drink wine.
Oh, drink wine on Salutin' Day...
Bluff above the water and sharp below.
Gives the hull a finer entry and a long run as she goes aft. That's why she's so fast.
Heavier, but fast despite it.
That's the future. What a fascinating modern age we live in.
Planking and framing like that would make her hull 2ft thick. Solid oak.
That's why we couldn't dent her. She's probably capable of making 12 to 14 knots.
Now we know. Thank God for Warley and his wife's second cousin.
She could be doing up to 280 miles a day.
Even if we did catch up with her... I mean, to take her...
She's out of our class. She's a 44-gun ship.
She's still vulnerable at the stern, like the rest of us.
Hello, darling! How much for a kiss?
Quanto cost-o kiss-o?
- Name? - My name is Maria.
Give us arrows. I give axe. Quick, mate.
Thank you, mate.
Gangway for the mail, please.
- Here we are. Very important mail. Letters. - Era um navio francês.
- What's he saying? - Estava indo pela costa?
Sim, estava. Indo pela costa ao sul.
A large man-of-war, French, stopped here on the 10th, then headed south.
- Muito grande. - Obrigado, senhor.
Somewhere here.
A full three weeks ahead.
Damn.
All right, Tom, let's get all this squared away.
Aye, sir. Mr Hollar! Let us complete our business here.
Hands, prepare to weigh anchor!
Put that woman down, Slade! This is a ship of His Majesty's Navy, not a floating bordello!
All hands, get these provisions stowed.
Well done.
Gentlemen...
- To wives and to sweethearts. - To wives and sweethearts.
May they never meet.
Mr Howard, the bottle. The bottle stands by you, sir.
Sir?
Excuse me, sir, but Mr Blakeney said that you served under Lord Nelson at the Nile.
Indeed. I was a young lieutenant, not much older than you are now.
And Mr Pullings... Mr Pullings was a snivelling midshipman,
still yearning for hearth and home.
Did you meet him, sir? Can you tell me what he's like?
I have had the honour of dining with him twice.
He spoke to me on both occasions.
A master tactician and a man of singular vision.
He always said in battle... "Never mind the manoeuvres, just go straight at 'em. "
Some would say not a great seaman, but a great leader.
He's England's only hope if old Boney intends to invade.
Sir, might we press you for an anecdote?
The first time that he spoke to me...
I shall never forget his words. I remember it like it was yesterday.
He leaned across the table, he looked me straight in the eye,
and he said "Aubrey... may I trouble you for the salt?"
I’ve always tried to say it exactly as he did ever since.
The second time... The second time he told me a story...
about how someone offered him a boat cloak on a cold night.
And he said no, he didn't need it. That he was quite warm.
His zeal for king and country kept him warm.
I know it sounds absurd, and were it from another man,
you'd cry out "Oh, what pitiful stuff' and dismiss it as mere enthusiasm.
But with Nelson...
you felt your heart glow.
- Wouldn't you say, Mr Pullings? - You did indeed, sir.
Well then, he would seem to be the exception to the rule that authority corrupts.
- To Lord Nelson. - To Lord Nelson.
To Lord Nelson.
Do you see those two weevils, Doctor?
I do.
Which would you choose?
Neither. There's no difference between them. They're the same species of curculio.
If you had to choose.
If you were forced to make a choice. If there was no other...
Well then, if you're going to push me...
I would choose the right-hand weevil.
It has significant advantage in both length and breadth.
There, I have you! You're completely dished.
Do you not know that in the service one must always choose the lesser of two weevils?
He who would pun would pick a pocket.
Really! Weevils!
- To the lesser of two weevils. - To the lesser of two weevils!
Yay, Joe!
Go on, Joe!
The Lord taketh...
and the Lord giveth away.
You hear that? He said something!
Doctor! He spoke, Doctor!
Well done indeed, Stephen.
Adieu to you Spanish ladies
Farewell and adieu to you ladies of Spain
For we've received orders to sail for old England
We hope in a short time to see you again
What a wonderfully true voice Mr Hollom possesses.
Indeed.
Come, all you bold young thoughtless men
A warning take by me
And never leave your happy homes to sail the raging sea
On deck there! Sail ho!
