 Willoughby sent boats to attempt to take possession of "Victor", but they were unable to reach the vessel.Behind the corvette, "Minerve" and "Ceylon" pushed into the channel and signalled Morice to follow them, exchanging fire with the fort.As Morice raised his colours again and followed "Minerve", a large explosion blasted out of Île de la Passe, where the false French flag had ignited on a brazier as it was lowered and set fire to a nearby stack of cartridges, which exploded in the close confines of the fort.