‘Four men with me! We have to knock out one of the gun ports!’

Four men heeded his call. Half wading, half swimming, they struggled aft. Gus held his breath. One more big wave could sweep them into the sea – or send the whole ship to the bottom. He saw Whittle duck his head and disappear completely under the water, followed by two others. There was a pause that lasted so long that Gus was sure all three must have drowned and then Whittle surfaced, gasping, followed by the other two. In spite of the odds, they had succeeded. Water gushed from the open port and the ship was stabilised. Gus turned and clawed his way along the rail and round to the door of the galley.

Boney was stirring a huge pot on the range, legs spread wide to keep his balance, seemingly unconcerned.

‘There you are! What kept you? We’ve got a Christmas dinner to prepare. Get those spuds on to cook.’

Gus staggered across the pitching deck and picked up a knife. Christmas! he thought. How could anyone think of celebrating Christmas under these conditions?

It seemed that the officers expected to do just that, and it was Boney’s job, helped by Gus, to produce a suitable meal.

An hour later, the wardroom echoed to cheerful voices as Gus served goose, roast pork, fresh vegetables and mince pies.

That such a miracle was possible, on a ship that had not called at a port since leaving Madeira sixty-six days earlier, was due to the successful pursuit of the purpose of the voyage. The Shenandoah was a commerce raider, and her aim was to capture as many merchant vessels belonging to the Union states as possible. As they sailed south they had encountered several, and a blank cartridge fired across their bows quickly persuaded them to heave to and allow themselves to be boarded. Having once established that the ships were, in fact, registered to Yankee owners, the crew were taken prisoner, all useful goods were taken on board the Shenandoah and the ships were then set on fire or sunk. That was how they had acquired the delicacies on which the officers were now feasting.

When they first sailed, such an outcome had seemed unlikely. The Shenandoah had been built as a merchant ship, not as a ship of war, and any conversion had to be undertaken well out of the jurisdiction of any neutral power who might have impounded her. Also, there was the constant fear that a Union naval vessel might get wind of her position and attack her. Gus had overheard a number of vigorous arguments in the early days of the voyage. Some of the officers felt they should have remained at anchor off Las Desertas until necessary modifications had been completed, but Captain Waddell had insisted on sailing at once. So gun ports had been cut in the ship’s sides, and the guns mounted, while they were at sea.