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By: Bull Gator
Chapter 6 in a series about a unique Royal Ranger Outpost.
In our last episode the Royal Rangers rescued a family who's boat overturned in the ocean. Can this group stand any more excitement...read on my friends and see!
"Hello Bob" said Jim from the mainland. "Hey Jim, how's it going?" replied Bob. Not bad my friend, say listen, my employers are here now and we're about to go on a salvage job a couple of days from here. I was telling them all about you guys and the things you're doing out there so far. They were so impressed that they authorized me to offer berths to five of your divers to accompany us on this trip. They'd also like to come and visit your little home away from home." "That sounds great!" replied Bob. "I know some of the guys are getting stir crazy already. I'll discuss it at dinner tonight and make up some kind of selection criteria, how soon do you have to have an answer?" asked Bob. "Sooner the better" said Jim, " we leave tomorrow at high tide, and should be in your area about mid afternoon. I'll call you on the way" said Jim. "Sounds like a plan" said Bob. "See you then." "Right" said Jim, "later".
"OK guys here's the situation, Commander Jim is on his way aboard the Stallion", there were cheers and applause, everyone liked Jim and besides they could go aboard and get some sun and fresh air. "He's got a deal for us. They are en route to dive on a Spanish galleon about two days from here. He has offered berths for five rangers to go along." The excitement really started to build now and it took some doing to quiet everyone down. "I've agreed to the deal, then I thought ; who am I going to pick, so here's what I've come up with; Red team has seven members and Blue team has five. I need two Red team members here for emergencies and the Blue team needs at least one member here. So there are going to be three drawings." He held up a blue cup and a red cup and a green cup. "In the red cup are all the Red team numbers, in the Blue cup are all the Blue team numbers. The green cup ia currently empty. First I want the Red Team leader to draw one number from the Blue Team cup. This will be the Blue Team member we know will be staying." The patrol leader stepped up and picked a number "9", he said. "AW man!" came an exasperated yell from the rear of the crowd. "Now the Blue Team leader will pick two from the red cup. As the boy stepped up everyone cheered and proclaimed their friendship. "Numbers 3 and 6" said the boy as he took his seat. "Now" said Bob, "we put the remaining numbers of both teams in the green cup." This done he put a cap on it and vigorously shook it. There were nine numbers in the cup and before he drew the numbers he stopped and prayed. Then he asked the boys whether he should draw four to stay or five to go. Everyone said "STAY!". "Alright, stay it is. The next four numbers are the ones who'll stay aboard, the remaining five will be going with Commander Jim." He drew the first number "7" then "12" then "8", he drew the last number but before he could call out the number a voice from the rear could be heard. "Commander!" "Yes #13, what is it?" asked Bob. "Well sir" said the boy, "I'm the youngest person here and I don't have that many open water dives. I think that I would like to volunteer to stay here." While the young man was talking Bob snuck a peek at the last number. It was the number "1". One was the team leader for the REd team and the most experienced diver on board. He was praying that his number would not be drawn. "Any objections?" he asked the group, of course there were none. "So be it!" said Bob. As he dropped the numbers into the cup he said, "1,2,4,10,11, you will report to the diving pool at 1300 hours ready to depart." There were back slapping and congratulations and of course some disappointments, but they all had a fair chance and commander Bob did the right thing. With less personnel on board some of the extra systems could be shut down and there would be a little less for Commander Bob to worry about.
