was unable to stop herself from falling afoul of the ship following behind her, the 50-gun fourth-rate Greenwich. This put the French squadron into confusion as their ships began to get caught up in one another. The British took advantage of this, attacking them with little return fire. The action continued for around two and a half hours. At this point the French commodore, Guy François Coëtnempren de Kersaint, called for one of his frigates to tow Intrépide out of the battle. The French squadron, having received heavy casualties, retreated back into Cape Français. Forrest's ships, their rigging and masts heavily damaged, were unable to chase them. This ended the Battle of Cap-Français, the only full-scale battle of Suckling's career. Naval historian William Laird Clowes says of the battle that "few pluckier or more creditable actions have ever been fought". The British lost twenty-four men killed and eighty-five wounded in the skirmish, of which ten and thirty respectively were from Suckling's command. Unable to re-engage the French, the ships returned to Port Royal to undergo repairs. After this Dreadnought returned to her regular duties at Jamaica. On 1 September 1758 Dreadnought was patrolling alongside the 50-gun fourth-rate HMS Assistance when they received intelligence that the French 74-gun ship of the line Palmier was off Port au Prince. They discovered Palmier there the following morning, and at 4am Dreadnought began to attack Palmier from close range. Assistance, however, was becalmed and unable to help Suckling in the engagement. Palmier fired into Dreadnoughts rigging and, with his ship's movement disabled, Suckling was unable to stop the French ship escaping. When Assistance finally reached Dreadnought the two ships chased after Palmier but were too far behind to re-start the engagement. Dreadnought had eight men killed and seven wounded in the action. On 17 June 1760 Dreadnought was ordered back to England as escort to a convoy of sixty-four merchant ships. She arrived in the Downs on 29 August. Suckling subsequently sailed his ship to Chatham, where she was paid off on 19 November. Suckling did not stay unemployed for long, being appointed to command the 70-gun ship of the line HMS Nassau on 16 January 1761. Employed in the Bay of Biscay, Nassau mostly saw service implementing blockades, with there being little serious opposition for the British after the Battle of Quiberon Bay. In June Suckling's ship reinforced the British squadron that had