Captain Mordaunt took off his cap and gave the signal, and a hearty cheer arose from the crew.

The night passed quietly, the terribly diminished crew lay down as they stood by the guns, in readiness to repel another attack, should it be attempted.

The next morning one of the French eighty gun ships got under way, and, with merely a rag of canvas shown, and her boats rowing ahead and sounding to find a channel through the reefs, gradually made her way toward the Resolution.
"Well, gentlemen," the captain said, "I think you will agree with me that nothing further can be done.

The ship is already half full of water, the magazine is flooded, and the whole of the powder wetted.
The ship is a wreck, and I should be only throwing away the men's lives uselessly by attempting further resistance." The officers thoroughly agreed, and with the greatest coolness the captain gave his orders for the abandonment of the vessel.

Although the French man of war had now opened fire, all the wounded, the whole of the crew, the flags, papers, and everything of value were placed in the boats, and the vessel was then set on fire in a dozen places.
After superintending everything personally, and making sure that the fire had obtained such a hold that it could not be extinguished, Captain Mordaunt ordered the officers to descend into the boats.