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
Battle of the Nile rigging, in general, out of repair, and I am sure it requires no little courage to undertake the management of a fleet furnished with such tools." Although initially disappointed that the main French fleet was not at Alexandria, Nelson knew from the presence of the transports that they must be nearby. At 14:00 on 1 August, lookouts on HMS "Zealous" reported the French anchored in Aboukir Bay, its signal lieutenant just beating the lieutenant on HMS "Goliath" with the signal, but inaccurately describing 16 French ships of the line instead of 13. At the same time, French lookouts on "Heureux",