HMS Phoenix captures Didon and her dispatches

Phoenix closed on Didon after the French mistook her for a smaller vessel. Baker withheld fire while Didon raked his ship, then brought Phoenix alongside at pistol-shot range. When the French frigate tried to board, Royal Marines repelled the attack and the British crew's faster, more accurate broadside rhythm began to tell. British cannon fire struck Didon's hull while French fire generally went high, and Phoenix's carronades also helped bring down the French frigate's masts and rigging. Falling masts and severe damage forced Didon to strike after Phoenix lost twelve killed and twenty-eight wounded, while Didon lost twenty-seven killed and forty-four wounded. The prize carried orders for Allemand, preventing his squadron's junction with Villeneuve and turning a frigate duel into a campaign-level intelligence success.