Croisière de Bruix Earl St. Vincent to dispatch a fleet of his own under Rear-Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson. Nelson tracked the French across the Mediterranean but was unable to discover the invasion fleet until after the troops were ashore. On 1 August 1798 Nelson attacked the French fleet anchored in Aboukir Bay near Alexandria. The ensuing Battle of the Nile was a crushing victory for Nelson: eleven of the 13 French ships of the line were captured or destroyed and Napoleon's army was trapped in Egypt. The destruction of the French fleet encouraged the allies to form a new coalition against the French
HMS Malta (1800) having been launched on 21 October 1795. She was named after the folk hero William Tell. Flagship of Rear-Admiral Pierre-Charles Villeneuve she was one of the ships that accompanied Vice-Admiral François-Paul Brueys's fleet, carrying Napoleon Bonaparte and the French troops to invade Egypt. "Guillaume Tell" was anchored with Brueys's fleet in Aboukir Bay on 1 August, when they were discovered in the evening by a British fleet under Rear-Admiral Horatio Nelson. Nelson ordered his fleet to attack immediately, with the British forces moving on the French van, doubling their line. Brueys was taken by surprise, having expected the British to