"13, got a moment?" Bob called as the boy passed his cabin. "Yes Sir?" said the boy standing in the doorway. "Come in" said Bob, "have a seat." As he closed the door he asked,"what made you do that this morning?" "It's like I said, I'm the youngest and.." Bob held up his hand. "I know all that son, but I also know that this trip is a dream come true for a new diver and I think there's more here than meets the eye." The young boy hemmed and hawed and looked everywhere but at his commander. Finally he came clean. "The last number was one wasn't it sir?" he asked. Bob's eyes widened. "How did you know that? I didn't show or tell anyone else." The boy shrugged his shoulders, "the Lord impressed on me that one wanted to go really bad and that you were holding his number in your hand. He would have honored your decision of course but that would have broken his heart." "13" said Bob, "you're wise and caring beyond your years. You showed true ranger responsibility and consideration for you fellow ranger. I'm very proud of you." "Thank you sir, but could we sort of keep this between ourselves please?" Bob got up walked over to the boy who immediately bounded to his feet, he stuck out his hand, smiled and said "Done!" Grasping his leader's hand the youngest ranger on board the UWL grew about six inches in stature. He smiled saluted and stat red to leave when the intercom squawked, "Commander Bob?" "Yes" answered Bob holding down the button. "Sir the Stallion is on station, requesting to begin personnel transfer." "Right away , tell Stallion they should surface within 10 minutes" "Yes sir!" said the ranger on duty. "13" would you do the honors and tell the diving team to report to the diving pool. "Yes Sir!" said the boy as he bounded off. "That boy is going far for sure" thought Bob. He grabbed his STAFF hat and went below to the diving pool.
Two of the boys were already there, and Bob could hear the others on the way. 13 was there too, helping the others with their equipment and attaching the tether cords to the waterproof containers which held their dry clothes and personal items. When the other three arrived and got all situated Bob called them to attention. As the boys listened, he told them to remember that they were above all else Christians and secondly they represented the entire ranger program. Follow the rules and he'd see them in 3 or 4 days. As it would turn out it would be 7 days.
Welcome aboard gentlemen!" said Jim as the five divers climbed aboard the Stallion. He shook each of their hands and showed them where to stow their equipment. Reaching for his radio he said. "All ahead full Tommy" "Aye Aye skipper" came the reply and the two twin turbines surged the vessel forward. He flipped the switch again and called "Stallion to UWL, transfer complete and underway." "Roger Stallion" replied Bob. "Take care of my boys Jim" "Not to worry Bob" said Jim. "Over and out." He went below where the boys were changing into their work uniforms. "As soon as you guys get changed come to the dining room, we held lunch for you and there are some people I want you to meet. "Yes sir!" they all responded, memories of the grub that the ship's cook was famous for foremost in their minds or taste buds...
"Gentlemen, I'd like to introduce to five members of the UWL rangers." Hands were shook all around and the senior members congratulated each of the boys on their accomplishment with the UWL. "Well sir" said 1. "We could not have done it without God, Commander Jim and the Stallion of course. On behalf of the entire crew aboard the UWL. We thank you for the use of Commander Jim and this vessel." He reached into a package he was carrying and presented to the owners a plaque with the ranger emblem and the UWL laser cut into the surface. It stated; "To Stallion Salvage and Recovery in appreciation for your participation in a very successful deployment of the UWL-20. Many thanks and God Bless." The owner handed the plaque to Jim and said. "Skipper, I think you know what you can do with this!" "Yes Sir!" said Jim. He took the plaque and affixed it to the wall in the dining room in a place of honor. "Hey! he said "Let's eat!" After lunch, the tables were cleared and Jim brought out the charts, tide tables, pictures and all the other information which pertained to the upcoming venture. "This vessel has yet to be named, mainly because no one knew that it even existed. There are over 100 vessels that are unaccounted for from the Spanish fleet. Also the English and French have lost vessels in this area also. The reason we found it now is that due to the storm last month that we went through, it shifted the sand on the ocean floor and uncovered it. It was picked up by a low level surveillance satellite." He handed out some satellite. images and after careful study you could make out the shape of the vessel. "What's that dark band to the south?" asked one of the boys. "Good eye!" said Jim. "That's a drop off of over 200 feet deep. This vessel is sitting on a ledge. There's no telling how long it will stay there, that's why we're rushing this one. If it goes over the edge it will be destroyed completely so our first order of business is to identify her. We're going to take as many pictures as possible, to get a positive ID. "But!" said another member of the team, " don't you have to surface to develop your film before you can do that?" "Not with these" said Jim as he place a weird looking camera on the table. This is a hi-image radio transmitting digital camera. Each one is on a separate channel and broadcasts to the main computer here on board. Which in turn links to the national archives satellite. in less than 60 seconds from the time of the first image taken." "Cool!" said one of the boys. "Yeah!" said Jim, "a cool 15 grand apiece, there are ten of them, one for each diver, so don't drop them!... please!" "Yeah!, please don't " said the owner.
