In the ensuing battle, Captain Bourayne displayed superior sailmanship and managed to fend off his much stronger opponent by a combination of manoeuvers that rendered the batteries of Tremendous ineffective, and threatened her with sustaining raking fire.

In addition to the usual frigates and corvettes, in this case the Belle Poule, Sémillante, Berceau and Aventurier, the flaghip of the squadron was a 74-gun ship of the line, the Marengo.

She arrived at Ile de France in April, but failed to find Linois's forces; unbeknownst to Bourayne, the squadron had been destroyed in the action of 13 March 1806.

The British historian William James praised Bourayne for his sober and accurate account of the engagement: "No rodomontade; all is plainly, yet minutely told, and, in every material point, agrees with the entry in the British ship's log";[3] he furthermore cites the action as a textbook example of defence against a stronger opponent: The action of the Tremendous and Canonnière affords a lesson to officers, who find themselves suddenly assailed by a decidedly superior force.

It teaches them that, by a judicious and protracted defence, their ship may escape, even when, in a manner, close under the guns of an opponent, whose single broadside, well directed (the chief point wherein the Tremendous appears to have failed), must either sink or disable her.

A boat of the frigate was sent ashore with ensign Larouvraye, and as soon as it reach the ground, the Dutch flags on the buildings were replaced by the Union Jack, and the forts opened fire on Canonnière, which narrowly escaped without being seriously hit.