George Johnstone Hope "Romulus", in which he saw action against French ships off Genoa in 1795. Following his appointment to HMS "Alcmene", Hope joined Nelson at Aboukir bay, 11 days after the battle of the Nile. On 19 August Nelson left for Naples but left Hood with three 3rd rates and three frigates, including "Alcmene", with which to blockade Alexandria, where the remaining French ships; two of the line, eight frigates and four corvettes, were sheltering. Hope obtained Nelson's good graces by capturing the French gunbrig "Légère" off Egypt, and seizing dispatches intended for Napoleon. The papers had been thrown overboard by the
Battle of Abukir (1799) Battle of Abukir (1799) The Battle of Abukir (or Aboukir or Abu Qir) was a battle in which Napoleon Bonaparte defeated Seid Mustafa Pasha's Ottoman army on July 25, 1799, during the French campaign in Egypt. It is considered the first pitched battle with this name, as there already was a naval battle on August 1, 1798 (a second pitched battle followed on March 8, 1801). No sooner had the French forces returned from a campaign to Syria, than the Ottoman forces were transported to Egypt by Sidney Smith's British fleet to put an end to French rule in Egypt.