broke the line to the south. Duncan had originally intended to break the line between Vrijheid and the next ship Staaten Generaal under Rear-Admiral Samuel Story, but Story ensured that there was no gap between his vessel and the flagship to break through, and their combined fire was so dangerous to the advancing Venerable that Duncan instead cut through behind Staaten Generaal, raking Story's ship twice and causing it to drift off in confusion as Duncan engaged Vrijheid from the east. While Venerable had diverted south, Vrijheid had been attacked from the west by Ardent under Captain Richard Rundle Burges. The smaller British ship had soon suffered more than a hundred casualties, including Burges killed, under the combined fire of De Winter's flagship and the next ship ahead Admiraal Tjerk Hiddes De Vries. Only the arrival of Venerable alongside Vrijheid allowed Ardent a brief respite. During the fight, Burges' men "fought like maniacs", including the wife of one of the gunners who insisted on joining her husband at his gun, until her legs were torn off by cannon fire. Within a short period however both Venerable and Ardent were surrounded, as at least one of the frigates from the second line joined the attack on the two isolated British vessels. At the height of the combat, the colours and signal flags on Venerable were brought down by cannon fire. To ensure that there was no suggestion that the flagship had surrendered, a sailor named Jack Crawford scrambled to the top of the mainmast and replaced them as the battle raged beneath him. To support Duncan, Captain William Essington of HMS Triumph and Captain Sir Thomas Byard of drove forward into the battle, Triumph coming close alongside the Dutch Wassenaar and opening a heavy fire while Bedford attacked Admiraal Tjerk Hiddes De Vries and Hercules. At the tip of the line, Beschermer was attacked by Belliqueux to starboard, Captain Inglis passing through the gap between Beschermer and Hercules. Ahead of this combat, the lead ships and Gelijkheid fought alongside one another, Isis having failed to break through the Dutch line and instead drawn up to port. The Dutch central division joined the battle at the head of the line shortly after the engagement of Triumph and Bedford, causing considerable damage to all of the British vessels, particularly Venerable. The British flagship was soon isolated in the midst of the Dutch van,