Preparation for the invasion was slow throughout the autumn, and it was not until December that the force was ready to leave Brest. The delay was principally the result of poor organisation and discipline within the French Navy, and preparations were only completed once the commander at Brest, Vice-amiral Villaret de Joyeuse, had been replaced with Vice-amiral Morard de Galles and Hoche given direct command of discipline within the fleet. Departing Brest on 15 December, the French invasion fleet was almost immediately scattered: a combination of bad weather, inexperience at sea and the depredations of British frigates dispersing the force and destroying one ship of the line. As separate ships and small squadrons made their way independently to the rendezvous point off Mizen Head, the flagship frigate Fraternité was chased deep into the Atlantic by a British frigate and took more than a week to return to Ireland. In that time the rest of the fleet, buffeted by the worst winter storms since 1708, broke up off the landing beaches in Bantry Bay, the weather too fierce to allow any amphibious landings.