The following day, a British scout, the 24-gun sloop , brought news that a French fleet of fifteen ships of the line, six frigates and two brigs, had been seen off the islands of Sainte-Marguerite. Vice-Admiral William Hotham immediately set off in pursuit, and on 10 March the advanced British frigates spotted the French fleet at some distance, making its way back to Toulon against the wind. Two days later, on the night of 12 March, a storm developed which badly damaged two French ships of the line. These ships were escorted to Gourjean Bay by two French frigates, leaving the opposing fleets roughly equal in strength and number. The next morning, Hotham attempted to get his ships into a form line but, seeing no response from the French fleet, changed his orders to general chase. At 08:00 the 80-gun at the rear collided with Victoire, and her fore and main topmasts collapsed overboard. The leading British ship was the 36-gun frigate under Captain Thomas Fremantle, which reached the damaged Ça Ira within an hour of the collision and opened fire at close range, causing further destruction. Seeing the danger, the French frigate Vestale fired upon Inconstant from a distance before taking the limping Ça Ira in tow. Shortly after, HMS Agamemnon under Captain Horatio Nelson joined the action, until several of the French ships bearing down forced her to drop back into her station in the line. Throughout the day and the following night, the British van sporadically engaged the French rearguard, with Ça Ira dropping further behind the main body of the French force. In order to better protect the damaged ship, the French admiral, Pierre Martin, ordered the ship of the line to replace Vestale as the towing ship. By morning the fleets were south-west of Genoa, with the British rapidly gaining ground. Ça Ira and Censeur had fallen further behind, and Hotham sent his two fastest ships after them. and did not arrive simultaneously and both were repulsed, although further damage was inflicted on the French stragglers in the process. Martin ordered his line to wear in succession and get between the British fleet and the badly damaged Ça Ira and Censeur, which in the meantime had come under a new threat from the recently arrived Courageux and HMS Illustrious. A sudden drop in wind made manoeuvres difficult, and the leading French ship, Duquesne under Captain