 Pellew immediately turned seawards in an effort to escape the shore and signalled Reynolds to follow suit. Although both ships had suffered severe damage from the battle and weather, they were able to make the turn away from land, Amazon to the north and Indefatigable, at the insistence of its Breton pilot, to the south. Initially it was believed that the land spotted was the island of Ushant, which would have given the ships plenty of sea-room in which to manoeuvre. However at 06: 30, with the sky lightening, it became apparent on the Indefatigable that there were breakers to the south and east, indicating that the three ships had drifted during the night into Audierne Bay. On discovering his situation, Pellew was determined to bring his ship westwards, attempting to work his ship out of danger against the wind. Hasty repairs had to be made to the damaged rigging before it was safe to alter their course. Due to her northwards turn, Amazon had even less room to manoeuvre than Indefatigable and by 05: 00 she had struck upright on a sandbank. Efforts to bring her off failed and at 08: 00 Reynolds ordered his men to prepare to abandon the ship.
