Albert Savage

Albert Savage is a master's mate aboard HMS Terpsichore. He's a PC belonging to Keiju. His PB is Tony Haygarth.

Family
Wife - Ann

Children - William James (presently a journeyman carpenter at Plymouth Dockyard), Mary Louise

Appearance
It would be a stretch to call Albert Savage handsome or fashionable. He is of middling height with a round face and body, with weathered features and long plaited white hair. The stoop in his shoulders was once only slight but is now easy to see. This is the resuilt of many years serving in sloops, where the headroom belowdecks is not generous. His clothes are not of notably good cut or style, as he cannot afford quailty and must settle for inexpensive practicality. It would also be a stretch to call him shabby, for he takes painstaking care of his clothing and person, but it's uncomfortably clear that he is not a man of sound financial means.

Personality
His lot in life has not been a good one but no one who knows him can say that Albert Savage is a bitter man. It simply is not in him to be that way. When one path is blocked, he looks for another. His cheerful refusal to accept any difficulty or obstacle as permanent has kept him driving forward in the never-ending quest to support his family. Everything has a positive side in his opinion and he has a knack for spotting it. Equally, his is just a naturally buoyant personality.

Which is not to say he does not have his gloomy moods or bears no grudges. He most certainly does. The trick is not letting any of it show. There are plenty of things in life that Albert dislikes or even hates, but to all outward appearances nothing gets him down. To wallow in self-pity is to deny one's self the ability to get up again after being knocked down, he believes. Thus far in his life, he has never been so badly used that he is unable to recover in some way.

Strengths & Weaknesses
Strengths

- Albert has a long experience at sea in multiple roles, from midshipman to master and commander. He knows a considerable amount about ships, men, and sailing.

- His length of service is a result of natural determination and his inability to accept that something is impossible.

- Despite never having made post, he has the advantage of having been a master and commander of his own ship, which gives him particular insight into just how demanding the captain's lot is.

Weaknesses

- Unfortunately for Albert, he had never quite acquired sufficient interest to advance his career. The long spell as a lieutenant was only broken by receiving one command of his own and since then, he's had to settle for a warrant officer's berth in order to stay employed.

- The fact of his birth so close to French shores has many officers, a good number now of course senior to him, consider him undesirable as a post-captain. That Albert knows this doesn't make the lack of faith any easier to bear.

- Albert is also getting old. The time is soon coming when he simply cannot go to sea anymore, in any capacity.

Early life and going to sea
It was a sign of his future profession that Albert Jean Le Sauvage was born at sea, in his uncle's fishing boat. Since the boat, and almost the whole Le Sauvage family, were in French waters at the time, it was decided he would receive a French name. Within hours, however, the boat and the family were home again in Saint Peter Port, but Albert's name stuck. He would be glad in later years that the pronunciation did not. The Le Sauvages were officially a fishing family, but the existence of war between France and England meant they, like many other Guernsey folk, had their hands in a more lucrative trade: smuggling.

Though only eight years old when he accompanied his father and his uncle on a trip to the Cornish coast, a cargo of brandy and tobacco stowed in the boat's hold. They were bound for Kynance Cove, where they would deliver their cargo to the waiting carriers once the spotsman signalled that it was safe to come inshore. It was a run like any other and upon returning home, young Albert was hooked. The smuggler's life was not to be his true calling, though working on his uncle's boat taught him many things not just about smuggling, but about sailing, the weather, and himself. His rapid maturing, even being scarcely thirteen, and the increasing tensions between England and her American colonies decided matters for his father. As profitable as smuggling was, a boy needed a more stable future. Two of Albert's brothers had already left home for respectable trades, one to Bristol where he was apprenticed to a shipwright and the other to the army, having joined the 20th Foot.

