the jetty, the destroyers steamed first ahead of Strasbourg to engage British destroyers off the harbor entrance and then arrayed themselves to her port side as the ships steamed east. Heavy smoke in the harbor from the destroyed battleship , which had suffered a magazine explosion, masked the escape of Strasbourg and the destroyers, and Somerville was initially unaware that she had evaded his attack. Somerville had received a report from a patrolling Fairey Swordfish pilot that a Dunkerque-class battleship had left the harbor, but he refused to believe it, as he believed that a field of naval mines that had been laid earlier that morning would have prevented any escape. Upon clearing the harbor, the British destroyer , which had been tasked with watching the entrance, turned to lay a smoke screen to protect Force H from what appeared to be a destroyer attack. The effect was to help to obscure Strasbourg, which, as she increased speed from , let out a large cloud of black smoke. The French ships steered for a gap in the defensive minefield to bring themselves under the protection of a battery of coastal guns on Cape Canastel. By this time, the destroyers and had arrayed themselves ahead of the ship while and Volta covered her to the rear. At 18:40, the two leading destroyers depth charged the British submarine , forcing her to take evasive action. At 19:00, the destroyers and and the torpedo boat arrived from Oran to help cover her withdrawal. By this time, Somerville had realized that Strasbourg had escaped and turned east in pursuit; he launched an air strike from the aircraft carrier , hoping to slow Strasbourg, while he steamed ahead with Hood, two light cruisers, and several destroyers. The first wave of aircraft, six bombers carrying bombs, attacked at 19:45; all of the aircraft missed and two were shot down by the heavy anti-aircraft fire from Strasbourg and the destroyers. Strasbourg was still belching thick, black smoke, the result of damage to one of her air intakes from fragments of the jetty; the problem could only be corrected by shutting down boiler room No. 2. This would have reduced her speed to , which was not an acceptable solution with Hood now in pursuit. By 20:25, Somerville broke off the chase, but a second flight from Ark Royal, armed with torpedoes, attacked at 20:45. As with the