eleven o'clock
`` Just trust our admiral , '' answered Tom ; `` he knows what he 's about , depend on that ; he wo n't let us be caught like rats in a trap . '' As he was speaking , Nettleship came into the berth . `` The captain was sent for on board the flag-ship , and he 's just returned , '' he said . `` I hear that he met all the captains of the fleet on board , and the admiral told them to set their watches by his timepiece , and directed all the ships to slip or cut their cables at eleven o'clock . The sternmost and leewardmost ships are to get under weigh first , and so on in succession , and we 're to stand on under easy sail , in sight of each other , till we receive further orders from the admiral . '' No one turned in ; the crews were at their stations ; not a sign was shown which might allow the French -- who were of course watching us from the shore -- to discover that any movement was in contemplation . At the appointed time , the _ Alfred _ , the most leeward of our ships , was seen to get under weigh , followed in rapid succession by the _ Canada _ the _ President _ , and the rest of the line-of-battle ships , which stood out of the bay , accompanied by the frigates , before probably the French were aware what we were about .