 By the morning of 13 March it had become clear to Hotham that Martin had no intention of engaging the British fleet, and the British admiral decided to authorise a general chase, permitting his captains to break from the line and pursue the French to the best of their ships' ability.The leading ship of the chase was a frigate, the 36-gun HMS "Inconstant" under Captain Thomas Fremantle, which reached the damaged "Ça Ira" within an hour of the collision and opened fire at close range on the larboard quarter.Seeing that "Ça Ira" was under threat, the French frigate "Vestale" attacked "Inconstant" from a distance, pulled past the British ship and attached a tow line to the limping ship of the line.