First Battle of Algeciras manoeuvrable ships, which resulted in the British inflicting heavy losses on the Spanish rearguard but failing for a second time to destroy the French squadron. On 1 August 1798, the French Mediterranean Fleet was almost completely destroyed at the Battle of the Nile in Aboukir Bay off Egypt. As a result, the British Royal Navy became dominant in the Mediterranean Sea and imposed blockades on French and Spanish ports in the region, including the important naval bases of Toulon and Cadiz. By 1801, the British were planning a large scale operation to invade and recapture Egypt from the French, and
Mediterranean campaign of 1798 main body of the French fleet, Bonaparte ordered Brueys to sail his squadron to the wider Aboukir Bay, northeast of Alexandria. Brueys was instructed that if he considered the anchorage to be unsafe then he was to sail for Corfu, leaving only a small light force that could anchor comfortably in Alexandria. There Brueys held a conference with his officers to decide on their response should Nelson discover them in the bay. Although Rear-Admiral Armand Blanquet of "Franklin" argued that the fleet was safest sailing out to meet the British, he was outvoted and overruled, Brueys ordering that the ships