Action of 15 July 1798 joining with a squadron of four Portuguese ships of the line under the command of Tomás Xavier Teles de Castro da Gama, Marquess de Niza. In September, Niza's squadron was ordered to join Nelson in his search for the French and sailed eastwards, but while passing to the north of Malta they encountered a large convoy of battered vessels under Captain Sir James Saumarez. These ships were seven British ships of the line and six captured French ships, all survivors of the Battle of the Nile, Nelson's successful conclusion of the campaign fought at Aboukir Bay off Egypt on 1
Battle of the Malta Convoy (1800) against increasing odds before surrendering on 4 September 1800. In May 1798, during the French Revolutionary Wars, a French expeditionary force sailed from Toulon under General Napoleon Bonaparte. Crossing the Mediterranean, the force captured Malta in early June and continued southeastwards, making landfall in Egypt on 31 June. Landing near Alexandria, Bonaparte captured the city and advanced inland, completing the first stage of a projected campaign in Asia. The French fleet, under the command of Vice-Admiral François-Paul Brueys D'Aigalliers was directed to anchor in Aboukir Bay, northeast of Alexandria and support the army ashore. On 1 August 1798, the anchored