Albert's protests against being sent to Plymouth were stout, despite arrangements having already been made for him to join HM Sloop Swan, 14, as a captain's servant. Those arrangements also including the changing of his name from Albert Jean Le Sauvage to Albert John Savage and the stern warning that he must never again speak French made the whole thing that much more unpalatable. There was no avoiding his fate, as much as he disliked being parted from his family for the first time in his life. It was perhaps the only time he ever resented the occurrence of something beyond his control. He spent a couple of days in a sulk after being delivered to his new home, but the demands of his new position quickly brought him back to his usual self. Life as a boy aboard a sloop of war, with no friends and few comforts, was hard and lonely, but Albert's own nature helped see him through. Inside a year, his efforts and cheerful work ethic saw him rated midshipman, which was the true beginning of his education as a sailor.

Time as a midshipman & lieutenant's examination
Over the following six years, Albert worked tirelessly to learn as much as he could, receiving instruction in the myriad tasks an officer was expected to be well-versed in. He learned sail-handling from the topmen, maintenance of the sloop's boats and the sloop herself from the carpenter, care and upkeep of the yards, masts, and rigging from the boatswain, navigation and ship-handling from the sailing master, the broader points of taking in stores and then stowing them from the quartermaster, and how to use a heavy cutlass with lethal effect from the ship's corporal. From the gunroom steward, he learned how to sew his own clothing and from the gunner, he learned how to load, fire, and clean not only the great guns but also a musket and a pistol. There was an overwhelming amount of information to take in and the years passed in a blur of unceasing lessons, trials, and hardships. In 1777, Albert's twenty-first birthday marked a turning point in his life, for the completion of his six years as a midshipman meant he was eligible to sit the lieutenant's examination.

Since Swan was then on the North American station, this was held at Halifax. Dressed in his cleanest uniform and clutching his books and certificates, Albert joined a dozen other midshipmen who were also facing the examination. The panel of four post-captains gave each candidate a thorough grilling, testing their knowledge of seamanship and forcing each youngster to think quickly and decisively on his feet, as he'd need to do should he someday have command of a ship. The experience was one that Albert found particularly nerve-wracking and he returned to Swan feeling certain he had failed. Nearly three days passed before a sealed packet was sent from shore addressed to him. In it was a letter offering him congratulations on his successfully passing for lieutenant. Also in the packet was his commission to serve on board His Majesty's Sloop Swan as her first lieutenant, taking the place of the previous officer who had been sent to hospital with fever.

Service with HM Sloop Drake and the post-war years
He remained in this capacity throughout the rest of Swan 's active service and received an unexpected promotion of sorts when Captain Ayscough was wounded badly enough to be sent home to England. Command of Swan thus became Albert's for the voyage to Plymouth so the sloop could be paid off. His time in Swan ended in 1780, with the reward of a week's leave ashore, which allowed to marry the daughter of a master carpenter at the Dockyard, with whom he soon had a child. A certain amount of suspicion existed as to the exact reasons for the marriage, but Albert and his new wife, Ann, insisted that all was above board. Further good fortune saw Albert and many of Swan's former crew sent to HM Sloop Drake, 14, in that same year. Soon after they went aboard, Drake received orders dispatching her to the West Indies, there to join the Leeward Islands Squadron. She remained there, excepting a brief return to England for refitting, until 1783, when American Revolution ended. Drake was paid off at Sheerness and Albert was consigned to the beach. There were few prospects for further employment for a young lieutenant with no interest or influential patrons. A sneering Admiralty clerk informed him it was only an oversight that he'd gotten as far as he had, considering his questionable ancestry.

Frustrated but undaunted, Albert went home to Plymouth, where domestic life resumed quickly enough. A second child, a son, was born in the winter of 1783. It wasn't easy to support a family on a lieutenant's half-pay, however, and Albert was obliged to take a post as a master's mate aboard a merchant schooner. It was not the sort of work he cared much for but it paid well enough. This posting got him through the next two years, until he was replaced, the official word was, by a relative of the schooner's captain. In reality, the first mate told him discreetly, it was because his parents were believed to be French. Once again on the beach, Albert turned to carpentry, going to work for his father-in-law at the Plymouth Yard. A desire to go back to sea soon compelled him to send letters to every captain he could think of, offering his services either as a lieutenant or a master's mate. He was not yet desperate but it was close.

