February 1654
Joao reads a book about the Roman Empire, this book was published from Greece a few years ago and was made at the beginning of the Renaissance era.
The story is that the Romans, not able to crush the Carthaginian galleys, decided to change tactics and focus on boarding ships with soldiers who were familiar with the systems of their legions.
As João reproached all the manoeuvers they had to do to keep out of range of the guns on the return trip, forcing them to resupply in unclaimed areas of the African coasts, observing these immense indiamen, he noticed as an ideal place to approach these "indiamen" of the VOC: the stern.
By positioning the boarding boat in the wind, boarding becomes easier at the stern.
With one of these boarding systems and troops in the strictest sense to board, using his special bombs... Ahem.... Improved hand grenades, and/or a nearby shrapnel little mortar, even the Rubber Dream could take an Indiaman by storm.
Certainly the relative prices of building ships in Portugal are higher than in some other countries, but ....
While Joao was enjoying this day in the courtyard of the company's mansion:
"A glass of water with orangeade and a little molasses, please," he said to one of the owners of the mansion. One of the new drinks since their return from their trip.
"Right away sehnor"
The attendants of the mansion, did not waste their wages and took advantage of the discretionary funds of the major of men to restore it to like-new condition.
a little off to the side in the courtyard, diogo, luis and others were playing a new version of the bouncing ball game, they even invited a part of the staff to play with them.
Joao shouted at them as Diogo claimed the ball for .... something related to the game...
Hey, guys! : what if we asked for a "letter of mark"? Joao shouted to them.
Luis stopped playing right away
"What's the point? Let's go, pirate and presto! " said Rui
Diogo moved with a determined step towards the ball, seized it, and fired violently with it, towards .... probably what's the goal of the opposing team.
"Ha!! Diogo !!, says Rui!! It's not in the rules!! "
"And so it counts or not my goal?"
"Well no.
"Well it's the same, if we arrive in Lisboa with war prizes it wouldn't count for the crown..."
After a long moment to observe he thought of this letter of mark
"What's the idea?"
"Take a whole convoy of Indiamen."
"And where did you find such an idea, it's quite dangerous to attack it without preparation"
"Roman technique, a dozen brigantines for harassment, and 5 of the Rubber Dream class with a reinforced bow for the stern boarding"
"by the stern?"
"A Roman technic?" asked Pietro, the Italian-born teammate, "I don't remember them having anything like that in Rome."
"Not that Rome, the ancient Rome, the Rome of...", Joao leafed through the book, "even before the Roman Empire".
"We have enough to stock up on all this, but a crew of warships, that's not easy"
"Not only seasoned sailors, but also soldiers, i mean real soldiers.... equipped, trained, etc..." Joao replied rather bluntly.
"And for the moment we only have one and only "Rubber Dream" and a second one under construction"
"yes, wo other in fact, but still not enough, so it's not for now"
"So you want to board indiamen from the stern .. you realize that in case of colission it's splash, and more likely the boarder than the Indiaman... " said Luis continuing to study the feasibility, assessing that the stalkers could actually get rid of the escort and also ... "And how much are the losses of ships that the operation succeeds or not?"
"I evaluate we would lose two brigantines, and if unlucky a boarder"
"What maneuvers ?" Rui asked.
"This is the most difficult part, you have to place yourself in the wake of the tail Indiaman, preferably with a tailwind, have a reinforced hull at the front, a troop of 200 men, and I'm not talking to you about pirates who launch themselves to come what may, I'm talking about guys as trained as the rank-and-file soldiers"
The maid arrived with this mixture of water, orange juice and molasses mixed and put the mug at Joao's table
"Thank you" before starting to taste this sweet miracle of a drink.
"And also a deck landing table, we throw my special bombs and then the soldiers take control of the Indiaman"
Pietro gave his opinion on the soldiers
"There are condotierre in Italy, they are professional mercenaries, already equipped, only to sign up contracts with them"
"Don't we have that here?"
