Villaret captured twenty merchantmen from a Dutch convoy, but stopping to secure and dispatch prizes consumed time while Howe closed from astern. Howe then recaptured ten of them and faced the opposite side of the same prize problem. Manning the merchant ships would have drained sailors from his battlefleet, so he burned the recaptures instead. Prisoners nevertheless supplied fresh information about the French fleet and Nielly's reinforcement. Prize-taking could therefore create material value and intelligence while simultaneously reducing a commander's speed or fighting strength.
Notable Point · 49:45-52:24
Prizes traded time for intelligence
Capturing a Dutch convoy slowed Villaret, while Howe burned recaptured prizes rather than weaken his battlefleet by assigning them crews.