 Confident that his squadron outclassed his opponent , Duperré ordered his ships to chase the East Indiamen , who , at Stewart 's suggestion , attempted to close with the shore where the wind and waves would not be as strong and they could better resist the French attack . By 09 : 30 however the Astell was forced to reduce sail or risk snapping her topmasts . This slowed the British convoy , Windham and Ceylon slowing too to protect Astell . Realising that he could not outrun Duperré , Meriton decided to turn his ships about and engage the French frigates . At 11 : 30 , Bellone closed the gap between the squadron and convoy to just 4 nautical miles ( 7 @.@ 4 km ) and Meriton ordered his ships to form an improvised battle line to meet the French attack . 
