at 20:00, troude ordered "hautpoult" to steer to the northwest while he took "courageux" and "polonais" southwest in an effort to divide the pursuit. "pompee" and "recruit" kept with "hautpoult", while "neptune", accompanied by the brig hms "hawk" continued to follow troude's main force. during the night however troude outdistanced "neptune", and on the morning of 16 april cochrane ordered all available ships to converge on "hautpoult". the lone french ship of the line had finally forced the damaged "recruit" to retire, but could see "pompee" and "neptune" to the southeast and the newly arrived frigates hms "latona" under captain hugh pigot and hms "castor" under captain william roberts to the northeast, with the spanish coast of puerto rico directly north. during the day the chase continued, "neptune" falling behind but "pompee" remaining in sight and the frigates gaining on "hautpoult". at 17:00, puerto rico appeared on the horizon, the french forced to follow the coastline westwards. during the night, the british pursuers were confused by the overcast sky, which helped "hautpoult" to partially obscure herself among the lights from shore.