 As Minerve turned back towards the British convoy with the intention of cutting off the rearmost ships , Astell passed her more damaged companions to become the first ship in line . This left Windham , now at the rear , to face Minerve alone . Fortunately for Stewart , Minerve lost two topmasts as she turned to face his ship and had to pull away from the British to effect repairs . An hour and a half later , at 18 : 30 , Bellone joined the action , attacking Windham directly . Victor supported Bellone and accompanied the flagship as she moved ahead to attack Ceylon and Astell . By 19 : 00 , with Ceylon damaged so severely that she could no longer effectively sail or fight , third officer Tristam Fleming hauled the ship out of the battle line and ordered his crew to cease firing : Meriton and his second officer Thomas Oldham had both been seriously wounded by grape shot . 