"Yeah, but John 4 brings them in at great expense for the war with Spain"
"yes but they already have contracts" said Diogo
"What we need for that are captains who really master navigation because putting themselves in the wake of the indiaman is still a precise manoeuver"
"You could do it, Diogo," Joao retorted
"As long as the crew is not composed of beginners, yes " retorted Diogo
"I can maneuver for harassement," Luis continued
"By cuting edge specifications of those boarding boats ? Because there are such ships, there may be only the royal shipyards that can make them, but they aren't very ... accessible"
"yes, hence the letter of mark, but maybe our usual shipyard can make them i will ask them later"
Turning to the waiter, Joao said:
"My most beautiful clothes prepare them in my room, please"
Joao was never fond of the treatmeent the nobles used with their waiters, and so used another langage than their previous masters, and they seemed to appreciate their new treatments
"Right away, Sehnor", after listening to this discussion which seemed surreal to him, was waiting for him, hurried to prepare the clothes
"Ha I hadn't thought about it but the "rubber dream" despite being bigger is faster and more maneuverable than the brigantines ... Why not those sloops instead? "
"Ha the sloops yes, we have them built while waiting for the convoys of Indians?"
"Why not here?" asks Joao
" ... Are you kidding there? They don't even have enough to carry the supplies to get to Angola, it's better to have more frigates like the rubber dream, with or without these reinforcement stories..."
"Ha yes the reinforcements of sort.. Therefore... we need 10 frigates of the rubber dream type "
"Well we have the money, that's not the problem"
"There are two other ships already under construction, almost identical to the rubber dream" and about ... 250000 cruzados remaining, not to mention that it continues to increase, just by refining the sugar and reselling it pays for the maintenance of all our possessions here, as soon as we receive the third, we will make a round trip to Salvador in Bahia"
"yes we should still follow the progress of the sesmaria at least a little, otherwise we will have problems"
"Shall we order the other 7 right away?"
"We will need troops for 5 of them, enough to take over the Indiaman of the VOC"
"Fully armed mercenaries or do we recruit and hire a captain to teach beginners the job?"
"We hire a captain to teach them the work"
"Ok, so when is it for: two years ? three years?"
"By the way," added simao, "rubber dreams have become a certain Hot selling commodity at the shipyards now, speed, maneuverability, and transport."
"Ha.. the flair of the "captain", we should have asked for rights on these boats" said Luis laughing.
"Ok, come on, let's get back to it!" said Diogo! and it counts my last goal, it was a pirate goal !!!"
Causing a burst of laughter among the participants and around.
Joao enjoyed his new cocktail, before heading to the shipyards after dressing with his best clothes.
There he met the naval architect again, and presented him with his project of boarding the indiaman, which did not fail to surprise him.
Joao repeated more or less word for word what he had explained to the crew.
In the play of light and shadow in a shipyard workshop on the edge of the port, Joao places a scale model of the frigate "rubber dream" on a sturdy table.
Opposite him, the architect, renowned for his daring innovations, carefully observes the plans.
Joao: "This frigate must have a version of the style: beast of war. We need a boarding platform that deploys quickly forward, while increasing the guns that must become ejectable from this place to allow the deployment of this platform, while reinforcing the sides, as well as the bow in order to avoid a destructive collision when boarding, and also to ward off enemy fire. Can you keep with the new handling without compromising your speed ad agility ?"
Manuel batista: "Sehnor Carrasca, it's all about balance. If we add the necessary reinforcements and a rocking platform, we will have to adjust the weight distribution and maybe reduce the armament at the bow slightly."
Taking a few pieces of wood and moving them around, he said :
"Look here, near the waterline. I offer reinforced wrought iron plates on the sides, especially near the areas of the boarding platform. This will protect the crew during assaults and neutralize enemy cannonballs." For the boarding portion I suggest you put in place a wrought iron hull to be deployed before attacking the stern of your ... prey ...., then a second wooden platform to approach the boat with wooden bord, with some iron clutches at the end to guarantee stability.
