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
HMS Lady Nelson (1798) driving her back to the north; on 21 June heavy seas resulted in the loss of the "Lady Nelson"s boat. The safety of Twofold Bay was not reached until 24 June by which time all "Lady Nelson"s supply of bread had been consumed and only three casks of water remained. A raft was constructed from her spars in order to get ashore to replenish their supply of fresh water and the "Lady Nelson"s carpenter was sent to cut timber with which to build a punt to replace the lost boat. "Lady Nelson" left Twofold Bay on 1 July to continue