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
Battle of Genoa (1795) fought a series of running engagements with the British fleet in which several ships from both sides were badly damaged. Martin's flagship the 120-gun "Sans Culotte" lost contact with the battle overnight, and after a brief resumption of the battle the following morning he gave orders to withdraw. Two French ships, and , were left behind, overwhelmed, and forced to surrender by the British. Hotham was urged by his subordinate, Captain Horatio Nelson, to continue pursuit, but refused and withdrew his fleet for repairs. One British ship, , was later wrecked on the Italian coast. Martin sent his damaged ships