"Everyone up!" came the call over the loudspeaker. It was 0430 hours aboard the Stallion had dropped anchor 100 yards from the wreckage site. They had steamed all night in order to spend as much daylight on the site as possible. "Breakfast in 5 minutes!" came the call.
Everyone scrambled to the dining room expecting the usual, eggs to order, omelets, fruit, bacon,sausage, ham and anything else they wanted. Instead they found fruit and a lite fare to say the least. "We don't want you cramping up down there" said the cook. "Don't worry we'll have a big dinner for you tonight, might even pull out the grill!" All the guys knew what that meant, so they consoled themselves with a healthy breakfast for now. "When you're done" said Jim. "I need you all to check out your equipment, and make sure your camera is in sync with the computer. I want to be in the water NLT 0600 hours." Everyone nodded agreement and understanding.
"OK" stated Jim. "There are 10 of us making five teams of two each, even using new math. I think that comes out right." Everyone laughed mostly out of nervousness, Jim had tried to insert some levity into the situation but when the first mate came down and whispered in his ear he became all business again. "Okay, here's the deal, we've got about 18 hours to gather all the information about this vessel as we can. I want to try and rig a reverse sea anchor on the wreck using the Stallion as the anchor. There's a major storm brewing and like I said we've only got about 18 hours, and oh one other thing the shark population is out and about. Keep your eyes open and watch your partner's backside. OK!, 0600 let's get wet!.
The ten divers hit the water seconds apart, if anything was in the area the noise would either scare it away or attract it one. The sun had risen over the horizon about 30 minutes ago and the water was golden to about 20 feet. After that it was still dark. As Jim led the descent he signaled for everyone to turn on their high intensity lights. Ten beams shot through the murky water and almost instantly two small sharks shot out of the light path. This put everyone on alert; as no one wanted to be breakfast for these finny friends.
There it was! What a sight for the young rangers. A Spanish galleon resting on its side almost 100 feet below the surface. The front half of the vessel was visible above the sand, but there was no telling how much of it was still buried below the sand. It could very well be a broken vessel with the aft portion already in the deep trench to the south, only a few yards away. Jim signaled for everyone to split into their teams and start taking pictures. Each team had be assigned a certain portion of the vessel to photograph so that there were not multiple images of the same area, but as many pictures as possible of as much as possible. Two of the ranger teams were assigned to the starboard bow area. This would be the most likely area to have a name emblazoned on the vessel or some other type of identification. One diver was fanning away the sand from a piece of wood that was laying close by a broken section of the bow, when all the sudden there it was!
Author's note: For the purposes of entertainment the name of the vessel is fictional, any resemblance to an actual vessel is purely coincidental.
"Santa Margarita" was the name clearly shown on the wood debris. The ranger took out his diving knife and started tapping on his partner's tanks to get the others attention. Less than a minute later everyone was gathered around the piece of wood which costively identified the sunken vessel. Everyone started pounding the boys on the back for a job well done. Jim was a little ways off and tapped his tanks to get everyone's attention, this done he motioned for everyone to do as he was doing. He dropped to his knees, lowered his hands to the sand. He did this repeated in reverence to the two young divers who had upstaged the veteran divers present. Everyone was making clapping motions, the two young men felt like kings. Jim took the piece of wood and put it in a place they were gathering items to take topside. Checking his watch he indicated that they only had 15 minutes left at this depth. The next thing they had to do was check the surrounding area for scattered debris. Two of the other divers found three cannons and several hundred cannonballs. Jim had told them earlier that cannonballs were sometimes used as ballast because of their weight.
