To the honorable lords of the Admiralty, First Lord Admiral Manfred
Dear Sir,
Shortly after 4 bells in the first dog watch of the 15th instant, we spied an unknown sail hull down on the easterly horizon. She was nose on to us, and the lookout was unable to determine the exact cut of her sails. She was clearly square rigged and sailing straight towards us. Believing her to be an enemy warship that had mistaken us for a merchant vessel, I ordered my men to silently clear for action, so as not to alert the newcomer to our intentions.