The Pirate's Airship and how they use it.

Today I had my first opportunity to inspect the Pirate’s airship closely and observe it in operation. Very few outside our island have ever seen it and lived to tell of it, and they have only seen it on the attack, when it is certainly at its fastest and fiercest. Confusion in the heat of battle may be judged by some to have led to exaggerations of the capabilities and effectiveness of the pirate airship, but my own observations show that it is indeed a deadly machine.

As accurate in some respects as the tales in circulation about the ship are, and as wildly embellished and fanciful in other ways – none of the stories I so avidly sought to listen to in the inns and taverns of home ever told the half of the true nature and use of this death angel of the skies.

If the first mate of the airship hadn’t been terribly weak and feverish on the dawn of the intended venture, I might never have had the chance to go aloft at all - but he was taken to his bed, and owing to the unique communication apparatus the pirates make use of, which takes a man of letters and some speed of wit to operate, the airship Captain took me along as substitute, not as First Mate in charge of the crew, but as the communications equipment operator. The Captain, of course, was fully capable to operate the equipment himself, but in battle mode, it behouves him to keep an eye on everything - ready to command without delay, and leave messaging the surface ships to another.

The pirates do not use the airship alone as has been supposed. In fact it is used more as a high command and observation post, and the bulk of the fighting, boarding and looting is done by surface vessels as pirates have done for generations. The airship is taken to a great height, where with the aid of strong spyglasses it can spot a sailing ship or steamer far away, while remaining nearly invisible high above the angle any shipbound observer would be likely to turn his glass. To further reduce the chances of observation, every part of the ship that can be, is painted a very light blue, that blends in excellent fashion with the sky itself.

The pirates have developed their strategy to a fine point – the airship typically loafs along high in the sky conserving fuel and water – while the pirate fleet trails along spread out, below the horizon from the point of view of any prey. Once a ship has been spotted, the bearings are transmitted to the fleet using an assembly of mirrors and lenses that swings with its operator far out on a wooden arm from the side of the main envelope (more of this later). The operator must have the presence of mind in this very exposed location, hanging by rope and beam far above the ocean, to not only operate the equipment by bringing it into alignment with the sun and the receiving vessel, but to also convert the shouted messages from the Captain into the dashes and dits of the code developed by Master Samuel Morse. By this ingenious and excellent method the Pirates can coordinate their plans for attack.

The airship Captain plots the course and speed of the prey vessel and transmits course bearings to the ships in the fleet that will bring them across the path of the unsuspecting ship before they are sighted. The fastest of the pirate fleet leads the reach across the victims course, while the slower ships angle to close off retreat, putting the bulk of the fleet behind and upwind of the hapless victim cutting off any chance of escape. By the time the honest Captain sights the pirate ship in his path, it matters little if he tries to engage it, or turns to windward in an attempt to avoid it – he is already surrounded by closing ships who can play cat and mouse until all guns can be brought to bear.

In the rare instance of the intended victim having more speed than expected or choosing a direction in which the trap is not complete, the airship itself, having stoked its firebox to the max in anticipation, will quickly deflate and furl the auxillary hot air balloon envelope used while observing, and using its engines to propel it more rapidly and directly than any surface ship - will dive to attack and herd the victim back into the waiting jaws of the trap.

The airship carries relatively light armament, but it is designed in such a way that it can shoot downward at its victims while remaining at a higher angle than most ships guns can be trained. No gunners have experience elevating their guns to hit a moving object in the sky, and the pirate airship has very seldom seen cannon shot come close. In the front of the airship is a leather gun – usually used as an easily transported field piece supporting offensive army movements. I have no idea how it came to be in the possession of the pirates, but it is excellent for the purpose - having sufficient bore to do damage to a ship but being very lightweight due to its construction around a relatively thin steel bore wrapped with strengthening layers of wire, wood, plaster and leather.

On each side of the airship are four mounts for swivel guns positioned in such a way that the guns can be trained nearly straight down. These are moved from side to side as needed, and are typically loaded with grapeshot and used at close range to decimate crew members attempting to man the rigging or deck canon. Every pirate also carries at least two loaded pistols stuck into his belt or sash, and will take aim at any opportune target. This firepower has proved sufficient to encourage vessels to avoid engagement with the airship once they have experienced its bite. The airship Captain makes a bloody pass, then stands off in the direction he does not want the ship to travel in, and slows his engines to make it appear that he is having trouble closing. In this way the ship is turned and herded like an innocent lamb back into the unseen trap.

Once the victim has been captured, the airship will return to its high altitude observation occupation, making sure that no other ships can sail over the horizon to surprise the pirate fleet. A huge amount of water is used in making the steam used by the airship engines and only a limited amount can be carried in wooden casks to replace it. The airship has the most ingenious design to maximize its time aloft without needing to replenish its fresh water supply (as salt water would quickly destroy the pipes and boiler tubes). The steam from the engines is vented directly into the large semi-rigid main envelope that supports the crew and gun hull closely below it, nearly as one piece. The smoke stack from the boiler passes through closed and protected openings in this envelope – providing some additional heat to the steam inside, and filling a large auxillary hot air balloon above the main envelope. With the fires at minimum, and the engines running at slow speed, the ship is supported at whatever altitude is desired by the combined lift from the main envelope and the balloon above it. The hot air balloon can be quickly vented to loose altitude or when being furled for speed mode without losing any steam. In this loafing mode, the steam condenses on the surfaces of the main envelope and trickles down to be collected and piped back to the boiler feed tank.

In high speed mode the steam in the main envelope is at much higher temperatures and some is inevitably vented and lost. The surface ships carry extra fuel and fresh water for extended ventures, but the airship is limited in the time it can spend in high-speed operation.

After five days spent traveling to a region of frequent sailing traffic the fleet was soon rewarded by the sighting of a sailing freighter. The arranging of the trap took most of a day, all night, and part of the next day, but when sprung, all was over in just a few hours. No one on board that freighter will be heard from again, but the food, drink and goods will be welcomed on our island and by those we trade with.

I am at a loss to balance my joy at seeing this marvelous machine in action – performing so well the task it was designed, and my abhorance of the casual way the pirates kill, loot the bodies and dump them overboard. I was near sick and had no appetite or interest in company for some time after the battle. Strangely, none of the pirates seemed to find fault in me for that, and left me to my solitude and reflection while they drank as much of the freighter’s ale as they could hold and shared tales of the fighting that grew more fantastic with every flagon.