HMS Athena: A Charles Mullins Novel (Sea Command Book 4) - Plot & Excerpts
Her previous opponent had pounded her unmercifully and the bosun was overseeing repairs to several damaged spars. With no intact replacements available, it was necessary to ‘fish’ the mizzen topsail yard, but there was no way to repair the shattered main yard. The carpenter and his mates were at work plugging shot holes about the ship, but were having difficulty with a large shot-hole right up in the bows at the waterline. Some treenails, wooden pegs pinning the end of a plank to its frame, had loosened or failed near the point of impact. Any effort to force material into the seams of the sprung plank to quench the inflow of seawater only made the leak worse. While the crew worked the pumps, the sailmaker and his mates threaded strands of oakum through a spare sail, making a hairy mat of it. This was passed under the bow, covering the opening and served to reduce the intake of water, but it was still necessary to keep the pumps working night and day.
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