by John Marshall, Royal Naval Biography — Nicholls… (1823)
“ The Royal Sovereign was among the first ships in action, and at its conclusion was at the head of eleven sail of the line, well formed, and in pursuit of fourteen of the enemy’s ships, when the last signal was made by Earl Howe for his fleet to close. In this battle the Royal Sovereign had 14 men killed, and 44 wounded. Captain Nicholls’s conduct was specially noticed by the Commander-in-Chief, in his public letter ”