Looks like a frigate!
How did it get there?
- We must turn and fight. - But he has the weather gauge again.
He must've been watching us from some inlet.
My God. What can we do? He has us by the hip.
Run like smoke and oakum.
- We'll have to bend every sail. - We'll put up our handkerchiefs if we have to!
We must survive this day. Let's get about it. Mr Allen, gentlemen.
All hands, make sail!
This is the second time he's done this to me. There will not be a third.
I tell ya, the devil's at the wheel of that there phantom ship.
You better hold fast.
What is it with this man?
Did I kill a relative of his in battle, perhaps? His boy, God forbid?
He fights like you, Jack.
Bring the sun down to the horizon.
When its lower limb is touching the horizon... Williamson, look to your sextant!
When the orb is no longer rising...
then it has reached its zenith and that would be noon.
- Sir? - Mr Pullings.
- Do you make noon, Mr Hollom? - Yes, sir.
Call noon. It's your class.
- Sir, that's noon. - Mr Nichols, make that twelve.
Six hours?
Five at most.
Just keep us out of her reach until nightfall.
She's to look like us, lads, don't forget. Jibbo, make fast those whips.
We didn't want to make it any taller, on account of this wind.
- Excuse me, sir, but what are they building? - Your first command.
Quickly. She'll be on top of us.
Take the weight on the yard tackles.
Fend her off, fend her off.
Lower away on the main.
- Wouldn't want to lose you. - Aye, sir.
There's a painter. Pass her aft. Outside everything, mind.
Lively now. We've not ten minutes before he's up with us.
- Mind what the captain told you. - Pull, boys. That's it.
Now.
Killick there! Douse your light.
Mr Allen, make ready.
Hello. We caught a fish.
Take the helm, Bonden.
- Now, tell me that wasn't fun. - Yes, sir.
Hard a’ larboard!
Stand the men down, Mr Pullings. I’ll take this watch.
Aye, sir.
Mr Mowett, Mr Allen, calmly now. You know his orders.
Well done, sir.
She's a right phantom, she is. The way she come up again, right behind us like that.
Out of nowhere. And right behind us. Like that first time, out the fog.
With our shot bouncin' off her.
Captain's not called Lucky Jack for no reason.
Phantom or no, she's a privateer, and Lucky Jack'll have her.
You need more than luck 'gainst a phantom.
- Is she like a pirate? - No, they're not pirates, Lofty.
Oh, no. If they were, we could hang them when we catch 'em.
Privateer gets a piece of paper from the Frenchies
says they can hunt down anything with our flag.
They go after rich merchantmen and the like.
Hey, but think on our share of the prize money.
She'll be loaded with gold and ambergris and all the gems of Araby.
That's all very well, Nagle. Got to get home to spend it, but.
Never met a dead man who bought me a drink.
And I’ve never met a live one that you bought one for, neither.
Sitting up all night, catching your death of cold. That's the last of the coffee, too.
Thank you, Killick.
Bonden.
That's enough easting. Set a course sou'- sou'west.
Aye, sir. Sou'- sou'west.
Sail!
Two points off starboard bow!
Three cheers for Lucky Jack!
Huzzah! Huzzah! Huzzah!
She's ours, boys!
- Foul! You got away before me.
- Set royals and courses. - Sir.
Have the idlers placed along the rails.
I’ve never seen the like.
It has to be more than 100 sea miles and he brings us up on his tail.
That's seamanship, Mr Pullings. My God, that's seamanship.
Told you it would work, Will. We'll have them by nightfall.
- I think we've got him, sir. - And the wind favours us this time.
Don't count your eggs before they're in the pudding.
Still, if we can close this gap and get up behind her, she may well be ours.
Touch wood. Scratch a stay.
Turn three times. May the Lord and saints preserve us.
Turn!
Move along, man. We'll have lost him before you rig it up!
Hold!
- 12 knots, sir. - That's 12 knots. That's good.
I want more. Have all the spare hands placed on the windward rail.
Mr Hollar. Rouse up the off-watch.
All hands on starboard rail!
Come up the larboard topsail sheets!