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On sea England was now showing the world how she still could fight. Following the desperate struggle off Sardinia, in which Italy had rendered us such valuable help, our Mediterranean Squadron attacked the French Fleet off Cape Tresforcas, on the coast of Morocco, and after a terrific battle, extending over two days, defeated them with heavy loss, several of the enemy's vessels being torpedoed and sunk, two of them rammed, and one so badly damaged that her captain ran her ashore on Alboran Island.
After this hard-earned victory, our Squadron passed out of the Mediterranean, and, returning home, had joined hands with the battered remnant of our Channel Fleet, now reinforced by several vessels recalled from foreign stations. Therefore, while the enemy marched upon London, we had collected our naval strength on the south coast, and at length made a final descent upon the enemy in British waters. The British vessels that passed Beachy Head coming up Channel on the night of the bombardment of London included the _Empress of India_, _Inflexible_, _Nile_, _Trafalgar_, _Magnificent_, _Hood_, _Warspite_, _Dreadnought_, _Camperdown_, _Blenheim_, _Barham_, _Benbow_, _Monarch_, _Anson_, _Immortalite_, and _Royal Sovereign_, with four of the new cruisers built under the Spencer programme, viz. the _Terrible_, _Powerful_, _Doris_, and _Isis_, and a number of smaller vessels, torpedo boats, and "destroyers."