Britain's New Mediterranean Fleet had been reduced to a handful of sailors, who gathered in small boats and formed a little flotilla. With nearly all their officers dead when their ships went down, the surviving sailors soon came to blows over who should lead them.
Some suggested heading for Gibraltar, others for Cyprus. But both destinations were so far away that it was anyone's guess whether they would make it there alive.
So someone proposed going to Sicily or returning directly to Malta Island. But they had already badly offended the Sicilians by robbing Austrian merchant ships and then selling them grain at exorbitant prices. If they went to Sicily now, they would surely face retaliation.
Returning to Malta Island was no wiser. The Austrians patrolling the coast would most likely mistake them for spies or enemy troops attempting to land and slaughter them on sight. After all, that was exactly what the British had done before.
That left France. But they still had no idea why the Grand Orient Fleet, once their ally, had suddenly attacked them.
They had little time to discuss it. Another fleet suddenly appeared at sea.
It was made up entirely of fast ships in the Arab style. The moment it spotted them, it sped toward them.
The surviving British sailors were baffled, but they did not panic. For most of the time, the Ottomans had been Britain's allies.
But the Arab sailors did not come to the British rescue. Instead, they trained the cannons and firearms aboard their ships on the British boats.
The British sailors had no means of fighting back, and they had been caught off guard. Their little flotilla was soon wiped out.
The Arab sailors seemed determined not to let anyone escape. They hurled harpoons and spears into the water,