French campaign in Egypt and Syria along the coast. The British fleet under the command of Horatio Nelson had been searching in vain for the French fleet for weeks. The British fleet had not found it in time to prevent the landings in Egypt, but on 1 August Nelson discovered the French warships anchored in a strong defensive position in the Bay of Abukir. The French believed that they were open to attack only on one side, the other side being protected by the shore. However, during the Battle of the Nile the arriving British fleet under Horatio Nelson managed to slip half of their ships
Action of 13 August 1780 Action of 13 August 1780 The Action of 13 August 1780 was a minor naval battle fought off the Old Head of Kinsale (County Cork, Ireland) in which the 64-gun French "private man of war" (privateer) "Comte d'Artois" fought two British Royal Navy ships, "Bienfaisant" and "Charon", during the American Revolutionary War. After Royal Navy admiral George Rodney successfully brought relief to the defenders of Gibraltar, capturing a Spanish convoy off Cape Finisterre and eight days later winning the Battle of Cape St. Vincent, his fleet returned to Britain in March 1780. One of the ships of his fleet, HMS