A light northeasterly breeze gave Parker the weather gauge as Zoutman arranged his line. The worn British ships approached raggedly, and late changes left Dolphin against a much larger opponent while Bienfaisant had no direct counterpart. Parker signalled for close action and continued reducing the range. Zoutman held fire until the fleets were about half a mast-shot apart, then opened on Fortitude. The close-range duel lasted three hours and forty minutes while the Dutch merchantmen headed for Texel. By 11:35 the fighting ships had become difficult to control. Parker tried to reform his line, but both fleets disengaged and sailed for home.
Chapter · 15:58-17:51
The fleets close for nearly four hours of gunfire
Parker held the weather gauge as he closed on Zoutman's line, beginning an action that eventually left both formations hard to control.