The Battle of the Nile

Battle of the Nile

The Battle of the Nile was a major naval battle fought between British and French fleets at Aboukir Bay on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt from 1–3 August 1798...

 was a significant naval action fought during 1–3 August 1798. The battle took place in Aboukir Bay, near the mouth of the River Nile on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

 and pitted a British fleet of the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 against a fleet of the French Navy

French Navy

The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...

. The battle was the climax of a three-month campaign in the Mediterranean

Mediterranean campaign of 1798

The Mediterranean campaign of 1798 was a series of major naval operations surrounding a French expeditionary force sent to Egypt under Napoleon Bonaparte during the French Revolutionary Wars. The French Republic sought to capture Egypt as the first stage in an effort to threaten British India, and...

 during which a huge French convoy under General Napoleon Bonaparte had sailed from Toulon

Toulon

Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....

 to Alexandria

Alexandria

Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...

 via Malta

Malta

Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...

. Despite close pursuit by a British fleet of thirteen ships of the line, one fourth rate and a sloop

Sloop

A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....

 under Sir Horatio Nelson, the French were able to reach Alexandria unscathed and successfully land an army, which Bonaparte led inland. The fleet that had escorted the convoy, consisting of thirteen ships of the line, four frigates and a number of smaller vessels under Vice-Admiral François-Paul Brueys D'Aigalliers

François-Paul Brueys d'Aigalliers

Vice-Admiral François-Paul Brueys d'Aigalliers, Comte de Brueys was the French commander in the Battle of the Nile, in which the French Revolutionary Navy was defeated by Royal Navy forces under Admiral Horatio Nelson. The British victory helped to ensure their naval supremacy throughout the...

, anchored in Aboukir Bay as Alexandria harbour was too narrow, forming a line of battle that was protected by shoals to the north and west.

Nelson reached the Egyptian coast on 1 August and discovered the French fleet at 14:00. Advancing during the afternoon, his ships entered the bay at 18:20 and attacked the French directly, despite the rapid approach of nightfall. Taking advantage of a large gap between the lead French ship Guerrier

French ship Guerrier (1754)

The Guerrier was a Magnifique class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.She took part in the Battle of Minorca and in the Battle of Lagos...

 and the northern shoal, HMS Goliath

HMS Goliath (1781)

HMS Goliath was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line in the Royal Navy. She was launched on 19 October 1781 at Deptford Dockyard. She was present at the Battle of Cape St Vincent, Battle of the Nile, and Battle of Copenhagen. She was broken up in 1815....

 rounded the French line at 18:40 and opened fire from the unprepared port side, followed by five more British ships. The rest of the British line attacked the starboard side of the French van, catching the ships in a fierce crossfire. For three hours the battle continued as the British overwhelmed the first five French ships but were driven away from the heavily defended centre. The arrival of reinforcements allowed a second assault on the centre at 21:00 and at 22:00 the French flagship Orient

French ship Orient (1791)

The Dauphin-Royal was an Océan class 118-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.During the French Revolution, she was renamed Sans-Culotte in September 1792, and eventually Orient in May 1795....

exploded. Despite the death of the Admiral Brueys, the French centre continued to fight until 03:00, when the badly damaged Tonnant

HMS Tonnant (1792)

Tonnant was an 80-gun ship of the line of the French Navy and lead ship of the Tonnant class. Admiral Nelson captured her at Aboukir Bay on 1 August 1798. The Royal Navy then took her into service...

 managed to join the thus far unengaged French rear division. At 06:00 firing began again as the less damaged ships of the British fleet attacked the French rear, forcing Rear-Admiral Pierre-Charles Villeneuve

Pierre-Charles Villeneuve

Pierre-Charles-Jean-Baptiste-Silvestre de Villeneuve was a French naval officer during the Napoleonic Wars. He was in command of the French and Spanish fleets defeated by Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar....

 to pull away for the mouth of the bay. Four French ships were too badly damaged to join him and were beached by their crews, Villeneuve eventually escaped to open water with just two ships of the line and two frigates. On 3 August the last two remaining French ships stranded in the bay were defeated, one surrendering and the other deliberately set on fire by its crew.

