The Battle of the Nile (also known as Battle of Aboukir Bay ; French: Bataille d'Aboukir ) is a major sea battle that took place between the Royal Navy and the Royal Navy of the French Republic in Aboukir Bay on the Mediterranean coast of the Nile Delta of Egypt from 1 to 3 August 1798. The battle was the climax of a naval campaign that had crossed the Mediterranean during three months earlier, when a large French convoy sailed from Toulon to Alexandria carrying expeditionary troops under General Napoleon Bonaparte. The British fleet was led in battle by Rear Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson; they convincingly defeated the French under the Deputy Admiral FranÃÆ'§ois-Paul Brueys d'Aigalliers.
Bonaparte sought to attack Egypt as a first step in a campaign against British India, part of a larger effort to drive Britain out of the French Revolutionary War. When the Bonaparte fleet crossed the Mediterranean Sea, the ship was chased by British troops under Nelson who had been sent from the English fleet at Tagus to study the purpose of the French expedition and to defeat him. He chased the French for more than two months, on several occasions just skipping them in a matter of hours. Bonaparte was aware of Nelson's pursuit and imposed absolute secrecy about his purpose. He was able to seize Malta and then land in Egypt without interception by the British naval forces.
With French troops on land, the French fleet docked in Aboukir Bay, 20 miles (32 km) northeast of Alexandria. Commander Vice-Admiral FranÃÆ'§ois-Paul Brueys d'Aigalliers believes that he has built a formidable defense position. The British fleet arrived in Egypt on August 1 and found Brueys tendencies, and Nelson ordered an immediate attack. The ships advanced on the French line and divided into two divisions as they approached. One cuts the head of the line and passes between the French anchored and the beach, while the other engages the side towards the sea from the French fleet.
Caught in a crossfire, a shipwrecked French warship surrendered during a fierce three-hour battle, while the center managed to repulse an early British attack. When the British reinforcements arrived, the center was under new attack and, at 22:00, the French battleship Orient exploded. The rear division of the French fleet attempted to exit the bay, with Brueys dead and its front and center ranks defeated, but only two ships from the line and two frigates escaped from a total of 17 vessels involved.
The battle reversed the strategic situation between the forces of both countries in the Mediterranean and cultivated the Royal Navy in a dominant position maintained for the rest of the war. It also encouraged other European countries to turn against France, and was a factor in the outbreak of the Second Coalition War. The Bonaparte army was trapped in Egypt, and the Royal Navy's dominance off the coast of Syria contributed significantly to France's defeat at the siege of Acre in 1799 preceding the return of Bonaparte to Europe. Nelson had been wounded in the battle, but he was declared a hero throughout Europe and later made Baron Nelson - though he was personally dissatisfied with his reward. His captains are also highly praised and continue to form the core of the legendary bands of Nelson's Brothers. The battle legend remains prominent in popular consciousness, with perhaps the most notable representation of Felicia Hemans' 1826 poetry Casabianca .
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Napoleon Bonaparte's victory in northern Italy over the Austrian Empire helped secure victory for France in the First Coalition War in 1797, and Great Britain remained the only major European force still belligerent with the French Republic. The French directory investigates a number of strategic options against the British opposition, including the projected invasion of Ireland and Britain and the expansion of the French Navy to challenge the Royal Navy at sea. Despite significant efforts, British control over northern European waters made this ambition impractical in the short term, and the Royal Navy remained in control of the Atlantic Ocean. However, the French Navy was dominant in the Mediterranean, following the withdrawal of the British fleet after the outbreak of war between England and Spain in 1796. This allowed Bonaparte to invite Egypt as an alternative to confronting Britain directly, believing that England would be too disturbed by the Irish will soon happen to intervene in the Mediterranean.
Bonaparte believed that, by establishing a permanent presence in Egypt (nominally part of the neutral Ottoman Empire), France would gain a staging point for future operations against British India, possibly in conjunction with Tipu Sultan of Seringapatam, which might succeed in pushing England out of war. The campaign will break the chain of communication linking Britain with India, an important part of the British Empire whose trade generates the wealth necessary for Britain to prosecute war successfully. The French directory agrees with Bonaparte's plan, although the main factor in their decision is the desire to see the politically ambitious Bonaparte and his devoted Italian campaign veterans traveling as far from France as possible. During the spring of 1798, Bonaparte gathered more than 35,000 troops in the French and Italian Mediterranean and developed a strong fleet at Toulon. He also formed the Commission des Sciences et des Arts, a body of scientists and engineers aimed at establishing a French colony in Egypt. Napoleon kept the purpose of a secret expedition - most of the army officers did not know the target, and Bonaparte did not openly disclose his goals until the first phase of the expedition was completed.
