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 the Nile squadron could provide essential support to the French army on shore, and called his captains aboard his 120-gun flagship "Orient" to discuss their response should Nelson discover the fleet in its anchorage. Despite vocal opposition from Contre-amiral Armand Blanquet, who insisted that the fleet would be best able to respond in open water, the rest of the captains agreed that anchoring in a line of battle inside the bay presented the strongest tactic for confronting Nelson. It is possible that Bonaparte envisaged Aboukir Bay as a temporary anchorage: on 27 July, he expressed the expectation that Brueys had already transferred