Battle of the Malta Convoy (1800) fleet was surprised and attacked by a British fleet under Rear-Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson. In the ensuing Battle of the Nile, eleven of the thirteen French ships of the line, and two of the four frigates were captured or destroyed. Brueys was killed, and the survivors of the French fleet struggled out of the bay on 2 August, splitting up near Crete. "Généreux" sailed north to Corfu, encountering and capturing the British fourth rate ship HMS "Leander" en route. The other ships, "Guillaume Tell" and two frigates under Contre-amirals Pierre-Charles Villeneuve and Denis Decrès, sailed westwards to Malta, arriving just
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",