The almost total destruction of the French fleet reversed the strategic situation in the Mediterranean, giving the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 control of the sea which it retained until the end of the Napoleonic Wars

Napoleonic Wars

The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...

 in 1815. Nelson and his captains were highly praised and generously rewarded, although Nelson privately complained that his peerage was not senior enough. Bonaparte's army was trapped in the Middle East and Royal Navy dominance played a significant part in its subsequent defeat at the Siege of Acre

Siege of Acre (1799)

The Siege of Acre of 1799 was an unsuccessful French siege of the Ottoman-defended, walled city of Acre and was the turning point of Napoleon's invasion of Egypt and Syria.-Background:...

, Bonaparte himself abandoned the army late in 1799 to return to France and deal with the outbreak of the War of the Second Coalition

War of the Second Coalition

The "Second Coalition" was the second attempt by European monarchs, led by the Habsburg Monarchy of Austria and the Russian Empire, to contain or eliminate Revolutionary France. They formed a new alliance and attempted to roll back France's previous military conquests...

. Of the captured ships, three were no longer serviceable and were burnt in the bay, and three others were judged fit only for harbour duties owing to the damage they had received in the battle. The remainder enjoyed long and successful service careers in the Royal Navy; two subsequently served at the Battle of Trafalgar

Battle of Trafalgar

The Battle of Trafalgar was a sea battle fought between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French Navy and Spanish Navy, during the War of the Third Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars ....

 in 1805.

Orders of battle

The ships in the orders of battle below are listed in the order in which they appeared in the respective battle lines. Listed in the casualties section are the totals of killed and wounded as best as can be established: due to the nature of the battle, French losses were hard to calculate precisely. Officers killed in action are marked with a † symbol. Note that as carronades were not traditionally taken into consideration when calculating a ship's rate

Rating system of the Royal Navy

The rating system of the Royal Navy and its predecessors was used by the British Royal Navy between the beginning of the 17th century and the middle of the 19th century to categorise sailing warships, initially classing them according to their assigned complement of men, and later according to the...

, these ships may have been carrying more guns than indicated below.

