The ten battering ships took their station before the fortress on the 13th of September, in the presence of the combined fleets of France and Spain: the enemy’s camp and the neighbouring hills were crowded with spectators from various parts of Europe to witness the effect of these stupendous vessels; and such a storm of war was opened upon the place, as had probably never been equalled since the invention of cannon. The batteries of the fortress answered this tremendous fire with vigour, and the deafening thunder of four hundred pieces of heavy artillery was heard for several miles. For some hours the attack and defence were so equally well supported, as scarcely to admit any appearance of superiority in the cannonade on either side. The wonderful construction of the battering ships appeared to bid defiance to the heaviest ordnance: shells rebounded from their tops, and a thirty-two pound shot scarcely seemed to make any impression on them. The effect of the red-hot shot was doubted; sometimes smoke came from the ships, but the fire-engines within soon occasioned it to cease, and the result was uncertain: the fire was, however, persevered in, and incessant showers of red-hot bullets, shells, and carcases flew through the air. In the afternoon the red-hot shot had performed its work, and volumes of smoke issued from the flagship: the admiral’s second ship was soon perceived to be in the same condition, and confusion prevailed. The Spaniards expected that the firing of red-hot bullets could not be persevered in beyond a few rounds; but the fire was continued with the same precision and vivacity as cold shot; this occasioned the enemy’s cannonade to abate, and about eight o’clock it almost totally ceased. The battering ships made signals to inform the combined fleets of their extreme danger and distress, when several boats were sent to their assistance. At this period the fire of the garrison produced great carnage, and the most pitiable cries and groans were heard, as the incessant showers of shot and shells were poured into the floating batteries. Soon after midnight one ship was in flames, and by two o’clock it appeared one sheet of fire from head to stern; a second was soon in the same condition, and the light of the conflagration enabled the British artillery to point their guns with precision, when soon after three o’clock six more ships exhibited the effects of the red-hot shot. The burning ships exhibited one of the grandest spectacles of destruction ever beheld; and amidst this exciting scene the British seamen pushed off in boats to rescue the Spaniards from the blazing vessels. They preserved between three and four hundred, and while they were thus engaged, one of the ships blew up with a dreadful explosion; four others met the same fate before seven o’clock, and another shortly afterwards, and the remainder burnt to the water’s edge, their magazines having been inundated. Not one could be preserved as a trophy.