This means that the boat will lean a little forward throughout the voyage, so by "lightening the bow mast" and reinforcing the stern mast, we achieve this balance, the manoeuvrability will remain, as well as the speed, all we have to do is modify the modalities of the manoeuvers."
"Ha yes I understand."
" Ha ! As usual sehnor Joao, you want a quick estimate?"
"Hehehe, not to hide it from you sehnor batista: yes"
"You want 5 like that, right?"
"Yes, delivered at about the same time?"
"Yes, preferably in December or January at the latest, the Indiaman start to return and pass by Angola's coasts between March and June, so the time to get there...."
"Do you already have a letter of mark ?"
"It depends on whether these boats are feasible or not... "
"The Indiaman have the advantage of wood of superior quality than those which can be obtained here"
"And to get this quality here, an extra would be good, no need to worry about that, I prefer the quality for this new way of taking convoys"
"Okay sehnor Carrasca, given the two ships you have ordered, which will be finished in around four months at most, we have already made some improvements according to your suggestions, moreover your model of boat has turned a wide clientele for this shipyard, nevertheless, the price of these two supports at the bow, especially in wrought iron, will considerably increase the cost"
"...." Joao watched him with an interrogative eye while Manuel raised his eyes towards the ceiling, as if calculating the costs
"About 25,000 cruzados, in the meantime the quality of the wood, the price could be reduced to 20,000, these new ships being more ordered, this has allowed the shipyards to better control their structure"
"Have you ever thought about working like the Dutch poeple?" asked Joao like that, without much interest
"No... honestly for what, what are you thinking about?"
"Ha simple: some portions of boats are identic, then make those parts in a way .... identical and install them during the construction could be useful for the quantity, maybe not the quality but for the quantity, which can be useful when you don't have easy access to the best woods, well it's just an idea, I prefer the quality"
"hahahaha Sehnor carrasca decidedly, you force me to make you a ristorne again!!"
" ..." Joao looked at him strangely, as if taken aback by his remark.
"In any case, I can reduce to 22,000 cruzados for these 5 special ships, and they will probably be available in a year, enough to intercept from March to June 1655"
"I would also need two more classics, with the same configuration as the two currently under construction" the overall ships should be ready for the beginning of next year so?"
"Hahaaha sehnor Carrasca: 10 ships?"
"Yes, when the other two are ready, a little detour to Brazil to fill up on sugar, and if everything is ready on the way back... ha... "
"These are where you will ask for letters of mark"
"Indeed, I can't hide anything from you, Sehnor Batista"
After a few courtesies, the two merchants agreed to meet later in the year for details and specifications of the new ships.
_____
Joao went to the workshop of Maester Domingos, still dressed in his finest attire.
Walking through the noisy streets, the young men made a lace for this rich bourgeois, perhaps even a nobleman, given the attire.
Joao arrived at Maester Domingos' workshop, and the Maester was present
"Hello Dom Domnigos!"
"Hahahah! sehnor Joao, do you still have rubber? "
"Ha I'm not coming for that this time"
"Ha what can I do for you?"
"1000 muskets, 50,000 rounds of ammunition, and about 17 cannons per ship, for a quantity of 9 ships: about: 153 cannons, with 1530 cannonballs, I should be able to manage for gunpowder"
"Are you kidding?"
"No, I'd need it for around ... next year"
"Last time it was already about that..."
"Yes, but this time it's to hack a convoy of Indiaman to harass them, to board and capture them, not to reinforce the recife campaign."
"You have a taste for easily achived tasks sehnor... Before I answer you, when is the next shipment of rubber?"
"For what?"
Mestre Domingos contented himself with showing him some of his tools and other utensils more or less .... covered with a thin layer of rubber
"It's very useful to make them more .. sustainable, less maintenance"
"Probably this year, around October at the latest," Joao replied.
