Richard Castle and the USS Santa Barbara
By
UCSBdad
Disclaimer: Except for the true parts, this is fiction. Rating: K, mostly. Time: The turn of the 20th Century.
USS Santa Barbara
Shanghai, China
July 4, 1899.
"All of our flags are set, Mr. Franklin?" Castle asked.
"Yes, sir. We're flying every flag we have. And you can hear the ship's band playing patriotic airs on the fantail. I believe that's the Washington Post March they're playing."
The ship's band was not much, even Castle had to admit, being heavy on harmonicas and banjos. They might have been playing the Washington Post March, but it might just as easily have been something else.
"I need to get ready to see the US Consul here and the senior naval officer, Captain Mallory.' Castle said. "And pass the word to Captain Ryan. He's wanted by the Consul and Captain Mallory as well."
Castle returned to his cabin and found that Kate had finished dressing. She wore a white dress, buttoned up the front with mutton chop sleeves and had her trademark straw boater on her head. She also carried a pink parasol to protect her skin from the sun. After all of her time outdoors, Kate was rather tan, but convention was that ladies should have a peaches and cream complexion.
"Are we ready to go?" She asked.
"As soon as Ryan gets here. Are you going to talk to him?"
"Having heard from my parents, I will. Rick, do you think anyone will be mad at you for how long it took to get here? We were supposed to arrive a month ago."
"I don't see how they could. The ship needed more work than anyone thought. And, it took more time to extract Ryan's battalion from the Marviles. They can blame the insurrectos if they want to."
There was a knock on the cabin door.
"Enter." Castle said.
Captain Kevin Ryan entered. He was a bit taken aback to see Kate there as he knew he was not her favorite person.
"Captain Ryan, just the person I wanted to see." Kate said.
"Yes, ma'am?"
"I received a letter from my parents. They have advised me that you were not involved in the scurrilous and slanderous accusations your brothers made against my family to defeat my father's election. They have also said that your two brothers have made a full and public apology for those words. As you were not involved, I do hope we can now be friends." Kate held out her hand.
Ryan gladly shook her hand.
"Nothing would please me more, Miss Beckett. Nothing."
Ryan knew his two older brothers were too politically astute to make a public enemy of as well known and as well thought of lawyers as the Becketts. Especially as they would soon have a naval hero for a son-in-law. He wondered idly if his connection to Captain Castle might help his own political ambitions.
"Well, then. Very good." Castle said, smiling. "Now we need to go see the Consul and Captain Mallory.
The captain's gig took them to the Bund, the gateway to the International Settlement of Shanghai. From there they took a rickshaw to the Consulate.
"I don't feel right about being pulled through town by a human being." Kate said. "Look at how hard the poor fellow has to work."
"True, Miss Beckett, but he's better off than the men without even a rickshaw." Ryan replied.
"I'll give him a nice tip, dear." Castle said.
They arrived at the consulate and met the Consul, who seemed rather disinterested in them and soon passed them on to Captain Mallory.
"Come in. Sit down. Relax." Mallory barked before Castle was even through the door to his office.
Once seated, Mallory looked them over.
"So, you're the famous Captain Castle. My officers are terribly jealous of you. Every one of them is senior to you and you have a fine cruiser while they have old ex-Spanish gunboats. Don't worry about them. The commander of the Asiatic Squadron gave you that command and no one but him, or someone higher, can take it away."
He then stared at Kate for so long that it made all three of them nervous.
"I suppose it is unusual to have a female civilian on a naval vessel, officially, that is." Castle said, worrying about what Mallory thought.
"Not that unusual. My first command, back in '63, was a small wooden gunboat on the inland waterways of North Carolina. I was given an ex-slave named Nancy as the pilot. I was skeptical, but she had worked a fishing boat for her master and knew every creek and sandbar in North Carolina. Never had so good a pilot. After the war she took her whole family to Massachusetts. Haven't seen her since. I was just thinking about those days."
He turned to Ryan.
"You have a battalion, Captain Ryan?"
"Yes, sir. Four companies of the 31st US Volunteer Infantry, plus a detachment of two Colt machine guns and my colonel let me take a dozen of what we call picked men. Sharpshooters. Excellent shots, every man jack of them."
"I hope all of this won't be necessary, but I fear it will be. There's a lot of anti-foreign sentiment in Northern China, but not much here yet. Oh, you'll get nasty looks on the street from some Chinese, but not much more. But, I think there's a lot going on beneath the surface that we don't know about."
"That said, Captain Castle and Captain Ryan, your jobs will be to show the flag. Let everyone know the United States is here in force. Let's hope it doesn't get any worse than that."
When they left, Captain Mallory suggested they have lunch at the American Club.
"As US officers, you're automatically members. And your lady, of course, Captain Castle. Good food and it won't bankrupt you."
The American Club had obviously been modeled on the famous English gentleman's clubs, with some accommodation being made for the location. Doubtlessly few London clubs had Chinese staff or Sikh doormen.
