The Battle in Division Bay occurred when the Walrus and the Ranger assaulted a Spanish Man O’ War. During the battle, a mutiny arose against Captain Flint, causing confusion aboard the Walrus. The result was a devastating defeat for the pirates.
History[]
Prelude[]
The Walrus and the Ranger sailed together with the goal of finding and capturing the Urca de Lima, the largest Spanish treasure galleon in the Americas, carrying a cargo worth 5 million pieces of eight in gold.
Unbeknownst to Flint, Hal Gates, his former quartermaster aboard the Walrus and now the captain of the Ranger, was plotting a mutiny against Flint along with Dufresne, De Groot and Dr. Howell, due to Flint's percieved role in the presumed death of Billy Bones, and his plans to sequester a portion of the Urca gold for his own plans.
The pirates sail to Division Bay, but find it empty. The pirates agree to give Flint two days to send out scouts to find the Urca. However, the mutiny aboard the Walrus is reaching a boiling point, with De Groot demanding that Flint be tried and hanged. While Gates is trying to dissuade Dufresne from going through with it, a Spanish Man O’ War arrives and Flint devises a plan to attack her. Gates gives Dufresne a letter he wrote, detailing Flint’s crimes to prove his loyalty to the mutiny. Gates then decides to talk with Flint in private.
In Flint’s cabin, Flint lays out his plan. The Walrus will pose as a beleaguered Spanish merchant vessel, while the Ranger fires two shots over their bow flying the Black as she sails away. At 300 yards, they are to open fire on the warship, signaling the Ranger to do the same. The Walrus will rake the ship stern to bow and then the Ranger will rake her bow to stern, sinking her before she has a chance to turn her broadsides on the pirates. Gates refuses, saying that all he sees is an empty bay, a guardacosta warship and a captain who’s lost his mind, and no Urca. Flint is convinced that the ship is an escort for the galleon, but Gates reminds him that the whole justification for this endeavor was that the Urca had no escort. Gates then reveals that he is behind the mutiny against Flint, and is going to be sailing the Ranger back to Nassau, knowing that Flint has no chance against the warship. Flint then kills Gates, and tells his crew that Gates had a heart attack.
Dufresne tells Flint to identify their last port of call as St. Augustine, and to say they are anything but a tobacco ship because the trade is regulated heavily by Seville.
Mutiny on the Walrus[]
When the Spanish Man O’ War arrives, Flint has John Silver, a fluent Spanish speaker, communicate with a Spanish Officer. Silver says that they are the Cazadora, and their captain is Marco Fernandez at Flint’s instruction. Flint then has Silver say that they are a tobacco ship. Flint’s suspicions prove correct, and the Spanish warship begins to pursue the Ranger.
The Walrus slowly turns itself to seem as if they are drifting while the gun crews prepare. When Flint orders them to fire, Dufresne accuses him of tyrannical crimes against his crew, including the murders of Singleton and Billy Bones, as well as a plot to steal a portion of the Urca gold. Dufresne produces the letter Gates wrote, detailing Flint's crimes, and hands it to Logan, who confirms that it is written in Gates' hand. Flint tries to fire a cannon himself, but is shot in the shoulder by Dufresne. As Dufresne orders the ship to turn around and head home to Nassau, Silver fires an unattended cannon. This causes the Spanish ship to realize the ruse and return fire. Dufresne then orders the Walrus gun crews to open fire.
The Battle[]
Initially, the pirates have some success. The Walrus' shots hit the stern of the Spanish warship and cause a small explosion, while the Ranger comes about and opens fire on the bow. However, the Spanish Man O' War begins turning, while the pirates continue to fire their cannons. However, the warship turns about, and opens its gunports, revealing massive amounts of cannons.
The Spanish fire their broadsides, tearing through the smaller pirate ships and wreaking havoc. Many pirates on the Walrus are killed or suffer horrific injuries. The Ranger's powder magazine is hit and it explodes, going down with all hands.
Meanwhile, the Walrus suffers heavy damage. The masts are damaged and several shots hit below the waterline. Several pirates placed below in preparation of this attempt to plug the holes, but too many shots hit to be able to stop the torrent of water. Flint looks around in dismay as his ship and crew are decimated, and is knocked overboard by a cannon blast. As he watches his ship and crew being destroyed by the Spanish, he allows himself to sink beneath the water. The Walrus is barely able to limp away, and the crew beach the ship on the shores of Florida, with only 32 survivors of the original crew.
Aftermath[]
The surviving pirates set up a temporary camp near the wreck of their ship. While scouting, the surviving Walrus pirates find the Urca de Lima. The ship had been wrecked on the Floridian shores during the hurricane the night before, which is the reason they were unable to find it in Division Bay. The Spanish soldiers set up camp and begin recovering the gold, while the Spanish Man O' War guards the bay.
Flint and John Silver are taken to the wreck, in the hopes that they could formulate a plan to take the gold from the Spanish. If they refuse, the crew will try and hang them.
Instead, Flint formulates a plan where the pirates can instead take the Spanish Man O' War, as the gold is too heavily defended. After convincing them that they can take the Spanish warship and replenish their forces in Nassau before returning to claim the gold. After some dissent, the pirates agree to the plan, and are successful in absconding with the Man O' War.