The attack on the Mole had been designed to be carried out by a storming
force to prepare the way for, and afterward to cover and protect, the
operations of a second force, which was to carry out the actual work of
destruction. The storming force, which had embarked in the Vindictive, was
now reinforced by a hundred British tars from the Brigadier, headed by
Frank, and additional sailors from the Iris and Gloucester.

For the first time it was now ascertained that the Vindictive, in
anchoring off the Mole, had over-run her station and was berthed some four
hundred yards farther to the westward than had been intended.

It had been realized beforehand that the Vindictive might not exactly
reach the exact position mapped out, but the fact that the landing was
carried out in an unexpected place, combined with the heavy losses already
sustained by the vessel, seriously disorganized the attacking force. The
intention had been to land the storming parties right on top of the 4
1-inch guns in position on the seaward end of the Mole, the silencing of
which was of the first importance, as they menaced the approach of the
block ships.

The leading block ship had been timed to pass the lighthouse twenty-five
minutes after the Vindictive came alongside. This period of time proved
insufficient to organize and carry through an attack against the enemy on
the seaward end of the Mole, the enemy, it developed, being able to bring
heavy machine-gun fire to bear on the attacking forces. As a result the
block ships, when they approached, came under an unexpected fire from the
light guns on the Mole extension, though the 4.1-inch batteries on the
Mole had remained silent.