three o’clock
Howe signalled to prepare for battle , and having come on to the same tack as the French , stood towards them , having them on his weather quarter . Soon , however , the French tacked and seemed to retreat . A general chase was ordered , and the English ships went off in pursuit under full sail . Between two and three o'clock the _ Russell _ , which was the fastest of the seventy-fours , began to exchange shots with the French , and towards evening another seventy-four , the _ Bellerophon _ , began a close action with the _ Révolutionnaire _ , one hundred and ten guns . The _ Bellerophon _ soon lost her main top-mast , and dropped back ; but the fight with the great ship was taken up , first by the _ Leviathan _ and afterwards by the _ Audacious _ , both seventy-fours , which , supported by two others , fought her for three hours . By that time the _ Révolutionnaire _ had a mast carried away and great damage done to her yards , and had lost four hundred men . When darkness fell she was a complete wreck , and it was confidently expected that in the morning she would fall into our hands .