"Excellent, so I summarize: 2 cruzados per flintlock musket, 1 cruzados by 500 rounds of ammunition, 200 to 300 cruzados per barrel, their price being completely dependent on the supply of iron, as for the cannonballs, it depends on the short barrel or the long barrels for the cannons?"
"Long guns" Joao replied quickly
"So... 1 cruzados per cannonball"
Which makes a total of .. Maestre Domingos went to a small table where he wrote down all the figures:
Between 40,000 and 45,000 cruzados.
Joao calculated: 220,000 cruzados for all the ships, plus 45,000 for the equipment of the soldiers, about 30,000 for pay for soldiers and sailors for a year.
Joao activated his internal calculator, as if in turmoil: Already enough to pay all the advances for the ships, the advances for the equipment, and still 800 to 1000 infantrymen to be found"
"Ha by the way, I would have liked some kind of small mortars, they wouldn't have to shoot far and would be specialized in shrapnel only, something that could devastate guys who would run at them up to about 20 meters. "
"Around 10 of these small mortars ? Gift for the order of cannons, so consider it a gift for an excellent employer customer.... "
"Hehe, thank you Dom Domingos"
" Hahhaaaa decidedly, i like that phrasing !! "
After a few more courtesies, Joao left the workshop of mestre domingos and before evening went straight to ask about letters of mark form the officials.
_____
The bright sun flooded the cobbled streets of Lisboa as Joao Carrasca, draped in his magnificent attire, climbed the steps of the Casa do Índia, the seat of Portugal's maritime power.
His special rubbered boots making some unusual sounds, attracting furtive glances from merchants and clerks busy transporting registers and maritime charts.
In the great hall, the air smelled of ink and parchment. Carrasca approached a dull-faced official, sitting behind a desk cluttered with documents.
"I am asking for an audience with the responsible to deliver letters of marks" he growled, his deep voice echoing through the room.
An exasperated sigh answered.
"And why is that, sehnor?" said the official, scarcely raising his eyes.
Joao got irritated, ha ! Those "work for", always evaluating it's about some porfiteers
Joao banged his fist on the desk, making the inkwell shake.
"Because I carry the sea in my veins and the war against our enemies in my heart. I have come to offer my services to His Majesty in exchange for a letter of mark. Take me to the one who can give permission! »
A few minutes later, Carrasca stood in front of the representative of minister, a thin man with sharp features, dressed in silk and gold, not much more luxurious than Joao clothes.
Behind him, a great map of the world stretched out, marked by trade routes and fortified ports. "Sehnor Carrasca," began the minister in a distant tone,
" Why should we risk the reputation of the crown for a privateer, and you are a well known merchants, already, why would you take the risk of privateering ? "
Joao put his hand on the polished wooden table and tilted his head slightly.
"Because our enemies, the Dutch, are stripping our sea routes and filling their coffers at our expense, it would be advantageous to take back at least some of the loot. Give me a letter of marque, and I promise you rich cargoes, captured Indiamen, and losses inflicted on those who dare to defy our ( my ) interests . »
The assistant minister frowned, but he listened. Carrasca continued, his gaze burning with intensity.
"I will finance my fleet. All the ships and sailors should be ready by early next year. I will take care to recruit the best men, and I will fight in the name of His Majesty. All I ask for is the right to act under the protection of the Crown. »
A silence fell, only interrupted by the scratching of the scribes' feathers in the next corridor. The minister, at last, sketched a calculating smile.
"You are an ambitious man, captain. If you can keep your promises, the crown can only benefit from your audacity. A letter of marque will be granted to you... But don't forget that any wealth captured will have to enrich the kingdom. »
" That's of course, Dom ...
"Dom Carrabera, the letters of marks will be ready when you come to seek for them"
Joao nodded, with a little smile :
« You can trust me, Dom Carrabera, My fleet, its cannons, and its sailors will talk with the dutch about what Portugal is capable of. »
His mind was already bubbling with plans of attack, the sea routes he would explore, and the Indiamen who would fall into his clutches.
The sun of the evening became evident, and Joao got back to the mansion.