he could find and climbed up into the mizzen rigging and hoisted it across the shrouds. The French riflemen on Aigle reportedly held their fire as he did this, in admiration of his bravery. The two ships were so close together that gun crews on their lower decks were fighting hand to hand at the gunports, while grenades lobbed through the ports caused heavy casualties. One grenade thrown into Bellerophon exploded in the gunner's storeroom, blowing open the door but fortunately blowing closed the door of the magazine. The resulting fire was quickly extinguished, preventing a catastrophic explosion. By 1:40 pm, having been under heavy fire for over an hour, Aigles crew lowered her gunports and slowly moved away. When the smoke cleared, Cumby noticed that the Spanish Monarca, which Bellerophon had first engaged, had struck her colours. Cumby sent an officer in a boat to take possession of her. Bellerophons crew now worked to make repairs and clear away wreckage. She briefly fired her guns again when the van of the combined fleet, led by Rear-Admiral Pierre Dumanoir le Pelley, made a belated attempt to come to the assistance of the centre and rear. The attack was beaten off, and at 5 pm, Bellerophons guns ceased firing. At 5:30 pm Cumby sent a boat to take possession of Bahama, which had also struck her colours. By the end of the battle Bellerophon had sustained casualties of 27 men killed and 123 wounded. Among the dead were her captain, the master, John Overton, and midshipman John Simmons. Storm and return For the next seven days, Bellerophons crew were occupied in repairing damage, rigging jury masts, and trying to ride out the storm that struck the area immediately after the battle. She put into Gibraltar on 28 October 1805, and underwent emergency repairs to allow her to return to England as an escort for , together with . Both Belleisle and Bellerophon required urgent attention, but it was deemed appropriate that they should have the honour of accompanying Nelson's body back to Britain aboard Victory. Cumby was superseded on 3 November, the day before beginning the voyage home, by Captain Richard Thomas. Thomas was himself superseded the next day by Captain Edward Rotheram, who had commanded Collingwood's flagship, , during the battle. The three ships sailed together as far as Start Point, where on 2 December Victory separated to head to