Hoist the Rogered Jolly!

'Do the men seem invigorated by my message?' asks Captain Hans Hohenlohe.
'Aaaar! It be difficult to tell, sir', replies his quartermaster herr Crispin Drei. 'Pirates be known for many things - heavy drinking; excessive violence; fondness for pets; and a commendable openness to amputees, sir. But they be not so well known for their vocabulary'.
'Well, what sorts of words aren't they familiar with?' asks Hohenlohe.
'Well, "vocabulary" be one, sir; aaaar! And "pecuniary" - that probably be another. Most I suspects thinks it might be a drink. Others, I thinks they hopes it be a monkey'.
'They'd like a modest monkey as a reward?'
'Nothing so tricky, sir, as a monkey with ideas above its station'.
'Yes', nods Hohenlohe thoughtfully, 'I suppose so. In truth, I was surprised to find that we had a flag for the word "pecuniary". Indeed, there seemed to a whole set of flags covering some words that one wouldn't normally expect in maritime communications'.
'Aaar, sir. Such as?'
'Well, "strobate", was one. And I felt that "transmogrify" was another interesting inclusion'. Hohenlohe looks at the rather large pile of neatly folded signal flags that rest in baskets on the deck. 'It would seem that the previous crew certainly were rather better educated than our fellows; and also' he says, looking at the crisp piles, 'rather more enthusiastic about ironing. Now', he says more determinedly, 'let's catch hold of that pretender fellow'.

Wisely dispensing with the notion of relying upon firepower, Hohenlohe directs his vessel to close with the enemy flagship. (Above, left) As his ship passes near the bow of the enemy, Hohenlohe commands his crew to grapple the Sausage.  Drei looks at the first mate, Lars Yerda; Yerda looks back.
'Aaaar, sir - there be no time for that really, I'm thinking'.
'A time and a place there is' adds Yerda in agreement.
'Use the grapples on the enemy ship!' shouts Hohenlohe urgently.
Drei and Yerda nod enthusiastically. 'A better use of our time that is' says the latter, and gives the order.
(Below) Success! The two ships are locked together.

(Above) Hohenlohe gestures forwards. 'At them men! Take the ship! Board them! Rest assured that I shall be supporting you from a command position best situated to give me a full overview of the fight; which, sadly, means that I must stay somewhat to the rear'.
Herr Drei hefts a cudgel and sucks his teeth. There's a shout from the crew and they then begin to hop over the bow and into the enemy vessel.
'It be tricky, sir', says Drei. 'There be quite a few of the enemy over there'.
'Well', says Hohenlohe, 'I always feel that it's good to stretch oneself'.
'Unless yer be on a rack,'says Drei reflectively, 'being tortured'.
The captain nods, watching his men pile across. 'Yes, yes - good point. Although I expect under those conditions that someone would do it for you'.
Gunfire erupts on the deck of the enemy ship, and the sounds emerge of cutlasses clashing.
'Excellent!' cries Hohenlohe 'Fly the flag for no quarter, mister Drei!'

(Above) With a display of "alacrity", "puissance", and "ardour" not seen since the sailors last glanced at a dictionary, the crew of the Centennial Sparrow fights its way onto the main deck of the Sausage.

(Below) On the rear deck, the Bachscuttel commander, Admiral Doenutz, looks up to see a black and white flag being unfurled on the main mast of Hohenlohe's ship.
'It's a skull and cross-bones!' cries out his wheelman.
'No, no: it's certainly a skull, granted', replies the admiral peering up into the enemy shrouds. 'But it seems to have a small caricature of a pirate fellow next to it. He's got his trousers down, and he seems to be thrusting something into the left eye socket of the ... Well, I find that simply disrespectful!'

(Above, right) To the stern (or whatever the back end bit is known as) of the Sausage, the Maverick can be seen sailing straight towards the Bachscuttel flag ship. On the Shrimp, however, the captain has other ideas.

The captain of the Shrimp is one Luther von Wugposch. Wugposch, accompanied by his pet monkey, Clive, were early volunteers for the navy of the Palatinate of Saukopf-Bachscuttel. The personnel shortages experienced by the navy had led at that time to a short-lived experiment in which the Bachscuttel admiralty permitted monkeys (of a good character) to serve aboard ship. In some respects this had worked out very well, since it turned out that their biting, incessant chatter, and penchant for relieving themselves in public places made them quite reserved by pirate standards. It also helped, of course, that monkeys would work, quite literally, for peanuts. In the longer term, however, things worked out less well, since there arose amongst the human crew a considerable ill-feeling towards their better behaved primate ship mates. A mutiny occurred prompted by resentment of the fact that, being fed fresh fruit regularly and having their own cages, the monkeys lived in much better conditions. Also, they tended to be promoted faster. Now, only Clive remains upon the Shrimp.

Seeing the Maverick heading straight for the Sausage, Wugposch piles on the sail and orders his vessel to interpose itself. As he stands upon the deck, he searches for his first mate and fails to find him.
'Where's the first mate?' he asks a sailor.
'He's eating fruit in Clive's cage', is the reply.
Wugposch frowns. 'So where's my monkey?'
The ship suddenly lurches drunkenly accompanied by some excited 'eeek! eeeks!'.
It collides with the Maverick (above)

Bachscuttel grapples soon secure the two ships together.

From the stern of the Sausage, Doenutz shouts to Wugposch.
'Save my ship! Order your men to board the enemy!'
Wugposch nods. 'That shouldn't be difficult, sir', he shouts back, 'our men really have very little in the way of interesting conversation, unless one has a special interest in weevils or rum; or weevils in rum. Or parrots'.
'Board', shouts Doenutz over the combat, '"board" - not "bored"'.
(Above) Wugposch barks out his orders: 'Get the men up: cutlasses ready! Board the enemy ship! Let's take the fight to them!''