 The French attacked at 14 : 15 , Minerve approaching the British line and opening fire on the central ship Ceylon . In the intervening time , the British battleline had become disorganised , with Astell too far to the rear to properly support the other ships . With the British line wavering , Minerve and Victor closed with the convoy and began to exchange fire with the three merchant ships in a general action , during which Robert Hay , captain of Astell was seriously wounded . At 16 : 00 , Bouvet in Minerve pulled ahead of the struggling convoy and turned as if to ram and board Windham . Hoping to use the soldiers aboard to drive off the French ship , Captain Stewart turned to meet her . The damage done to Windham was however so severe that she was unable to make the turn correctly and Minerve passed just ahead of her , raking Windham and causing severe damage , the soldiers on Windham responding with musket fire . 
