The entry of the Allied fleets was silently permitted by the Turks, who did not call to quarters, either with drum or trumpet, and an ominous silence was preserved throughout their line; so it was difficult to suppose that a most bloody battle was about to take place. The Turkish fleet and batteries were prepared for action, however; and it so proved when the Dartmouth frigate, which had anchored close to the fire-ships, and whose Captain, perceiving certain movements on board of them which induced him to believe that the Turks were about to act on the offensive, sent a boat, under command of a lieutenant, to request that the fire-ships should quit the anchorage occupied by the Allies. Upon the boat’s proceeding alongside the fire-ship, a fire of musketry was opened upon her, and the lieutenant and several of the crew were killed. The fire was replied to from the boat, and the sharp report of small arms, echoing from the surrounding rocky eminences, seemed to awake the Turks from a torpor. Just at this critical moment the French flag-ship, the Sirène, which was close alongside the Egyptian frigate Esnina, hailed, to say that she should not fire if the Esnina did not. The words had hardly passed the French Captain’s lips when the Egyptian fired her broadside slap into the Sirène. So quickly that it seemed an echo, the formidable broadside of the Sirène was heard in reply, delivered point blank into the Esnina. At the same moment the Turkish Admiral fired a shot, and upon this the whole Allied fleet in a position to do so opened fire upon the Turks. The Asia, though abreast of the ship of the Capitan Bey, was nearer to that of Moharem Bey; and as the latter did not fire at the Asia, the English flag-ship did not fire at her. A messenger was sent to the Asia by Moharem Bey, to say that he did not intend to fire, and Admiral Codrington, still unwilling to believe a serious engagement possible, sent a boat with a Mr. Mitchell, who was acting as pilot and interpreter, to assure Moharem of his desire to avoid bloodshed. But Mitchell was treacherously shot dead when descending the side of the Egyptian ship. Soon after the Egyptian opened fire, and as Admiral Codrington says, in his dispatch, “was consequently effectually destroyed by the Asia’s fire, sharing the same fate as his brother Admiral on the starboard side, and falling to leeward, a complete wreck.” The action then became general; and the ships were soon enveloped in dense clouds of powder smoke, only lighted by the rapid flashes of the guns; and very soon these lurid flashes became the only guides by which the gunners could sight their pieces. In this dreadful turmoil the drill, discipline and experience of the Europeans gave them the advantage. As their shot told more truly than those of the Turks, each broadside of the Allies tore through the hulls, swept the decks, and wrecked the masts and rigging of the Ottoman fleet.