Complex sentence: Behind "Royal Sovereign" was "Marlborough", inextricably tangled with "Impétueux"; badly damaged and on the verge of surrender, "Impétueux" was briefly reprieved when "Mucius" appeared through the smoke and collided with both ships.
Split into simpler sentences: Behind "Royal Sovereign" was "Marlborough", inextricably tangled with "Impétueux". Badly damaged and on the verge of surrender, "Impétueux" was briefly reprieved when "Mucius" appeared through the smoke and collided with both ships.