British fleet

Rear-Admiral Nelson's fleet
Ship	Rate Rating system of the Royal Navy The rating system of the Royal Navy and its predecessors was used by the British Royal Navy between the beginning of the 17th century and the middle of the 19th century to categorise sailing warships, initially classing them according to their assigned complement of men, and later according to the...	Guns	Commander	Casualties			Notes
				Killed	Wounded	Total
HMS Goliath HMS Goliath (1781) HMS Goliath was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line in the Royal Navy. She was launched on 19 October 1781 at Deptford Dockyard. She was present at the Battle of Cape St Vincent, Battle of the Nile, and Battle of Copenhagen. She was broken up in 1815....	Third rate	74	Captain Thomas Foley				Masts and hull severely damaged
HMS Zealous HMS Zealous (1785) HMS Zealous was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by Barnard of Deptford and launched on 25 June 1785.She served in a number of battles of the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars, notably the Battle of the Nile, where she engaged the French ship Guerrier,...	Third rate	74	Captain Samuel Hood				Lightly damaged
HMS Orion HMS Orion (1787) HMS Orion was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched at Deptford on 1 June 1787 to the design of the , by William Bately...	Third rate	74	Captain Sir James Saumarez James Saumarez, 1st Baron de Saumarez Admiral James Saumarez, 1st Baron de Saumarez , GCB was an admiral of the British Royal Navy, notable for his victory at the Battle of Algeciras.-Early life:...				Lightly damaged
HMS Audacious HMS Audacious (1785) HMS Audacious was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 23 July 1785 at Rotherhithe. She was the first ship to bear the name....	Third rate	74	Captain Davidge Gould Davidge Gould Sir Davidge Gould GCB was an officer of the Royal Navy. He served during the American Revolutionary, French Revolutionary and the Napoleonic Wars, eventually rising to the rank of Admiral...				Lightly damaged
HMS Theseus HMS Theseus (1786) HMS Theseus was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy.One of the eight Culloden class ships designed by Thomas Slade, she was built at Perry, Blackwall Yard, London and launched on 25 September 1786.-Service:...	Third rate	74	Captain Ralph Willett Miller Ralph Willett Miller Ralph Willett Miller was an officer of the Royal Navy. He served during the American Revolutionary and the French Revolutionary Wars, eventually rising to the rank of Captain...				Hull severely damaged
HMS Vanguard HMS Vanguard (1787) HMS Vanguard was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 6 March 1787 at Deptford. She was the sixth vessel to bear the name....	Third rate	74	Rear-Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson Captain Edward Berry Edward Berry Rear Admiral Sir Edward Berry, 1st Baronet, KCB was an officer in Britain's Royal Navy primarily known for his role as flag captain of Rear Admiral Horatio Nelson's ship HMS Vanguard at the Battle of the Nile, prior to his knighthood in 1798...				Masts and hull severely damaged
HMS Minotaur HMS Minotaur (1793) HMS Minotaur was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 6 November 1793 at Woolwich. She was named after the mythological bull-headed monster of Crete.-Career:...	Third rate	74	Captain Thomas Louis Thomas Louis Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Louis, 1st Baronet was an officer of the British Royal Navy who served in three wars and saw numerous actions, notably as one of Horatio Nelson's "Band of Brothers" in the Mediterranean in 1798 who commanded ships at the Battle of the Nile...				Lightly damaged
HMS Defence HMS Defence (1763) HMS Defence was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 31 March 1763 at Plymouth Dockyard. She was one of the most famous ships of the period, taking part in several of the most important naval battles of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars...	Third rate	74	Captain John Peyton				Masts lightly damaged
HMS Bellerophon HMS Bellerophon (1786) The first HMS Bellerophon of the Royal Navy was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line launched on 6 October 1786 at Frindsbury on the River Medway, near Chatham. She was built at the shipyard of Edward Greaves to the specifications of the Arrogant, designed by Sir Thomas Slade in 1758, the lead ship...	Third rate	74	Captain Henry Darby Henry D'Esterre Darby Admiral Sir Henry D'Esterre Darby, KCB, was an officer in the Royal Navy. He was the second son of Jonathan Darby IV Esq., of Leap Castle, in King's County, Ireland. He was the nephew of Vice Admiral George Darby...				Dismasted and severely damaged
HMS Majestic HMS Majestic (1785) HMS Majestic was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line launched on 11 December 1785 at Deptford. She fought at the Battle of the Nile, where she engaged the French ships Tonnant and Heureux, helping to force their surrenders...	Third rate	74	Captain George Blagden Westcott				Lost main and mizen masts, hull severely damaged
HMS Leander HMS Leander (1780) HMS Leander was a Portland-class 50-gun fourth rate of the Royal Navy, launched at Chatham on 1 July 1780. She served on the West Coast of Africa, West Indies, and the Halifax station. During the French Revolutionary Wars she participated in the Battle of the Nile before a French ship captured her....	Fourth rate	50	Captain Thomas Thompson Sir Thomas Thompson, 1st Baronet Sir Thomas Boulden Thompson, 1st Baronet GCB was an officer of the Royal Navy. He served during the American Revolutionary, French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, eventually rising to the rank of Vice-Admiral...				Lightly damaged
HMS Alexander HMS Alexander (1778) HMS Alexander was a Royal Navy 74-gun third-rate. This ship of the line was launched at Deptford on 8 October 1778. During her career she was captured by the French, and later recaptured by the British. She fought at the Nile in 1798, and was broken up in 1819...	Third rate	74	Captain Alexander Ball				Masts severely damaged
HMS Swiftsure HMS Swiftsure (1787) HMS Swiftsure was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She spent most of her career serving with the British, except for a brief period when she was captured by the French during the Napoleonic Wars...	Third rate	74	Captain Benjamin Hallowell				Severely damaged
HMS Culloden HMS Culloden (1783) HMS Culloden was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 16 June 1783 at Rotherhithe. She took part in some of the most famous battles of the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars....	Third rate	74	Captain Thomas Troubridge Sir Thomas Troubridge, 1st Baronet Sir Thomas Troubridge, 1st Baronet was a British naval commander and politician.Troubridge was educated at St Paul's School, London. He entered the Royal Navy in 1773 and, together with Nelson, served in the East Indies in the frigate Seahorse. In 1785 he returned to England in the Sultan as...				Grounded on the Aboukir shoal during the attack and took no part in the action. Hull severely damaged.
HMS Mutine HMS Mutine (1797) HMS Mutine was a French 16-gun corvette launched in 1794 at Honfleur.The Royal Navy captured her from the French in May 1797 at the Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Mutine was sold in 1803.-French service:...	Sloop Sloop A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....	16	Lieutenant Thomas Hardy				Assisted Culloden during the battle and took no part in the fighting
Total casualties: 218 killed, 678 wounded, 896 total[Note A]
Source: James, pp. 152–175, Clowes, p. 357

