 The inactivity of the Spanish centre enabled the leading ships of Duquesne's centre to attack on De Ruyter's outnumbered van squadron although the Dutch withstood these attacks, and De Ruyter attacked Duquesne's ship with the intention of boarding it, but was prevented when two French ships went to their admiral's assistance.At the end of the battle, De Ruyter was able to extract his squadron by his own seamanship and the assistance of the Dutch rear squadron.During the course of the Dutch van's disengagement from fighting, de Ruyter was fatally wounded when a cannonball struck him in the leg, and he died a week later at Syracuse.