After Porter cut his cable and tried to close for boarding, Phoebe used her repaired sails to stay away while continuing to dismantle Essex. Disabled guns, shredded rigging, damaged steering, and heavy casualties among the gun crews progressively removed American control of the ship. Uncontrolled powder near the main hatch signaled more than low morale: officers and petty officers no longer had the capacity to enforce basic damage-control routines. A plan to run ashore and blow up the ship failed when the wind died, while dozens of men attempted escape by boat or swimming and British boats recovered many from the water. Porter struck at about 18:20, but the number of American banners aloft delayed British recognition of the surrender by roughly ten minutes. Essex Junior continued firing without effect and was so little threat that neither British ship bothered to engage her.
Notable Point · 2:42:28-2:50:17
Damage breaks Essex's command system before surrender
Shredded rigging, disabled guns, casualties among gun crews, and spilled powder showed Essex losing both physical control and the human organization needed to continue fighting.