The wind blew the flames into the rigging of two of her consorts, and these also caught fire, and the three ships burned to the water's edge.

Several fires were occasioned in the town, and the English guns, of which a great number were now in position, kept up a storm of fire night and day.
On the night of the 23rd, six hundred English sailors silently rowed into the harbour, cut the cables of the two remaining French men of war, and tried to tow them out.

One, however, was aground, for the tide was low.

The sailors therefore set her on fire, and then towed her consort out of the harbour, amidst a storm of shot and shell from the French batteries.
The French position was now desperate.

Only four cannon, on the side facing the English batteries, were fit for service.