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It was thought on board the "Wasp" that the enemy fired thrice to her twice, but the direction of their shot was seen in its effects; the American losing within ten minutes her maintopmast with its yard, the mizzen-topgallant-mast, and spanker gaff.
"And every minute their fire grew hotter, and their aim truer down came our mizzen-topgallant-mast, and hung down over our quarter; away went our bowsprit but we held on till we struck their line 'twixt the 'Santissima Trinidado' and the 'Beaucenture, and, as we crossed the Spanisher's wake, so close that our yard-arms grazed her gilded starn, up flashed his Honor's sword, 'Now, lads! cried he, hailing the guns and then why then, afore I'd took my whistle from my lips, the old 'Bully-Sawyer, as had been so patient, so very patient, let fly wi' every starboard gun as it bore, slap into the great Spanisher's towering starn, and, a moment arter, her larboard guns roared and flamed as her broadside smashed into the 'Beaucenture, and 'bout five minutes arterwards we fell aboard o' the 'Fougeux, and there we lay, young sir, and fought it out yard-arm to yard-arm, and muzzle to muzzle, so close that the flame o' their guns blackened and scorched us, and we was obliged to heave buckets o' water, arter every discharge, to put out the fire.
And as the frigate broached-to we saw that my surmise was not very far wide of the mark, her mizzen-topgallant-mast and mizzen-topsail yard having been shot away, the latter in the slings. The three vessels now went at it, hammer and tongs, the brigantine being for the moment fairly under the frigate's guns.
To name the masts in order, we have the Fore-mast. Main-mast. Mizzen-mast. Fore-top-mast. Main-top-mast. Mizzen-top-mast. Fore-topgallant-mast. Main-topgallant-mast. Mizzen-topgallant-mast. The parts of the different masts are connected and secured by means of cross-trees and caps, which are named after the mast and part of the mast to which they belong.
She had also many killed and wounded; while the only visible damage on board the "United States" was the loss of the mizzen-topgallant-mast, a circumstance of absolutely no moment at the time. In short, although she continued to fight manfully for a half-hour more, the "Macedonian," when she got alongside the "United States," was already beaten beyond hope.
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