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Andromache
Andromachepro
Vital statistics
Port Boston
Owner Guthrie Trading Company
Captain Dyfed Bryson (deceased)
Crew Hayes (deceased), 60 men (all deceased)
Passengers {{{passengers}}}
Status Destroyed, assumed sunk
Type Tall ship
Weapons 26 twelve-pound cannon
Battles Attack on the Andromache
Affiliation Guthrie Trading Company
First appearance IV.

The Andromache was a supply ship out of Boston captained by Dyfed Bryson. Besides valuable cargo like fine china and sugar, the Andromache also carried slaves.

History[]

Season One[]

When Eleanor Guthrie and James Flint join to attempt taking the Urca de Lima, Flint states that he needs 12-pound cannon, a more powerful yet hard to obtain upgrade needed to stand a chance facing the Urca. Eleanor decides to use the cannon which arm the Andromache, a ship belonging to her father's business. While she is led to believe that he will give her the cannon, the captain, Dyfed Bryson, joins Richard Guthrie in his schemes to get rid of the pirates and leaves with the cannon. When Flint sees this, he chases the Andromache

After a lengthy chase, Bryson decides to fight Flint instead of continuing to run away. He turns the ship so they can fire broadsides at the Walrus, which they do to great affect. However, Flint presses on, and his sharpshooter in the foremast, Beauclerc, kills the Andromache's helmsman. Bryson orders another man to take the helm so they don't lose the wind, but he too is shot by Beauclerc. They lose the wind, bringing them alongside the Walrus, and Bryson orders his crew to prepare to repel boarders. As the two ships drift together, Bryson's men fire their muskets at the pirates, managing to kill Crisp, who carelessly had his head exposed above the gunwale. The pirates wait before tossing grappling hooks with rope ladders attached across the gap. They then charge, jumping on the ladders from the gunwales and through open gunports. The fight is brutal, the crew of the Andromache shoot many pirates as they clamber up the ladders, and pull many more through open gunports to their doom. Dufresne manages to make it onto the deck, and sees vicious hand-to-hand combat ensuing. A nearby pirate is shot in the head, splattering his face with blood. Disoriented and not wearing his glasses, he takes aim at a sailor with his pistol but misses the shot. The sailor attempts to dispatch Dufresne with a point blank shot to the face, but the pistol misfires. Dufresne tackles the man, and the two role around the deck. The sailor is able to get on top of Dufresne and unsheathe his knife, but someone's body is knocked into him, pushing him to the deck. Dufresne takes the opportunity to bite the man's throat out, killing him, before he falls unconcious. 

Billy Bones wakes up Dufresne as the crew continues to quell resistance aboard the ship. Billy approaches a hatch above the quarterdeck bunker, but a pistol emerges and fires, narrowly missing him. He then ignites a grenade and tosses it into the hatch, killing the occupants. Flint, Gates and Billy then enter the bunker, findinf only three men inside. Billy is incredulous that only three men were left to guard it, and Gates informs them that none of the dead or wounded were Bryson. Gates also tells them that the vanguard are on their way to clear the cargo hold. De Groot then tells them that the rudder is not responding, someone cut the mechanism belowdecks. Flint realizes something is wrong and orders the vanguard to be called back. He is too late however, for they break open a hatch and send in three men, who approach what appears to be another bunker. The three pirates are then peppered with bullets, and Hayes informs Bryson that they've killed three pirates, and perhaps it's time to send the pirates their terms. 

Bryson, Hayes and a sailor go down into the hold, where Mr. Scott is held chained with many other African slaves. Bryson explains to an irate Scott that Richard Guthrie ordered him to make sure Scott was on the ship when it left Nassau, as punishment for siding with Eleanor. Bryson then has one of the slaves shot and points his gun at another before a slave speaks up, begging him not to shoot the child. Meanwhile in the captain's cabin, Billy speaks to Dufresne, who is sorting documents. Billy finds a letter signed by Mrs. Barlow and pockets it before being called out to the main deck. Flint and Gates also strategize over how to breach the bunker, which has walls as thick as the outer hull and sits above the powder magazine, meaning they can't blow their way through. 

The Slave is  sent to the upper deck to relay a message. He emerges from the hatch and immediately several pirates train their pistols on him. He  speaks in West African Pidgin English while Joshua translates. He tells Flint that Bryson is secure in the hold with twenty men. While Bryson has time on his side, Flint and his men do not. Before leaving, Bryson messaged Captain Hume of the Scarborough, telling him where the Andromache was heading and where he would find Flint. At this moment, the Scarborough’s sails are spotted. While the pirates are distracted, the Slave lights a grenade and attempts to charge at Flint but is shot down by Billy Bones with a pistol. The grenade then detonates, splattering Flint with viscera and blood and leaving him furious. That night, on the deck the pirates attempt to figure out ways to breach the hold without attracting the attention of the Scarborough. Lars, an African crewmember, is covered in soot and lowered into the hold by Joshua and Joji. Once inside, he is to ignite a smoke bomb and chuck it through a murder hole. While Bryson's crew is choking on the smoke, the pirate vanguard are then to rush the bunker and force the door open. While Lars is able to get within throwing distance, Hayes spots him and shoots him dead before he is able to complete his task, disappointing the pirates above. 


