History of the Royal Navy efficiency, dominating the navies of all Britain's adversaries. Initially Britain did not involve itself in the French Revolution, but in 1793 France declared war, leading to the Glorious First of June battle in the following year off Brest, followed by the capture of French colonies in the Caribbean. The Dutch Republic declared war in 1795 and Spain in 1796, on the side of France. Further action came in 1797 and 1798, with the Battle of Cape St Vincent and the Battle of the Nile (also known as the Battle of Aboukir Bay), which brought Admiral Horatio Nelson to the public's
French fleet at the Siege of Toulon the Battle of Genoa and another in July at the Battle of Hyères Islands. These engagements marked the only encounters between the British fleet and the French fleet they so briefly held before the Royal Navy was forced to withdraw from the Mediterranean by the 1796 Treaty of San Ildefonso at which the Spanish changed sides, allying with France against Britain. "The ships in the orders of battle below are listed by class and then approximately grouped by their positions on 18 December 1793. Note that although the Rating system for ships of the line was a Royal Navy measure,