Meanwhile the _mêlée_ continued. While Tegethoff was in the thick of the fight, Persano made the great ram _Affondatore_ nearly useless by persisting in keeping on the outskirts of the conflict. If he had ventured in with her it is very likely he would have been sunk by the better-handled Austrian ships. The _Palestro_, which had gone into action immediately astern of the _Ré d’Italia_, had been almost as severely handled as her leader. She had been rammed. Her steering gear and rudder had been knocked to pieces, and her gun-decks were on fire. She drew out of the fight, her commander getting his steam hose to work to drown the magazine. The Austrian ships were now clearing the Italian line, and steering for Lissa. The _mêlée_, which had lasted for rather more than half-an-hour, was over. The position of the two fleets was reversed. The Austrians with their left near Lissa, were forming up in line across the channel between that island and Lesina. Everyone of their ironclads was still in good condition, and even the disabled _Kaiser_, which had gone into the harbour with her foremast burning and her decks strewed with nearly two hundred killed and wounded, was again clearing for action. The Italian wooden ships were assembling off the western end of the island. To the northward the ironclads were scattered here and there, on the waters that had just been the scene of the fight. As the smoke cleared, Persano signalled to the nearest ship--“Where is the _Ré d’Italia_?” and got for answer, “Sunk to the bottom.” Close astern of the _Affondatore_ lay the _Palestro_, the black smoke pouring from hatchway and porthole. Her crew believed that the magazine had been successfully drowned, and that they were getting the fire under. As they recognised Persano on the bridge of the _Affondatore_, they gave him a cheer. His own crew were answering it when there was a burst of flame and a volume of dense smoke from the _Palestro_, and an explosion louder than all the din of battle went echoing over sea and shore. It was the death-knell of 400 men, for the _Palestro_ had blown up with all on board.