570 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1805. 



yard-arm having been shot away, 

 and in rcpairins; the other damages 

 the ship had sustained, which, for- 

 tunatclv. were not rery consider- 

 able. Of course the other ships 

 mere similarly employetl ; and being 

 then unacquainted with the state of 

 the damages which the several ships 

 had received, I did flatter myself 

 that I should, the next morning, 

 have been in a condition to renew 

 the engagement: and with that view 

 I did all I could, consistently with 

 the attention necessary to prevent a 

 separation between any parts of the 

 squadron, to keep as near as possi- 

 ble to tlic enemy during the night. 



The captured ships being dis- 

 masted, and in a situatien not to 

 keep company with the squadron 

 \fithout assistance, I had employed 

 my only frigates upon that service, 

 and sent the Frisk cutter and Nile 

 lugger to collect the account of da- 

 mages received by the diflerent 

 ships, that I might be prepared to 

 take my measures in the morning. 

 At day-break the accounts were 

 brought to me — the particulars of 

 them shall be laid upon the table. 



At this time also I found that, not- 

 withstanding my endeavours to keep 

 as close as possible to the enemy, 1 

 ^^ as eight or niae miles to leeward, 

 ■with the Malta, Thunderer, the 

 prizes, and frigates entirely out of 

 sight : and it Avas not until near 8 

 o'clock that we saw the Thunderer, 

 ■who made the signal of the i\Ialta's 

 bearings, and at eight we saw the 

 INfalta, frigates, and j)rizes very 

 considerably to leeward. At this 

 time the Windsor-castle was in tow 

 of the Dragon, and observing that 

 the Malta appeared to have one of 

 the captured ships in tow, I made 

 her signal to quit her and join me, 

 and mad* the Egyptienne's signal to 



take that prize in tow — the Sirlus 

 having the other. 



The enemy at day-break were, as 

 has been stated, about eight or nine 

 miles to windward, collecting them- 

 selves into a bo<iy, and, apparently 

 to us on board the Prince of Wales, 

 had not suffered in their masts and 

 yards, except one, which had lost 

 her fore top. sail-yard, and w as in 

 the act of replacing it. 



On the contrary, upon examining 

 the accounts which had been brought 

 me of the damages sustained by my 

 squadron, I found, that of my 15 

 ships, although the Windsor- castle 

 was tlie only one which, in answer 

 to my general signal, to know w hat 

 ships had occasion to lie by, had 

 answered in the affirmative, yet that 

 several others had been very much 

 crippled, and were not, in my 

 judgment, in a state to carry suffi- 

 cient sail to windward to force the 

 enemj' to a renewal of the action, 

 particularly as there was a consider- 

 able sea, and a very heavy swell, 

 which would have endangered the 

 crippled masts and yards of my 

 squadron, had I been rash enough 

 to have attempted it. 



That mv judgment respecting the 

 inability of these ships to carry sail 

 was correct, requires, I apprehend,' 

 no other proof than, that early in 

 the morning of (he 23d, on edging'; 

 down under easy sail to join thei 

 ilalta and other ships to leeward, 

 and eiiect a junction of my squa- \ 

 dron, the Barller.r sprung a lower, 

 yard ; and that on the 25th, after 

 having parted company, with the 

 Windsor-castle and prizes, and made 

 sail to endeavour to regain the ene- 

 my, a few hours onh- had elapsed, 

 before the Repulse sprung her bow- 

 sprit, and the Malta her main yard. 

 This was the first time that any 



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