Battle of Mahé Louis in December 1799 had restored absolute British control. The importance of the East Indies to British trade encouraged a number of French plans to threaten the region, of which the most advanced was the invasion, in 1798, of Egypt by a French Army under General Napoleon Bonaparte. Although the campaign saw initial success, the annihilation of the French Mediterranean Fleet by Sir Horatio Nelson at the Battle of the Nile on 1 August 1798 effectively doomed the campaign to failure. Later in the year Bonaparte considered building a squadron at Suez in the Red Sea, but the plans were
HMS Lady Nelson (1798) the sloop "George", which was bound for the Derwent from Port Jackson, shortly after leaving Twofold Bay and its master gave a boat's compass to Symons to replace those lost in the storm. The bad weather continued: "Lady Nelson" headed down the western side of Flinders Island, sighted Cape Barren on 9 November, 'beat in through the narrows' and on 10 November reached Kent's Bay, on the south side of Cape Barren Island, where the schooner "Francis" was found at anchor, also sheltering from the weather. "Lady Nelson" remained in Kent's Bay, repairing storm damage, until 13 November when both