[7] A prize money notice from 31 December 1781 reported that the vessels in Darby's fleet would share in the prize money for Duc de Chartres, brig Trois Amis, and the Spanish frigate Leocadia, which the fleet had captured on its way to Gibraltar.

[11] On 3 May Flora, and Crescent left Port Mahon, intending to pass the Gut of Gibraltar as quickly as possible.

The Spanish commodore set his squadron in chase, before sending all but his vessel and two xebecs, each of 36 guns, back to Spain.

The engagement had driven the British vessels close to Cape Palos so they cruised there for two days in case to ensure that the enemy were not in the vicinity.

The Dutch frigate was the Castor, of twenty-six 12-pounder guns and ten 6-pounders, and a crew of 230 men under the command of Captain Pieter Melvill.

A shot from Brill brought down Crescent's main and mizzen masts on to her decks, rendering her guns inoperable and the ship unmanageable.

Captain Williams was unable to pursue as both Castor and Crescent were badly holed and taking on water, forcing their crews to man the pumps.

Williams sent over his First Lieutenant, John Bligh, while retaining the rest of Crescent's existing officers.

Casualties, and the necessity of putting 38 men from Flora and a like number from Crescent on Castor to man the pumps and serve as a prize crew had left all three too weak to sustain combat.

[14] This article includes data released under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported UK: England & Wales Licence, by the National Maritime Museum, as part of the Warship Histories project.