[5] Due to failures by Spanish landing parties, many of the naval stores in Toulon had survived the fire as had more than half of the fleet, although many ships were badly damaged.

[8] By 1795 the full surviving strength of the French Mediterranean Fleet had been restored, Martin mustering 15 ships of the line and six frigates for an operation in the Ligurian Sea.

The purpose of this operation is uncertain; the report of the Committee of Public Safety to the National Convention stated that the fleet was at sea to secure shipping lines in the Mediterranean,[9] while other sources indicate that an amphibious landing in Corsica was the intention.

Such an operation is mentioned in the correspondence of Représentant en mission from the National Convention, Étienne-François Letourneur, sent to provide political oversight for the fleet.

Historian Adolphe Thiers has suggested that the objective may have been a demonstration of force against Rome, following the lynching of French ambassador Nicolas Bassville there two years earlier.

[5] Hood had been replaced in late 1794 by his deputy Vice-Admiral William Hotham, who based his ships in San Fiorenzo Bay on the northern coast of Corsica during the winter.

[14] Both ships took damage in the encounter, but as Alceste dropped back, a bar shot tore the head off Captain Adam Littlejohn on Berwick.

Martin ordered the captured Berwick and the damaged Alceste to detach for the protected anchorage at Gourjean Bay, while his fleet continued eastwards into the Gulf of Genoa.

[16] Hotham believed that the French target was Corsica, and sent the brig HMS Tarleton under Commander Charles Brisbane to warn Littlejohn and arrange a rendezvous with Berwick off Cap Corse.

[17] The weather remained calm with choppy seas which made manoeuvring very difficult and prevented either fleet from closing for battle; when presented with the opportunity to attack, Martin declined.

[18] A breeze from the south in the evening gave Hotham the opportunity to form up his fleet into a line of battle with the van to the west, the French to the southwest.

[19] At 08:00 the following morning another of Martin's ships, the large 80-gun Ça Ira from the rearguard of the French fleet, collided with the neighbouring Victoire and its fore and main topmasts collapsed overboard.

[20] The leading ship of the chase was a frigate, the 36-gun HMS Inconstant under Captain Thomas Fremantle, which reached the damaged Ça Ira within an hour of the collision and opened fire at close range on the larboard quarter.

Ça Ira and Censeur had fallen a long way back from the French fleet, and Hotham sent his fastest ships in pursuit, propelled by a northwesterly breeze.

[28] Allemand fired on the frigate, and Captain Benjamin Hallowell, aware that he could not effectively respond, sent his entire crew below decks to protect them from the French gunfire.

[29] At 08:00 Allemand engaged Illustrious and then Courageux, Duquesne joined in the attack by Victoire and Tonnant,[25] and the British ships supported more distantly by Agamemnon and Princess Royal.

[30] No amount of appeals by Nelson or Rear-Admiral Samuel Goodall on Princess Royal could move Hotham to continue the action, and soon the French were out of sight.

[31] Hotham's ships anchored in the Gulf of La Spezia after the action, and on 17 March were struck by a heavy gale, in which the damaged Illustrious broke its tow rope to the frigate HMS Meleager and began to drift towards the coast.

His ship drifting dangerously inshore, at 14:30 Captain Thomas Frederick gave control to a sailor on board who claimed to have navigated the region and knew a safe anchorage.

Frederick attempted to anchor in an effort to save the ship, but this failed due to battle damage and strong winds and waves tore the rudder off at 22:30.

[34] The following morning Tarleton came alongside the irreparably damaged Illustrious, although it was not until 20 March that the weather had abated sufficiently to permit the evacuation to begin.

[33] Both prizes were commissioned into the Royal Navy at San Fiorenzo under their original names, although neither had long careers; Censeur was sent to escort a convoy to Britain in the late summer of 1795, still in a damaged state, and was attacked, isolated and recaptured by a French squadron off Cape St. Vincent at the action of 7 October 1795.

[36] Ça Ira survived only a little longer, catching fire accidentally while at anchor off San Fiorenzo on 11 April 1796 and being completely destroyed, although only four of the 600 crew were killed.

[34] After separating during the night of 13 March, Sans Culotte had sought to rejoin the French fleet but been sighted and chased by a Spanish squadron, sheltering in the neutral port until the route back to France was clear.

[30] Sir William Hamilton, British ambassador to the Kingdom of Naples, shared Nelson's opinion, writing that "I can, entre nous, perceive that my old friend Hotham is not quite awake enough for such a command as that of the King's fleet in the Mediterranean.

"[43] More than five decades after the battle the Admiralty recognised the action with a clasp attached to the Naval General Service Medal, awarded upon application to all British participants still living in 1847.