Mediterranean Campaign
The Bonaparte fleet sailed from Toulon on May 19, 1798, made rapid progress through the Ligurian Sea and gathered more ships in Genoa, before sailing south along the Sardinian coast and through Sicily on June 7. On June 9, the fleet arrived in Malta, then under the possession of the Knights of St. John from Jerusalem, ruled by Grand Master Ferdinand von Hompesch zu Bolheim. Bonaparte demanded that his fleet be allowed into the fortified port of Valletta. When the Knights refused, the French general responded by ordering a large-scale invasion of the Maltese Islands, defeating the defenders after 24 hours of fighting. The knights formally surrendered on June 12 and, in return for substantial financial compensation, surrendered the islands and all their resources to Bonaparte, including the extensive property of the Roman Catholic Church in Malta. Within a week, Bonaparte had supplied the vessel, and on June 19, the fleet traveled to Alexandria to Crete, leaving 4,000 people in Valletta under General Claude-Henri Vaubois to ensure French control of the islands.
While Bonaparte sailed to Malta, the Royal Navy re-entered the Mediterranean for the first time in more than a year. Worried about reports of French preparations on the Mediterranean coast, Lord Spencer at Admiralty sent a message to Vice Admiral Earl St. Vincent, commander of the Mediterranean Fleet based on the Tagus River, to send squadrons to investigate. This squadron, consisting of three ships of the line and three frigates, was entrusted to Rear Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson.
Nelson was a very experienced officer who had been blinded by one eye during the battle of Corsica in 1794 and was then praised for his capture of two Spanish ships from the line at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent in February 1797. In July 1797, he lost an arm in Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and have been forced to return to England to recuperate. Returning to the fleet at Tagus at the end of April 1798, he was ordered to collect squadrons stationed in Gibraltar and sailed into the Ligurian Sea. On May 21, when Nelson's squadron approached Toulon, he was attacked by strong winds and warships Nelson, HMS
On June 7, after a hasty reparation to his carrier, a fleet of ten ships of line and fourth level joined Nelson from Toulon. The fleet, under the command of Captain Thomas Troubridge, has been sent by Earl St. Vincent to strengthen Nelson, with orders that he should chase and intercept the Toulon convoy. Although he now has enough ships to challenge the French fleet, Nelson suffers two major losses: He has no intelligence about the French goal, and there is no frigate to lurk in front of his troops. Attacking south in hopes of gathering information about the French movement, Nelson's ships stopped at Elba and Napoli, where British ambassador Sir William Hamilton reported that the French fleet had passed through Sicily toward Malta. Despite requests from Nelson and Hamilton, King Ferdinand of Naples refused to lend his frigates to the British fleet, fearing French retaliation. On June 22, a sailing brig from Ragusa brought Nelson the news that France had sailed east from Malta on 16 June. After negotiating with his captains, the admiral decides that the French targets should be Egyptian and set out in pursuit. Unbelievably France is five days faster than two, Nelson insists on a direct route to Alexandria without deviation.
On the night of June 22, Nelson's fleet passed France in the dark, overtaking a slow invasion convoy without realizing how close they were to their target. Making quick time on the direct route, Nelson reached Alexandria on 28 June and found that France was not there. After meeting with a suspicious Ottoman commander, Sayyid Muhammad Kurayyim, Nelson orders the British fleet to the north, reaches the coast of Anatolia on July 4 and turns west back to Sicily. Nelson had missed France for less than a day - French fleet reconnaissance arrived in Alexandria on the night of 29 June.
Concerned by his close encounter with Nelson, Bonaparte ordered an immediate invasion, his troops came ashore in a poorly run amphibious operation in which at least 20 drowned. Line up along the coast, the French army invaded Alexandria and captured the city, after which Bonaparte led the troop's main troops into the interior. He instructed his navy commander, Vice-Admiral FranÃÆ'§ois-Paul Brueys D'Aigalliers, to dock at the port of Alexandria, but the naval surveyors reported that the drain to the port was too shallow and narrow for large ships from the French fleet. As a result, France chose an alternative port in Aboukir Bay, 20 miles (32 km) northeast of Alexandria.
Nelson's fleet reached Syracuse in Sicily on July 19 and took important supplies. There the admiral wrote letters depicting the events of previous months: "This is an old saying, 'Satan's children have the good fortune of Satan.' I can not find, or at this moment study, beyond the vague predictions of where the French fleet went. All my ill luck, until now, has evolved from the wishes of frigates. "Meanwhile, France secures Egypt by the Battle of the Pyramids.On July 24, the British fleet has been supplied again and, having determined that France should be somewhere in the Eastern Mediterranean, Nelson sails again towards Morea.On July 28, in Coron, Nelson eventually obtained intelligence information depicting a French assault into Egypt and turning south across the Mediterranean Sea, its spinners, HMS Alexander and HMS
When the port of Alexandria proved inadequate for its fleet, Brueys gathered his captains and discussed their options. Bonaparte had ordered the fleet to dock at Aboukir Bay, a shallow and exposed port, but had completed the order with the suggestion that, if Aboukir Bay were too dangerous, Brueys could sail north to Corfu, leaving only transportation and a handful of warships in Alexandria. Brueys refused, believing that his squadron could provide important support to the French army on the coast, and called his captain on his 120-point Orient to discuss their response if Nelson found a fleet at his port. Despite the vocal opposition of Contre-amiral Armand Blanquet, who insisted that the fleets would be able to respond well in open waters, other captains agreed that anchoring in the battle within the bay presented the strongest tactics to face Nelson. It is possible that Bonaparte imagined Aboukir Bay as a temporary port: on July 27, he expressed the hope that Brueys had transferred his ships to Alexandria, and three days later, he issued orders for the fleet to make Corfu in preparation for the navy. operation against Ottoman territory in the Balkans, although the Bedouin partisans intercepted and killed the courier carrying instructions.
