Codrington twice attempted to signal a ceasefire after the front line collapsed, but the signals were either unseen or ignored. He and Van Heiden nevertheless praised the bravery of the Ottoman crews, while reports that some sailors were shackled to their posts complicate what remaining aboard meant for individual men. Many crews burned or blew up their own ships to prevent capture, worsening the human cost. Ottoman casualty estimates were disputed between roughly 3,000 killed and 1,100 wounded or the reverse, compared with 181 allied dead and 480 wounded. The material result was unmistakable: a single ship of the line, two frigates, and five corvettes remained seaworthy from the original 78-vessel armada.
Notable Point · 1:23:17-1:26:01
The Ottoman fleet's near-destruction
By evening only eight of 78 Ottoman-Egyptian vessels remained seaworthy, with thousands killed or wounded despite attempted allied ceasefires.