As they sat in the dining room, Castle noticed that there were four young ensigns sitting at a nearby table, staring at them and talking among themselves.
"I don't like the way those men are looking at you, Kate." He said.
"Considering how beautiful your fiancé is, Castle, I'm very much afraid you'll have to get used to it." Ryan said.
"One of them is coming this way." Kate whispered.
The man stopped and started to speak, then closed his mouth and then tried again.
"Excuse me, sir, but are you Captain Castle of the Santa Barbara?"
"I am." Castle replied, unsure of what to make of this.
"Ensign Thomas Kirke, sir. Would you do me the great honor, sir, of allowing me to shake your hand?" The man held out his hand and Castle shook it.
The other three ensigns came over.
"Is it really him, Tommy?" Asked one.
"Of course, it is. I told you, didn't I?"
Castle was inundated with requests for handshakes and as word spread that the famous Captain Castle was there, more people came to his table.
Castle was embarrassed by all the fuss.
"Gentlemen, you shouldn't believe everything you read in the newspapers. They sensationalize everything."
"However, you should not think that my fiancé hasn't done many of the things he's said to have done. I was there and he is a hero."
"You must be Miss Beckett, Captain Castle's fiancé." Said one of the other ensigns. "I mean no offence, Captain Castle, but knowing that Miss Beckett is engaged to you has broken the hearts of every man in Shanghai."
"Now, gentlemen." Said an authoritative voice. "Captain Castle has come here to eat, not to be lionized. You've seen him and now you should return to your tables."
The crowd dispersed leaving a tall, greying officer in the uniform of a captain in the Royal Navy.
"Captain Sir Donald Fraser, your servant, Ma'am and gentlemen. I command HMS Diadem."
"The Diadem?" Castle said. "She's a beautiful ship, sir."
"I'm glad to see that our American cousins have sent a ship and some soldiers here. The Diadem is leaving for Tianjin in the north. The Boxers are causing troubles in North China. I hope they won't spread here."
"The Boxers, sir?" Castle asked.
"The anti-foreign Chinese. They call themselves Plum Blossom Fists, and Fists of Harmony and Justice, or the Society of Righteous Harmonious Fists. We just call them Boxers. Well, glad to see you fellows here. Good day to you, Ma'am and gentlemen."
That was the first time Castle had heard of the Boxers it would not be the last.
USS Santa Barbara
The Yangtze River
August 22, 1899
For nearly two months, the Santa Barbara had done exactly what Captain Mallory had told them they were to do. They had shown the flag. They had sailed as far as a hundred miles up the Yangtze River and had landed small parties of Marines or soldiers at various points to demonstrate that the US had military forces in the region.
Now they had an actual mission.
Castle gathered his officers together.
"Gentlemen, Captain Mallory has advised me that the Dollar Line has received information that its ships are in danger. They're small cargo steamers that take various cargos to river ports along the Yangtze. Mallory is taking this seriously and has advised that the Dollar Line should assemble a small convoy, it'll be about five ships, and that we'll escort the ships to protect them. There'll be an official from the Dollar Line joining us soon. The convoy is assembling just past the French Concession. Unfortunately, the Dollar Line has no information as to what kind of danger they may face, or where. So, we'll need to be ready for anything at any time."
Castle then went to the bridge as his officers took their stations.
"Sir," said Ensign Gorham. "There's a boat approaching which looks like it's flying the Dollar Line house flag. That must be the official we're waiting for."
It was indeed. The man came aboard and went straight to the bridge.
"Captain Castle? I'm Paddy Doyle, Your Lordship, factor for old Robert Dollar and the Dollar line."
Castle and the crew soon found out that Doyle addressed everyone as "Your Lordship" with the exception of Kate, who was, "Your Ladyship."
He was dressed in a well-cut white linen suit with a Panama hat, but Castle was sure there was a slight odor of rum on his breath.
"Now, don't you be worrying about your fine ship, Your Lordship. I've been on the river for many a year now. I left County Meath back in '72 having been a bit too free with my promises. It seems there were two young ladies who expected me to marry them. Both were fine lasses, but they had many large and violent brothers. I lit out for Dublin and hoped to sail to Ameri-kay. But I was in a bit of a rush, so I took the first ship I found. Jumped ship, I did, here in '74 and found work with Mr. Dollar. I know the river well, Your Lordship. Now if we could head upriver?"
They got under way and picked up the convoy.
"We weren't told what the steamers were carrying, Mr. Doyle. Is there anything dangerous that they carry?" Castle asked.
"Dangerous, you say, Your Lordship? They do carry kerosene in cans and drums. The Chinese use it for lighting and cooking. Aside from that, well, there are things that burn, I suppose."
Their first stop was not too far up the river, close to Nanjing. The freighters pulled into the dock while the Santa Barbara stood off in case of trouble. There were a dozen or so angry looking Chinese men on the dock and when another group of Chinese came on the dock to unload the cargo, there were angry words between the two groups, but nothing worse.
It took hours to unload the cargo and when they arrived at the next stop, things looked worse.
TBC