French fleet

Vice-Admiral Brueys' fleet
Line of battle
Ship	Rate Rating system of the Royal Navy The rating system of the Royal Navy and its predecessors was used by the British Royal Navy between the beginning of the 17th century and the middle of the 19th century to categorise sailing warships, initially classing them according to their assigned complement of men, and later according to the...	Guns	Commander	Casualties			Notes
				Killed	Wounded	Total
Guerrier French ship Guerrier (1754) The Guerrier was a Magnifique class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.She took part in the Battle of Minorca and in the Battle of Lagos...	Third rate	74	Captain Jean-François-Timothée Trullet	~350–400 casualties			Dismasted and severely damaged. Captured but later destroyed as unserviceable.
Conquérant French ship Conquérant (1747) The Conquérant was a Citoyen class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.She took part in the Battle of the Nile, where she was armed with only 18- and 12-pounders, and crewed by a mere 400 men, under captain Dalbarade. Second ship in the vanguard of her line, Conquérant sustained fire from...	Third rate	74	Captain Etienne Dalbarade	~350 casualties			Dismasted and severely damaged. Captured and became HMS Conquerant but never saw front line service.
Spartiate	Third rate	74	Captain Maurice-Julien Emeriau				Dismasted and severely damaged. Captured and became HMS Spartiate.
Aquilon French ship Aquilon (1789) The Aquilon was a Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.She served off Italy under Brueys, and took part in the Battle of the Nile, where she fought HMS Vanguard, HMS Minotaur and HMS Theseus. She was captured and recommissioned in the Royal Navy as HMS Aboukir.- External links...	Third rate	74	Captain Antoine René Thévenard Antoine René Thévenard Antoine René Thévenard was a French Navy officer. His name is written "Henri-Alexandre Thévenard" in some English source.- Biography :...				Dismasted and severely damaged. Captured and became HMS Aboukir but never saw front line service.
Peuple Souverain	Third rate	74	Captain Pierre-Paul Raccord	Heavy casualties			Fore and main masts collapsed and hull severely damaged. Captured and became HMS Guerrier but never saw front line service.
Franklin	Third rate	80	Contre-Admiral Armand Blanquet Captain Maurice Gillet Maurice Gillet Maurice Gillet was a French navy officer.- Biography :Born to a family of sailors, Gillet started sailing in 1793 on the Northumberland...	~400 casualties			Main and mizen masts collapsed and hull severely damaged. Captured and became HMS Canopus.
Orient French ship Orient (1791) The Dauphin-Royal was an Océan class 118-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.During the French Revolution, she was renamed Sans-Culotte in September 1792, and eventually Orient in May 1795....	First rate	120	Vice-Admiral François-Paul Brueys D'Aigalliers François-Paul Brueys d'Aigalliers Vice-Admiral François-Paul Brueys d'Aigalliers, Comte de Brueys was the French commander in the Battle of the Nile, in which the French Revolutionary Navy was defeated by Royal Navy forces under Admiral Horatio Nelson. The British victory helped to ensure their naval supremacy throughout the...   Contre-Admiral Honoré Ganteaume Captain Luc-Julien-Joseph Casabianca Luc-Julien-Joseph Casabianca See Casabianca for other meaningsLuc-Julien-Joseph Casabianca was a French Navy officer.- Career :...	~1,000 casualties			Destroyed in an ammunition explosion
Tonnant HMS Tonnant (1792) Tonnant was an 80-gun ship of the line of the French Navy and lead ship of the Tonnant class. Admiral Nelson captured her at Aboukir Bay on 1 August 1798. The Royal Navy then took her into service...	Third rate	80	Commodore Aristide Aubert Du Petit Thouars Aristide Aubert Du Petit Thouars Aristide Aubert Du Petit Thouars was a French naval officer, and a hero of the Battle of Aboukir, where he died....	Heavy casualties			Dismasted, grounded and severely damaged. Captured on 3 August and became HMS Tonnant.
