HMS ROYAL MINT

Oliver McClure , 10

Kea Primary School, Cornwall

Hi, my name is HMS Royal Mint. I am a wooden, four mast cargo ship, and I ship valuables from the UK to the Caribbean and back. I am about to embark on a journey from Nelson's Dockyard in Antigua to take cocoa beans, wealthy cocoa farmers, and gold back to Falmouth. Once I have offloaded my cargo the captain has promised me, I will be shipped back to my birth town of Liverpool for a long overdue refit.

Oh, look here come the crew, you can smell them before you even see them, with the stench of rum and unwashed bodies lingering in the air. The crew are dumping sacks of the precious cocoa beans into my hold and now fighting over the best posts to tie their hammocks to below deck. Through the raucous laughter you can hear the excited murmurings about the return to England. The insult on my senses is making me feel tired, see you bright and early when we set sail for Falmouth. (YAWN).

Good morning, ah, there's the captain. Sails up, ropes in, onwards with the aid of the trade winds, hopefully it will be easy sailing. What's the lookout shouting, a big storm up ahead? That's bad news, but we will have to brave it. All I can hear is the crew screaming, trap doors slamming, the masts are creaking, the wind is banging my sails like thunderclaps, it's deafening. The crew have abandoned deck and are bunkering down waiting for the storm to pass.

Suddenly I feel like I am being ripped apart and I can see one of my masts has been torn from its step and is floating away. I hear a burst of doors and all the crew members scramble out on deck to see what the noise was. Panicked orders are flying all around, the silly deck hand shouts to dump the heavy gold cargo and turn back. Without the gold coins and cocoa beans what hope is there of me ever being repaired, surely this can't be happening?

With a wave of relief, I can hear the captains voice of reason, steady and firm, above the mayhem "HMS Royal mint will continue with three masts, she has the power and the strength to manage on, back to your stations".

With the captain's words hanging in the wind the crew returned to duty, doing their best to manage with the rolling waves. "Nothing can stop me now"; I repeat over and over to myself, and we surge on. "Land Ahoy" comes from the crow's nest, and gradually I can see Lands' end. Finally, we pull into the harbour, what a spectacle awaits us, crowds of people are lining the headland and waving. What a journey we have been on, I wonder what will happen to all those gold coins now? I think my job here is done. I say to myself.