4 a.m.
Ay , there was cause for anxiety that night . The risk of parting from their cable was something , though not very great ; but the risk of being run down by passing or driving ships during intervals of fog was much greater , and the necessity of looking out for signals of distress was urgent . It was a night of warfare , and the battle had begun early . Mr Welton 's record of the earlier part of that day in the log ran thus : -- `` At 4 a.m. calm , with misty rain ; at 8 , wind south-east , light breeze . At noon , west-south-west , fresh breeze and rain . At 4 p.m. , wind south-west , fresh gale and heavy rain . A large fleet anchored in the Downs .