noon
The _ Tornado _ , having not without difficulty made her way in , brought up ; and Jack immediately sent his despatches on shore . The vessels in the harbour had not escaped . Brought up close together , they had been driven in one mass towards the head of the harbour , directly down upon the line-of-battle ship at anchor , carrying her upwards of a hundred yards , when she grounded by the stern ; while few had escaped without more or less damage . The gale considerably abated towards noon , when Jack received orders to run down the coast , to try and bring off any of the crews which might have escaped from the wrecked ships . Accordingly , he immediately got up steam and put to sea . A number of boats were already engaged in the humane object ; but few of the people belonging to the vessels which had been wrecked in the immediate neighbourhood of Balaclava had escaped . Farther down the coast , however , two or three ships were seen on shore , from which it was possible the crews might have landed in safety .