Pelican and the French squadron bound for York Factory

Pelican carried forty-four guns. In late-seventeenth-century rating practice, the two-decker could still be treated as a third rate, though its armament was closer to that of a fourth rate. The converted frigate Profond served as a store ship armed en flûte, sacrificing guns for cargo, while other frigates and supply vessels completed the expedition. Heavy fog separated the flagship from the rest of the squadron as it approached York Factory. This left d'Iberville advancing alone when the English ships appeared and turned a theoretically strong combined force into a single-ship engagement.