Jim was busy with the others rigging the cables that were distended from the Stallion. They secured them to the wreck in such a manner that there would be minimal to no damage to the vessel. Several bags of debris had been gathered when Jim tapped the signal for them to surface. A large basket had been lowered from the Stallion and the bags were loaded into it and the ten divers began their ascent. Using the dive line from the Stallion they stopped at designated points to decompress themselves. Finally breaking surface with only 10 minutes reserve left in their tanks.
The waves were already showing whitecaps as the storm drew nearer. As Jim and the divers swam into the horseshoe. The stallion raised he anchor and swung around to face the storm head-on. Secured to the wreck the Stallion was now effectively a huge sea anchor. It was Jim's hope that this would keep the wreck from being pushed over the edge of the abyss and being totally destroyed. The basket was kept just below the surface inside the hors hoe. The tanks were flooded and the stern settled deeper into the water making for more drag. The engines were started and placed at just above idle to make sure that there was no slack in the lines tied to the wreck, Everyone started securing loose equipment in preparation for the storm.
When the storm hit it was a force two gale. The Stallion sat low in the water, so the waves at times was the full length of the vessel. No one was allowed to venture out on deck during the maelstrom. The chances of being swept overboard were too great. Cameras kept an eye on the wreck below and the aft of the Stallion. So far no movement had been detected. Jim kept a constant vigil at the monitor and watched the senor panel constantly. Adding power to the engines as the storm increased. The storm raged for 18 hours, Jim never left the control room. Food was sent from the galley but he never slept.
Finally the wind died down and the sea returned to a gentle swell. Jim stopped the engines and allow the Stallion to drift back to position itself directly above the wreck. The weather bureau said these conditions would remain for the next 5 days and nights. Jim immediately set out to create a rotating shift schedule for his divers. Making sure that the newest dives were assigned to the day shift. He tried to partner and experienced diver with one not so experience, just to keep things safe. They would began at dawn, in about 4 hours. Jim went to his cabin and laid down, he was asleep before his eyes were fully closed. Some people in this world are born with an internal alarm clock. So was Jim. At 0545 hours his eyes snapped open and his feet hit the floor. He stripped off his clothes, took a hot shower and talcum ed his body prior to putting on his wetsuit. As he entered the dining room. he was grateful that the entire 1st shift was all present and accounted for.
The 1st mate had started a bulletin board with pictures and updates. There was also a newspaper article and picture taken at the bottom of the ocean with the two rangers holding the board with the vessel's name on it. The caption read "UWL Royal Rangers discover lost Spanish Galleon. Everyone knew that they didn't actually discover the wreck, but they did in fact discover its identity. An email was sent to the UWL and a congratulatory email was posted from Commander Bob and the rest of the outpost. The conservation was light throughout the rest of the meal. Finally the bell rang. Jim stood up, "Let's get wet!" he said and the dining room emptied very quickly.
They followed the sea anchor lines don to the wreck. The salvage buckets had already been lowered and were sitting on the bottom. Each team again had been assigned a designated search area and each of them proceeded to that area. Two teams were assigned to the storm run path. The place where any debris would be forced to as a result of the storm. Jim measured the distance the ship had moved from where it was to where it is now. Using a hand held GPS device it was determined that it only had moved about 3 inches. Had the Stallion not been holding her it was quite possible that the Santa Margarita would have been washed over the edge and been lost forever. The storm debris team was having a field day. There were pieces of eight scattered all over the storm path. They put out search grids and then concentrated on each of them one at a time. In one section they found over 50 coins and a gold gross inlaid with diamonds, rubies and emeralds. The divers in the wreck area were finding the heavier items. Some personal stuffs from crew members or even passengers. Jewelry, cups, forks, spoons, pots and pans. Plenty of lead bars used as ballast. More cannonballs and an additional 9 cannons were found. It took three days to get everything catalogued and filed. The storage bins on the Stallion were bulging. The crew had to erect some temporary tent type storage areas on the deck for additional space. The crew of the Stallion dove repeatedly for 4 days before they took a break. A total of 688 dives without stopping.
