"Neptune" entered the battle about 25 minutes after the start of the action, having by then drifted to leeward and fallen astern of "Redoutable". "Neptune" should have had the position immediately astern of "Bucentaure", but the Spanish 74-gun "San Justo", which should have been four places astern of "Neptune" had drifted up to leeward. Maistral hailed "San Justo" The "San Justo" not being in her station and edging down to place herself on my windward beam hampered me; I at once hailed her to enquire "if she knew her station"; I told her that mine was to be next astern to the "Bucentaure"; she replied that she was about to place herself astern of me, "which she did not do", and continued to the wind and to fore-reach on me, which made me fall off a little to leeward and to draw away from the flagship, of whom I had been within hail in the first place. "San Justo"s captain, Francisco Javier Garstón, blamed the crew's inexperience for failing to keep her station. This would be significant in the coming battle as the position astern of the flagship would be the focus of British attention, and should have been occupied by a powerful ship like the "Neptune". Meanwhile, the ship that should have been astern of "Neptune", the Spanish 64-gun "San Leandro", was following "San Justo" to leeward, leaving a considerable gap behind the flagship that the British could exploit. "Redoutable"s captain, Jean Jacques Étienne Lucas, saw the threat, and brought his ship forward in an attempt to close the gap. Despite his efforts, the British were able to break the line between "Bucentaure" and "Redoubtable".