action was inevitable. At 08:00 Allemand engaged Illustrious and then Courageux, Duquesne joined in the attack by Victoire and Tonnant, and the British ships supported more distantly by Agamemnon and Princess Royal. For an hour the French and British vanguards exchanged heavy fire, with Illustrious taking the worst of the exchange, drifting out of the battle heavily damaged; the mainmast had collapsed onto the mizzen mast and both had fallen over the side, while the ship's crew had suffered 90 casualties. Courageux was the next to suffer, similarly losing two masts and with the hull shattered by French shot. Captain Augustus Montgomery's crew had lost nearly 50 sailors killed and wounded. The French ships in this exchange were reported as firing heated shot, although it had little effect on the battle. Allemand's van squadron then pulled away from the drifting British ships, which were unsupported by the becalmed British fleet. The rest of the French fleet had not followed Allemand, and turned away, the van following. This left the battered Ça Ira and Censeur trapped on the far side of the British fleet, Martin abandoning them to their fate. Isolated, these ships surrendered at 10:05. Without British pursuit, concerted long range firing finally ceased at 14:00; Hotham had decided that addressing the severe damage to his van ships and securing the prizes was more important than continuing the action and tacked his fleet away from Martin's rapidly disappearing ships. Nelson believed that by abandoning the prizes and disabled ships and closely following the French, Hotham could force an action which might destroy the entire French fleet. So convinced was the British captain that he took a boat to Hotham's flagship HMS Britannia to try to persuade the admiral. Hotham refused, replying that "We must be contented, we have done very well". No amount of appeals by Nelson or Rear-Admiral Samuel Goodall on Princess Royal could move Hotham to continue the action, and soon the French were out of sight. Aftermath Hotham gathered his prizes and dismasted ships and turned eastwards for the anchorage in the Gulf of La Spezia. All of his battle line had been in action and taken casualties, with the heaviest losses aboard the badly damaged and partially dismasted Illustrious and Courageux. Captain, Bedford, Egmont and HMS Windsor Castle were also damaged, all suffering more than 20 casualties. British and Neapolitan total losses amounted to 74 killed