Half an hour after his last signal, Jervis ordered the fleet to 'tack in
succession'. This meant that they would all turn at the same point,
following the leading ship and keeping the line intact.
Troubridge had been prepared for this order, and as soon as he saw the signal
immediately turned the Culloden, heading towards the main body of the
Spanish. But this manoeuvre was not without its difficulties. During
the turn, the ships would leave their sterns vulnerable to enemy broadsides, and
Moreno recognised this. If he could identify the turning point and
position his ships there, he could cause significant damage.
The second British ship, the Blenheim, successfully followed the
Culloden's turn. The third ship, the Prince George, flagship of
Rear-Admiral Parker who led the van division, also made the turn, but by this
time the Principe de Asturias was coming to attack with four other ships.
The Orion then made the turn but the Colossus behind her was not
so lucky. She came under fire from Moreno's ships and some of her sails
were destroyed, so she went out of control. Moreno did not waste time in
ordering his crew to prepare to board the Colossus but, as the British
ship dropped out of the line, Captain Saumarez slowed the Orion so was
able to cover her, and shot at the Principe de Asturias. The
Colossus continued to drift northwards, and the next ship in the British
line, the Irresistible, was able to get alongside the Spanish ship and
fire at her. Under such heavy fire, there was no way the Spanish could
even attempt to board the stricken Colossus.
As the Irresistible completed her turn, it was Jervis' flagship, the
Victory, that next came under fire from Moreno's undeterred attacks.
But when the Victory came to a stop, the Principe de Asturias was
forced to turn suddenly, putting her in the perfect position to receive massive
broadsides from the British admiral's flagship.
Still, Moreno doggedly continued his attacks. The Egmont, coming up
behind the Victory, was fired upon by two of the ships in his division.
The Goliath came next and exchanged fire with the Principe de Asturias
and Conde de Regla. She managed to complete her turn, but the
determined Spanish attack had left her rigging badly damaged.
An hour after the British had cut the line, Moreno finally gave up, and decided
to attempt to go around the front of the British line and join up with Córdova's
division that way. His repeated and determined attacks, coming under fire
from several British ships, earned Nelson's praise, who later said that he "did
everything which a good officer could do to attempt to cut through the British
line".
Moreno may not have succeeded in penetrating the British line, but his defeat of
the Colossus, and forcing the Victory to stop and fend him off,
meant that Troubridge's Culloden was pulling ahead of the rest of the
British line and was about to reach the Spanish fleet with little support and
completely exposed to heavy Spanish fire.
As Jervis went up onto the Victory's poop deck, the better to view and
assess the situation, a seaman standing near him had his head blown off by a
Spanish shot, covering him in brains and blood. The Victory's
captain, George Grey, initially thought that the blood was Jervis' own and
rushed up to check he was ok. Unfazed by the incident, Jervis continued
his deliberations, but did ask for an orange so he could rinse his mouth.
If the Culloden continued on her current course, she'd put herself in
grave danger. So the obvious option seemed to be to signal for her to
withdraw and wait for the rest of the British. But this could give Córdova
chance to escape, so instead Jervis altered his strategy. He signalled to
the Britannia, the flagship of Vice-Admiral Thompson leading the rear
division, for 'the leading ship to tack and others in succession'. This
manoeuvre would effectively split the fleet into two lines, enabling the rear
division to reach the Spanish and attack earlier than if they'd continued to the
original turning point. He followed this up with a signal to every ship to
'take up suitable stations for mutual support and engage the enemy as arriving
up in succession'.
But Thompson in the Britannia did not follow the order, and did not turn.
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