When "Florida" began her run, Preble moved to place"Oneida" in front of "Florida". At 6:00 PM, he ordered shots fired across her bow. Believing that the ship was English, two warning shots were fired over her bow and a third shot into her forefoot (The part of a ship at which the prow joins the keel) instead of the customary single warning shot. All three shots were fired within three minutes of her being in range of "Oneida"s guns. When "Florida" did not stop, Preble ordered the fourth shot be sent into the enemy ship. This shot missed, at which time "Florida" lowered her false ensign, and made directly for Fort Morgan. It was not until this point that Preble could be sure that the ship was a Confederate vessel. With one boiler out of commission, "Oneida" was unable to keep pace with "Florida", which escaped into the bay. However, "Oneida" kept up fire on the ship for 29 minutes until it was safely under the protection of Fort Morgan. In addition to the speed issue, the reports state that there were some visibility issues that contributed to poor marksmanship of "Oneida"s gun crew.