Battle of Aboukir Bay
The Battle of the Nile, also known as the Battle of Aboukir Bay, was an important naval battle of the French Revolutionary Wars between a British fleet commanded by Admiral Horatio Nelson and a French fleet under Vice-Admiral François-Paul Brueys D'Aigalliers. It took place on the evening and early morning of August 1 and August 2, 1798. French losses were as high as 1,700 dead (including Brueys) and 3,000 captured. British losses were 218 dead.
Napoleon Bonaparte intended to threaten the British position in India via the invasion and conquest of Egypt. About three weeks after his landing there, a British fleet of 14 ships under Horatio Nelson, which had been scouring the eastern Mediterranean Sea looking for the French fleet, finally came upon the 15 French ships being used to support the invasion.
The fleets met close to sunset on August 1. The French were at anchor in Abū Qīr Bay, in shallow water near a shoal less than 4 fathoms (8 m) deep. The shoal was being used to protect the south-western (port) side of the fleet, while the starboard side faced the north-east and open sea. Brueys expected the battle to begin the next morning, as he did not believe the British would risk a night encounter in shallow, uncharted waters. Leisurely preparations began for combat.
Admiral Nelson observed that the French fleet was anchored too far from the shallows. He ordered his line of battle to divide in two, with one division to pass between the French line and the shoal, and the other division to close from the deeper side and so fire on the French from both sides. One British ship, the Culloden, ran aground, but the remainder were able to stay afloat and begin taking the French fleet apart one by one. The wind from the north meant that the unengaged French ships could not come up to help their fellows, enabling Nelson to put several ships on to a target at a time, working his way down the line.
The French flagship L'Orient came under fire first from the Bellerophon, which received a battering and drifted away dismasted, and then from the Alexander and Généreux and Guillaume Tell together with the two frigates Diane and Justice were able to escape. Le Timoleon and the frigate Artemise were burned, the frigate Serieuse was sunk, and the remaining French ships (Le Guerrier, Le Conquérant, Le Spartiate, L'Aquilon, Le Souverain Peuple, Le Franklin, Le Tonnant, L'Heureux, Le Mercure) were captured by early morning on August 2.
The British ships were Vanguard (flagship), Alexander, Audacious, Bellerophon, Culloden, Defence, Goliath, Leander, Majestic, Minotaur, Orion, Swiftsure, Theseus, and Zealous.
The battle established British naval superiority during the remainder of the French Revolutionary Wars, and was an important contribution to the growing fame of Admiral Nelson. It is also well known for literary reasons: Felicia D. Hemans' poem "Casabianca" (often known better by its first line, "The boy stood on the burning deck") is about the son of Vice-Admiral Brueys, who died in the explosion of the French flagship L'Orient during this battle.
