Pembroke's smaller ships found themselves towered-over by the tall carracks, and Castilian archers rained arrows onto the decks of English ships, whilst well protected by their own wooden breastworks. Pembroke found his fleet caught between the enemy and the sandbanks (located off what later became La Pallice); further, the Castilian ships possessed arbalests, which caused great destruction to wooden decks. Pembroke was unable to replicate the victories of earlier years (for example, at Winchelsea and Nájera) due to his lack of archers, which would otherwise allowed him to lay down a suppressing fire on the enemy crews. Likewise, Castilian command of the air meant that English soldiers were unable to board Castilian ships. The battle lasted two days. The fighting broke off as night fell on the 22nd; Pembroke had lost two ships, and was now surrounded by the Castilian fleet over night. Fighting recommenced the next morning. Pembroke found his flagship attacked by four of the enemy galleys, who used grappling hooks to attach themselves to the English ship, and later managed to douse the decks of some ships with oil which could then be ignited by fire arrows. Fire, said, Sherborne, played a vital role in the Castilian triumph. Around this point—with horses running wild and kicking holes in the hulls and his men throwing themselves overboard to avoid the flames—Pembroke surrendered, much of his fleet burned or captured. Many of his retinue were killed, and those that survived were also captured. This number included Pembroke himself, as well as the Earl of Huntingdon, and of course, the £12,000 in silver, which was discovered untouched. Historians have since been universally critical of Pembroke's actions at La Rochelle. The Victorian antiquarian J. H. Ramsay described Pembroke's defeat as worst ever inflicted on the English navy, E. F. Jacob, that it was a disastrous blow, and Anthony Steel said that it lost England control of the Channel for several years.