Then at noon some vessels appeared off Alert's bow and Smyth decided to engage his pursuer to try to cripple her and so escape.

By 3:30 Alert had lost three men killed and nine wounded, her rigging and sails were shredded, and she had taken shots between wind and water.

The two corvettes anchored off the Gamelle Rocks, but when they saw that the British intended to capture them, their captains got under weigh and ran their vessels aground below the guns of three shore batteries.

Warren sent in the boats from both Flora and Arethusa, all under Pellew's command, with orders to set fire or otherwise destroy the two corvettes.

[4] French records indicate that Alerte, which had been under the command of lieutenant de vaisseau Passart, had been scuttled and was lost.