"Alright! Alright! let's settle down!" said Jim. Everyone present were very keyed up, things had gone so well no one could hardly believe it. "I've got a special treat for everyone" said Jim as he sat down a small box on the table. "Our find is well into international waters, thus the state of Florida has no claim on it's contents." Everyone got really quiet, thoughts of riches for each of them were foremost in their minds. "But!" Uh oh! here it comes thought everyone. "The Spanish government has laid claim to the historic content. Granted we are going to get paid for our services an d... I was able to con them out of something else" This peaked everyone's interest. He continued, "with the help of our machinist mate I was able to make these for every member of crew, all will receive one" he said as he held up a gold coin suspended on a gold chain. "These were taken off the wreck below and are gifts from the Spanish government to everyone on board. They are valued roughly at about 500.00 apiece on the open market. They are yours to do with as you please." With that he passed one to everyone present. These remaining ones are for the support crew and the owners. We've got one more day of diving before the official represent ave from Spain arrives with his own crew and takes over the operation. Let it be known that even though we are leaving we will catalog and turn everything over to the Spaniards when they arrive. Understand?" Everyone affirmed their understanding and went back to admiring their gifts. The mate had done a superb job of cleaning and polishing each coin, drilling the hole and putting a 20 inch 24kt chain on each with a lobster claw safety clasp.
The next day more coins and jewels were found along with a couple gun barrels from old muskets. There was one more remarkable find. It was a sword with a gold inlaid hilt. It was the find of the day and Jim had planned a big presentation to the Spaniards when they arrived. In fact he couldn't put it down, he kept picking it up and turning it over and over in his hands. The intricate carvings depicting David defeating a lion on one side and Samson between the columns of the coliseum. The blade had a slight curvature to it. Jim cleaned, rubbed and polished the entire length of the sword until it sparkled like a diamond. Ordinarily the blade would have been completely beyond saving. However this sword belonged to a very important nobleman. The handle was gold was hammered of pure silver. The salt water had no effect on those two metals. Jim put the sword into a velvet lined case and went back to the deck storage area. As he climbed down the ladder he saw a large dot on the horizon, calling the 1st mate, he confirmed that it was the Spanish recovery team.
Jim signaled the divers still below to come up, for their work was done. It took almost 20 minutes for then all to surface and another 10 to get on board the Stallion. By the time they retried the baskets and put the latest items in the storage bins, the audible sound of a large anchor splashing into the depths could be heard. Five minutes later a delegation from the vessel came alongside the Stallion in a launch. Jim was at the ladder when then came on board. Pleasantries were exchanged and a quick tour of the storage areas on deck was given,. Exclamations and grasped hands were evident with every bin that was looked into. Jim brought the delegation over to the divers who were all lined up and who all were wearing their media lions. The head of the delegation shook hands with each and every diver who took part in the artifact retrieval. Each diver in turn thanked the man for the medallions he was wearing. The man did a small bow to each diver in turn. He stopped when he came to the ranger divers. They were wearing their ranger T-shirts. He asked what the emblem stood for and weren't they a little young for this type of operation. Jim told him about the UWL and included a little history about Rangers. The man commented that it sounded like he was a ranger too. Jim smiled as he proudly unzipped his jacket and showed his own ranger T-shirt. The man and the rest of the delegation were visibly impressed and expressed a desire to visit the UWL when their work here was finished. Jim assured them that they would be welcomed.
All the while this was taking place the 1st mate had been inching the Stallion closer and closer to the Spanish vessel. Finally when they were about 10 feet apart, lines were attached to both vessels to keep them from drifting apart. With stead pressure from the Stallions side thrusters the tension was kept and the distance remained constant, pulling against the anchor of the larger vessel. A suspension bridge was hoisted between the two vessels by the crane on the Stallion. Jim told the Spanish represent ave that his crew would help then unload while he had the cook prepare some lunch. The man shook his head, "Please senor Jim, you and your crew are our guests, my chef has prepared a banquet in your honor." "Fantastic!" said Jim. "You all go ahead and I'll be there in a minute." The rest of the crew and their hosts all went aboard the other vessel to the sounds of music piped over the loudspeaker system.
