Brunswick locks with Vengeur

Brunswick struggled to reach Howe's flagship and then cut between two French ships in search of a close action. Her anchors became entangled in Vengeur du Peuple's rigging before Harvey could reach his intended opponent. When the master asked whether to cut free, Captain John Harvey answered that they had caught an enemy and would keep her. The hulls lay so close that Brunswick's crew could not open its gunports and fired through the closed lids. The collision transformed Howe's planned line break into a destructive private duel decided at a distance of inches.