Heureux French ship Heureux (1783) The Heureux was a Centaure class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.She cruised in the Mediterranean in 1794 and 1795.Under Captain Jean-Pierre Etienne, she took part in the Expedition to Egypt, and in the Battle of the Nile. The first ship to spot the British fleet on 1 August, Heureux...	Third rate	74	Captain Jean-Pierre Etienne Jean-Pierre Etienne Jean-Pierre Etienne was a French Navy officer.- Biography :Etienne started his career in the French Royal Navy in 1766 as a cabin boy, serving on a number of ships as an apprentice, a sailor from 1770, a helmsman from 1773, an aid-pilot from 1775, a second pilot from 1776, and a first pilot from...	Light casualties			Grounded and severely damaged. Captured on 2 August but later burnt as unserviceable.
Mercure French ship Mercure (1783) The Mercure was a 74-gun Séduisant-class ship of the line of the French Navy.She took part in the Battle of the Nile under Captain Cambon. She fought against HMS Majestic and was captured by HMS Alexander. Damaged beyond repair and aground, she was burnt.-See also:*List of ships captured in the...	Third rate	74	Lieutenant Cambon	Light casualties			Grounded and severely damaged. Captured on 2 August but later burnt as unserviceable.
Guillaume Tell	Third rate	80	Contre-Admiral Pierre-Charles Villeneuve Pierre-Charles Villeneuve Pierre-Charles-Jean-Baptiste-Silvestre de Villeneuve was a French naval officer during the Napoleonic Wars. He was in command of the French and Spanish fleets defeated by Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar.... Captain Saulnier	Light casualties			Escaped on 2 August
Généreux	Third rate	74	Captain Louis-Jean-Nicolas Le Joille	Light casualties			Escaped with Guillaume Tell on 2 August
Timoléon French ship Commerce de Bordeaux (1785) The Commerce de Bordeaux was a Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.Renamed Timoléon in February 1794, she took part in the Battle of the Nile under captain Louis-Léonce Trullet. In the confusion of the battle, her rudder was damaged by misdirected fire from the neighbouring...	Third rate	74	Captain Louis-Léonce Trullet Louis-Léonce Trullet Louis-Léonce Trullet was a French Navy officer.- Biography :Born to a family of sailors, and younger brother of Jean-François-Timothée Trullet, Louis-Léonce Trullet joined the Navy as a cabin boy on Séduisant in 1768...	Light casualties			Grounded and severely damaged. Scuttled by its crew on 3 August.
Frigates
Sérieuse French frigate Sérieuse (1779) The Sérieuse was a Magicienne class frigate of the French Navy.In 1781, she ferried soldiers after the Invasion of Minorca.She was at Toulon when the British captured the city...	Fifth rate	36	Captain Claude-Jean Martin Claude-Jean Martin - Biography :Born to a family of sailors, Martin joined the French Royal Navy in 1767. he served in the Mediterranean against Barbary pirates.He later served as a pilot aboard the Fantasque, taking part in the campaigns of Admiral d'Estaing in the American War of Independence...	Heavy casualties			Sank due to damage received in the battle
Artémise French frigate Artémise (1794) The Artémise was a Magicienne class frigate of the French Navy.She was under construction as Aurore in Toulon when the British seized the city...	Fifth rate	36	Captain Pierre-Jean Standelet	Light casualties			Scuttled by its crew on 2 August
Justice French frigate Justice (1794) The Justice was a Virginie class frigate of the French Navy, originally built and completed as Courageuse in 1794, but renamed Justice in April 1795....	Fifth rate	40	Captain Villeneuve				Escaped with Guillaume Tell on 2 August
Diane French frigate Diane (1796) The Diane was a 38-gun frigate of the French Navy.She took part in the Battle of the Nile, managing to escape to Malta with the Justice....	Fifth rate	40	Contre-Admiral Denis Decrès Denis Decrès Denis Decrès, , was an officer of the French Navy and count, later duke of the First Empire.-Early career:... Captain Éléonore-Jean-Nicolas Soleil Éléonore-Jean-Nicolas Soleil Éléonore-Jean-Nicolas Soleil was a French Navy officer and captain.- Biography :Born to the family of a surgeon, Soleil started sailing on a merchantman in 1783. In 1785, he served in the French Royal Navy on a fluyt, before returning to merchant shipping.In August 1789, Soleil joined up as a...				Escaped with Guillaume Tell on 2 August
The head of the French line was supported by guns mounted on Aboukir Island and a number of gunboats and bomb vessels situated among the shoals to the west of the line. These participated in the battle but with little effect, and several grounded during the engagement, with one bomb vessel scuttled by its crew.
Total casualties: ~3,000–5,000[Note A]
Source: James, pp. 152–175, Clowes, p. 357