 Finally, there was damage to two Spanish frigates: the Sabina was struck by cannon fire during the night killing one man and wounding five, although it was not determined which ship had fired on the flagship and James suggested that it may have been from one of the destroyed 112-gun ships in a case of friendly fire. In addition, the Spanish 34-gun frigate Perla was seen wallowing off the North African coast of the Strait of Gibraltar on the morning of 13 July, sinking later in the day due to severe damage. How Perla came to be engaged in the action has never been explained. The ship was not part of Moreno's squadron at Algeciras and none of the British ships reported engaging a frigate during the night – during the hours of darkness Perla must have encountered the battle and become caught in the cross-fire, suffering fatal damage.
