French brig Alerte (1787) at Venice between June and July 1797. On 1 August 1798 she was at the battle of Aboukir Bay (Battle of the Nile). Vice-Admiral François-Paul Brueys D'Aigalliers hoped to lure the British fleet onto the shoals at Aboukir Island, sending the brigs "Alerte" and "Railleur" to act as decoys in the shallow waters, but the plan failed. Then, as the British fleet approached, Brueys sent "Alerte" ahead, passing close to the leading British ships and then steering sharply to the west over the shoal in the hope that the ships of the line might follow and become grounded. None of
HMS Lady Nelson (1798) the sloop "George", which was bound for the Derwent from Port Jackson, shortly after leaving Twofold Bay and its master gave a boat's compass to Symons to replace those lost in the storm. The bad weather continued: "Lady Nelson" headed down the western side of Flinders Island, sighted Cape Barren on 9 November, 'beat in through the narrows' and on 10 November reached Kent's Bay, on the south side of Cape Barren Island, where the schooner "Francis" was found at anchor, also sheltering from the weather. "Lady Nelson" remained in Kent's Bay, repairing storm damage, until 13 November when both