Service with HM Sloops Calypso & Martin
Eventually, in 1787, a lieutenant he'd met in Halifax wrote to him with news that there was a vacancy aboard HM Sloop Calypso, 16, which was preparing for Channel service. He applied to the Admiralty for a commission to the vessel as a lieutenant, but he was not swift enough. A more senior officer had been given the berth but Albert was able to secure a place aboard as a master's mate. It was not what he'd wanted yet he was not about to complain. Calypso ultimately spent two years on the Jamaica station before returning to England in 1790, where she was paid off and placed in Ordinary. This time, Albert avoided another spell on half-pay by going aboard HM Sloop Martin, 16, as a lieutenant in 1791, having been asked for by her commander, George Duff. Not one to question such an unexpected piece of luck, Albert joined Martin without delay and remained with her for the following five years, staying aboard even after Duff's departure. Following his captain had been Albert's preference but Duff was on his way swiftly up the ladder and the repayment of favours took precedence over simple loyalty.

Frigate years & command of prizes
Duff's request for Albert was based on the reputation Albert had begun to establish for himself during the late war, and it proved to be a useful glimmer of preference. After leaving Martin because of illness in 1796, he received orders directing him to join HMS Eurydice, 24, then with the North Sea squadron. Within a few months of this, he was given the honour of commanding a prize crew aboard the captured French privateer Sphinx. It was the first time he'd commanded a vessel in over fifteen years. He was later sent off in the Voligeur prize. Both were very brief interludes but Albert enjoyed them thoroughly. As an aging lieutenant, he had long since accepted the reality that he would never receive a ship of his own, never mind make post. Commanding prize crews might be a small consolation but they were fine challenges in their own right.

Albert left Eurydice in 1800 when the frigate went into dock for refitting. The effects of George Duff's favour showed themselves again, with a fresh set of orders directing him to join HMS Savage, 36, an ironicaly-named frigate fitting out for foreign service. Albert joined her as quickly as he could, though his new captain, being in considerable legal trouble, was not on board to supervise the work himself. It meant a harder job for the lieutenants but there were few officers in the Navy who had not heard of Alan Lewrie or, at least, his reputation. Eventually, Savage went to sea, joining the squadron blockading Bordeaux. It was generally dreary work but before the frigate returned home, she and another ship created the chance for some action on shore, sending boats to attack two forts on the mainland and successfully destroying both. Albert commanded one of the boats and he and his men conducted themselves with steady courage, for which they received their captain's thanks and praise.

Command of HM Sloop Busy & joining HMS Terpsichore
He remained with Savage even after Captain Lewrie's departure, only leaving the frigate himself in 1803. To his undying surprise, he received command of HM Brig Busy, 18, with orders to join the Leeward Islands squadron. He was delighted with this extraordinary piece of good fortune and threw himself energetically into his new responsibilities. Busy, once she reached her appointed station, was given roving patrol duties without a specific purpose, but Albert was told to 'make himself useful' to the frigates on the station should he fall in with any of them. By mutual arrangement with his first captain, James Ayscough, Busy and HM Big St. Lucia, 16, sailed in tandem. Over the next two years, the two brigs were seldom idly cruising. They flitted around the West Indies like restless hunting dogs, until Busy was attached to a homeward-bound convoy as one of the escorting vessels, under the overall command of the captain of HMS Calypso, 32.

Busy was paid off in Plymouth upon her eventual return and Albert took a well-deserved month's leave to rest ashore. That month turned into two years. Try as he might, he was not able to beg, plead, or wheedle a place aboard a new ship, in any capacity. His age, he decided, must be working against him. He was nearly resigned to scratching out a living as a harbour pilot when a letter from a former colleague, now a post-captain, arrived, telling him that HMS Terspichore, 32, was going East Indies service and needed experienced warrant officers. It was not a gunroom berth but it was active employment. Albert managed to secure a place aboard the frigate and served with her until she returned to England and went into Chatham Dockyard for refitting. On the advice of Captain Montagu, he took lodgings near the dockyard and thus was one of the first men to volunteer to rejoin the frigate when she was recommissioned the following year. He might once again be only a master's mate, there being no room for lieutenants, but a ship in commission was a ship in commission - and he's aware that the time when he cannot go to sea any longer is not that far off.