Everyone was seated when Jim came into the room. He was carrying a walnut box. "Senor Alvarez" he began "it has been quite an experience for us to be part of recovering your country's history. And it is with great gratitude that we accepted you gifts from the Santa Margarita." The other man made a small bow to all present. "Now we have something for you." Jim set the box on the table and opened it. Everyone from the Stallion already knew what was in the box. But the expression from the Spaniard when Jim handed him the sword was something else. He uttered several words which no one understood, but the look on his face said it all. "I accept this in the name of my government. This weapon was being sent to the king od Spain from the aztec king in Mexico, it's monetary value would be well over a million dollars of your money." Everyone took a deep breath of amazement. You could almost see Jim crying inside, " a million bucks!" he thought. "Senor Jim!" the ambassador was talking to him. "Uh.. yes ambassador?" said Jim. "SEnor, this act is beyond honesty, an average man would never had given this up. Your honesty has gotten you more than you'll ever realize." Everyone started clapping and Jim's face turned red with embarrassment."Thank you Senor and thank you everyone else, I don't deserve the applause but I'll accept it on your behalf. More applause and hand shakes.
It took the rest of the day and night to offload the Stallion and transfer everything to the other vessel. The owners spent several hours negotiating the fee that they would charge for their services. Finally the ambassador picked up their proposal, looked at it and ripped it to shreds. The owners watched in amazement as the man took a piece of paper wrote out a proposal and signed it with a flourish and put the seal of his government on it. The owners were about to object, but stopped when the proposal was slid across the table; it was over triple what they were asking for. Handshakes all around sealed the deal and the ambassador that the funds would be deposited in their account at the opening of business the next morning. As they were leaving the ambassador asked if they would please deliver this small box to Senor Jim. It was non-de script and had an envelope attached with read "Senor Jim". Jim had already retired for the evening, so they decided to wait till breakfast. He had worked really hard and deserved his rest. Actually Jim wasn't asleep, in fact he was up writing in his journal. Then he read several chapters from his Bible and still unable to rest, pulled out the LTC from Commander Bob. He really got into it and was totally absorbed when the alarm went off. It was time to get up!
Good morning gentlemen" said the senior partner. "On behalf of the other owners and myself we want to congratulate each of you for a job extremely well done. This is the start of a long and profitable business for the Stallion Recovery and Salvage." Everyone applauded and slapped each other on the back. The 1st mate came in and handed him a note. He read it then tapped his glass to get everyone's attention. "Last night myself and the other owners were in discussion with the ambassador over our fee. In the end he took it and tore it to bits." Everyone looked around in puzzlement. The owner held up his hand and said, "This just came in. Confirmation of deposit in Stallion Recovery account. Gentlemen, the amount deposited in our account is three times the amount of our proposal, which means that this being an employee owned company that the overage will be split with it's owners based on your share percentage." Everyone cheered, everyone that is except for our five rangers setting at their own table. The man noticed this and raised his hand again and added, "Being as our Ranger guests are not owners and have no percentage in the company, the other senior partners and I have come to what we feel is an acceptable reward for their hard work." The boys were now on the edge of their seats. A $5000.00 bonus will be deposited in each of the boys names for their future education and a yearly annuity of 50,000.00 will be made to the Royal Ranger UWL fund on one condition." The boys looked at each other questioningly."You must promise to continue to come and help when ever we go again. All five shouted, "Done!" "Congratulation gentlemen!" Everyone including the rangers clapped this time. One last time the owner held up his hand, "and now.." as he said that the chef wheeled out trays of steaks, ribs, chops and everything else imaginable for them to eat. "Eat up gentlemen, we weigh anchor at 1000 hours."
Wow! can you imagine, gold coins, swords, cannons and all the other artifacts, then to get college paid for and the UWL amply funded. Could anything else be so great.
Don't miss Chapter 7 in this great adventure.
See ya next time!