Deep below decks, several of the slaves, including a female named Eme, are trying to convince Mr. Scott to help them in their efforts to escape. Mr. Scott rejects their requests. The slaves manage to stick a cloth out of one of the portholes. They hope that one of the Walrus crew will see that it is a sign of distress from slaves and come to their aid.   Up above, Billy Bones investigates a letter he has found in Captain Bryson's quarters that is from Miranda Barlow. It is a letter to the authorities in Massachusetts asking for leniency on Captain Flint, stating that he is a good man and is eager to repent his transgressions at sea. It ends very dubiously with the words: "He is caught in a dangerous plot with wicked men who will most certainly kill him when they learn of his betrayal." Bones pulls Gates to the side and shows him the letter and continues to voice his concern about Flint potentially playing with the lives of the crew. Gates tells him that they are in the middle of a battle and that he can do nothing about it at the moment. Gates proposes that four men dangle from ropes over the edge of the ship and try to cut holes into her side. When no one volunteers for the assignment, Flint picks four men, including Logan. Logan immediately rejects the idea, stating that it is suicide and tries to enlist Bones' support. As Bones begins to talk to Flint, Gates jumps in and punches Logan and reminds everyone that when they are in a battle, they must follow the captain's orders, even unto their death.


The crew is then alerted to the fact that there are slaves in the hold of the ship when someone spots the white cloth that Eme had hanged out the porthole. Flint looks at the manifest of the Andromache and sees that there are 38 slaves in the hold, including nine priced over 100 pounds, meaning that those nine are strong men. Flint tells Gates that he thinks that those men would jump at the chance to join the fight against Bryson. Below decks, Eme continues in her attempt to get Mr. Scott to help her and the other slaves escape. Just then, a crewman from the Walrus pushes a metal tool through the porthole. Having heard the noise that the tool made as it hit the deck, a member of the Andromache's crew enters the hold to investigate. Mr. Scott tells him that Eme is the one that caused the disturbance. When the man lifts Eme up and turns his back on the rest of the slaves, Mr. Scott jumps up from behind and strangles the man with his chains. Up on the top deck, the crew of the Walrus begins hitting the deck with their axes with a particular rhythm. The slaves then realize that this is to disguise the noise of them breaking their chains.

Bryson realizes something is wrong and sends Hayes and two men to investigate. When they open the door to the hold, they are rushed by the slaves, who tear them to pieces. The slaves, led by Scott, then attack the rest of Bryson's crew. Scott throws the tool at Bryson, who dodges it with ease. Scott and Bryson fight, and Bryson pushes Scott against the door to the bunker right near one of the murder holes. Bryson doesn't notice a pirate put his pistol by it and is shot in the right eye. Scott, now free, opens the door. The pirate vanguard, led by a roaring Joshua, swarms into the bunker. Joji remains by the door and swiftly cuts down any sailors who try to flee. As his men are being slaughtered, a badly wounded Bryson crawls towards the powder trap he had set up, but before he can reach and activate it, he is stabbed to death by Eme with the tool used to break the slaves' chains. 

Flint approaches Mr. Scott and states his astonishment at finding Scott in the hold, especially after he sold Eleanor out. Scott tells Flint that his agreement with Mr. Guthrie was that he was stay behind with Eleanor to protect her from Flint. Flint tells him that since he just lost six of his crew chasing down the Andromache that he should just throw Scott to them, but he states that he isn't going to do that. Instead, he wants to keep Mr. Scott alive just to show Scott that he and Eleanor will be successful in their plan to capture the Urca and to make Nassau a pirate nation. Below decks, two members of the crew find a powder keg and decide to take it. They are unaware that lifting the powder keg ignites an explosive device. This was the device that Bryson was crawling toward when Eme killed him. The explosion is massive and nearly blows apart the Andromache. However, more damning than the loss of the Andromache to the crew of the Walrus is that the explosion has surely been seen by the Scarborough in the blackness of night. Flint orders his crew to return to the Walrus and to cut loose from the Andromache so they can flee. The Andromache likely burns as a result of the explosion. 



Defenses[]

Andromache fires

The ship has over a dozen twelve pounder cannon, making its weaponry extremely powerful. When fully manned, the ship carries a complement of sixty men, all skilled fighters. Under the command of Captain Bryson, that ship has never been boarded, as he knows the routes he sails well, having traveled them for many years.

Bryson is a skilled commander and tactician. He is able to determine movements to better ready against attack.

In the events of boarding, the ship has a bunker, capable of holding at least twenty men, and is near impossible to breach. Its walls are as thick as the outer hull, and it sits above the powder magazine, preventing the use of explosives to breach it. It is only with the help of some of the cargo of slaves that Flint is able to take the ship.

Cargo[]

The Andromache is a trading vessel and carries varied items and things of value, including things like Chinese porcelain. They also carry slaves, which are held in a room underneath the bunker. On the ship's final voyage, she carried 38 slaves, nine of which were priced above £100, meaning they were strong men. 

Crew[]

Jolly
The Black Sails wiki has a collection of images and media related to Andromache.

Slaves[]

Image Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • The name "Andromache" is the name of several female characters in Greek mythology, the most famous of which is the wife of Hector, Prince of Troy. The name means "fighter of men" or "man battle."
  • In several shots, the Andromache flies the Red Ensign from both the jackstaff at her bow and the flagpole at her stern. This is an error, as the Red Ensign is only meant to be flown from the stern. The Union Jack is meant to be flown at the bow.
  • The Andromache is portrayed as having a lower gun deck, but the ship is too small for one. The Andromache is similar in size to the Walrus, and a lower gun deck would be below the waterline.

Appearances[]

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