Action of 18 August 1798 Action of 18 August 1798 The Action of 18 August 1798 was a minor naval engagement of the French Revolutionary Wars, fought between the British fourth rate ship HMS "Leander" and the French ship of the line "Généreux". Both ships had been engaged at the Battle of the Nile three weeks earlier, in which a British fleet under Rear-Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson had destroyed a French fleet at Aboukir Bay on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt. "Généreux" was one of only four French ships to survive the battle, while "Leander" had been detached from the British fleet by Nelson on
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