out-gunned Americans to surrender. Nine of General Montgomerys crew enlisted aboard Levant; the remainder were conveyed to Portsmouth where they remained imprisoned in poor conditions until the end of the war. 17781780 Levant continued her Mediterranean patrols in 1778 and was rewarded on 24 March with the recapture of a British merchantman which had been bound for Newfoundland when seized by an American privateer off Gibraltar. On the same day as this capture, Levant fell into company with the 28-gun frigate . Her captain, Sir Thomas Rich, advised that he was pursuing , a 22-gun American privateer with three captured merchant ships in tow. On 21 March the privateer had surprised and destroyed Enterprises tender before escaping into the night. Rich had given chase for the next three days; Murray now added Levant to the hunt and the two British frigates set courses to windward and leeward of the Americans' likely path. Both sailed through the night without sighting their prey. In the morning of 25 March they encountered one of Revenges prizes, the 16-gun British merchantman Hope, which promptly surrendered and was returned to Gibraltar. Revenge herself eluded capture and was later reported as having escaped to the neutral Spanish port of Cádiz. France entered the war against Britain after signing a formal Treaty with the United States in March 1778. There was a subsequent reorganization of Royal Navy forces in the Mediterranean, with Levant joining a squadron of four other vessels based in Gibraltar under the overall direction of Admiral Robert Duff. Of this squadron, Levant was the second largest, behind only Duff's 60-gun flagship . In July Levant encountered and captured Robert, an American merchant vessel that had been bound for Boston with a cargo of salt. In August she took her first French prize of the War a merchantman with a cargo of tobacco and recaptured the British schooner Lively, which had previously been seized by an American privateer off Scotland's Western Islands. Two more French prizes followed: Victorieux seized en route to Marseilles, and Duchess of Grumont, which surrendered off Toulon. The captured vessels were sent under guard to Gibraltar. These ongoing victories belied the changing conditions applicable to Levants hunt for enemy vessels off Gibraltar. American vessels had become scarce, especially since Spain had closed her ports to them in the winter of 1777 in retaliation for privateer attacks on Spanish ships. French trading