Sultane, badly damaged in the engagement with Creole, was soon chased down by Hannibal and surrendered without a fight but Etoile, faced with only the Hebrus, turned away in an attempt to escape.

Early in the morning of 27 March, Hebrus succeeded in reaching its quarry off Jobourg in Normandy and the frigates fought a fierce engagement close inshore.

[3] In late October, small raiding squadrons, each consisting of two newly built frigates with picked crews and commanders departed France with instructions to attack British merchant shipping in the Atlantic.

Severn proved to be a fast ship, Nourse successfully holding off pursuit through an exchange of fire at a distance of more than 2 nautical miles (3.7 km).

When the French failed to respond to the coded signals however the British captains realised that the strangers must be enemy vessels and resolved to attack them where they were anchored.

Pouring raking fire into the British ship from point blank range, Philibert inflicted severe damage to Astrea's quarterdeck, tearing away fittings and detonating a loaded carronade.

By 15:05 however it was clear that there was no prospect of victory: Creole could be seen retreating from the battle while Sultane was rapidly approaching the combat, threatening to overwhelm the stricken frigate even as a fire broke out on the main topsail.

Apparently content with reducing the British ship to a crippled state, Philibert withdrew Etoile to the southwest, joining Sultane, which was struggling with a collapsed main topmast.

[10] Etoile and Sultane, although the ostensible victors in the engagement, were both badly damaged themselves, with all masts suffering severely from the British bombardment and combined casualties of between 20–40 killed and 30–60 wounded.

By 26 March the squadron was sailing eastwards in the English Channel, approximately 35 nautical miles (65 km) north of the Île de Batz in Brittany en route to the Normandy port of Saint Malo.

Du Petit-Thouars' ship was in no position to evade or resist the much larger British warship and was within range of Hannibal by 15:30, Seymour firing two warning shots over Sultane.

Recognising his inevitable defeat, Du Petit-Thouars fired a broadside into the sea away from Hannibal and struck his flag in a gesture of surrender at 16:15, Seymour taking possession of the French ship.

By 14:00 the Sultane and Hannibal were out of sight, Sparrow disappearing over the horizon three hours later with Etoile 3 nautical miles (5.6 km) ahead of Palmer's pursuit.

Maneuvering away from land, Palmer was assisted by a light breeze at 03:00, passing repeatedly across Etoile's bow and raking the ship each time, causing serious damage so that by 03:45 Philibert's mizzenmast had collapsed over the side.

"[18] More than three decades later the battle was among the actions recognised by a clasp attached to the Naval General Service Medal, awarded upon application to all British participants still living in 1847.

[19] The battle was the last significant naval action of the War of the Sixth Coalition, the Allied armies entering Paris on 30 March and Napoleon, isolated and defeated, abdicating on 6 April.