Aboukir Bay is an indigenation beach of 16 nautical miles (30 km) across, stretching from the village of Abu Qir in the west to the city of Rosetta to the east, where one of the mouths of the Nile flows into the Mediterranean. In 1798, the bay was protected at its western end by a vast rocky herd that ran 3 miles (4.8 km) to the bay of the cape which was guarded by Aboukir Castle. A small fort located on an island among the rocks protects the shelf. The fort was locked by French troops and armed with at least four cannons and two heavy mortars. Brueys has added fortifications to his bomb vessels and warships, anchored amongst the rocks to the west of the island in a position to lend support to the French line chief. Beting further runs unevenly to the south of the island and stretches across the bay in a roughly half-circle approximately 1,650 meters (1,510 m) from the shore. The herd is too shallow to allow for the passage of larger warships, and therefore Brueys ordered thirteen of his ships from the line to form a battle line following the northeast edge of the herd to the south of the island, a position which allowed ships to lower supply from the sides of the harbor them while covering the landing with their star battery. Orders are issued for each vessel to install strong cables to the bow and stern of their neighbors, which will effectively transform the line into long batteries forming an impenetrable theoretical barrier. Brueys positioned the second line, in four frigates about 350 yards (320 m) west of the main line, roughly between lines and flocks. The van from the French line is led by the Guerrier, positioned 2,400 meters (2,200 m) southeast of Aboukir Island and about 1,000 yards (910 m) from the edge of the herd that surrounds the island. The line extends to the southeast, with the center bending toward the sea away from the herd. The French ship was placed at 160 yards (yards) and all 2,850 yards (2,610 m) long, with flagship Orient at the center and two large 80-gun ships anchored on the other. The rear of the line is under the command of Pierre-Charles Villeneuve Contre-amiral at Guillaume Tell .
In spreading his ships in this way, Brueys hopes that Britain will be forced by the shoals to attack its center and its powerful back, allowing its vans to use the prevailing northeast wind to strike back against the English once they are engaged. However, he had misjudged seriously: he had left enough space between the Guerrier and the shoals for enemy ships to cut the French line head and continue between the French ships and ships, allowing unsupported front rows to get caught in firefight by two enemy ship divisions. By narrowing this error, the French simply prepare their ships to fight on their right side (from the sea), from where they expect the attack to come; the side of their land port is not ready. The ports on the side-side gun ports are closed, and the decks on the sides are unclear, with various stored items blocking access to weapons. Brueys' disposition has a second significant defect: The distance of 160 meters between the vessels is large enough for British ships to push and destroy the French line. In addition, not all French captains follow Brueys's orders to attach a cable to the bow and stern of his neighbor, which will prevent such maneuvers. The problem is exacerbated by orders to simply anchored in the bow, allowing ships to swing with the wind and widen the gap. It also creates an area within the French line that is not covered by any ship's width. British ships could dock in those spaces and involve France without reply. In addition, Brueys' fleet deployment prevents the rear from effectively supporting the van due to prevailing winds.
A more immediate problem for Brueys is the lack of food and water for the fleet: Bonaparte has dismantled almost any provision brought and no supply reaches ships from shore. To overcome this, Brueys sent the group to feed 25 men from every ship along the coast to ask for food, dig a well, and collect water. The constant attack by Bedouin partisans, however, required the escort of fully armed guards to each side. Therefore, up to one-third of fleet sailors are far from their ships at one time. Brueys wrote a letter describing the situation to the Minister of Marine Affairs, Eenia Eustache Bruix, reporting that "Our crew is weak, both in quantity and quality, our tightness, in general, irreparable, and I'm sure it does not take a little courage. fleets equipped with such tools. "
Maps Battle of the Nile
Battle
Nelson's Nelson's Arrival
Although initially disappointed that France's main fleet was not in Alexandria, Nelson knew from the transportation presence that they should be near him. At 2:00 pm on August 1st, spies on HMS Excite reported the Frenchman anchored in Aboukir Bay, his signal lieutenant only hit lieutenant in HMS Goliath with a signal but not accurate describing 16 French ships from the line instead of 13. At the same time, the French reconnaissance on Heureux, the ninth ship on the French line, saw the British fleet about nine nautical miles from the mouth of the Aboukir Gulf. France originally reported only 11 British ships - Swiftsure and Alexander still returned from their scouting operations in Alexandria, and so did 3 nautical miles to the west of the fleet main, not visible. The Troubridge vessel, HMS Culloden , is also some distance away from the main body, withdrawing the captured merchant ship. Upon seeing France, Troubridge left the ship and tried hard to rejoin Nelson. Due to the need for so many seafarers to work on land, Brueys did not use one of his lighter warships as a reconnaissance, which prevented him from reacting quickly to the sudden appearance of Britain.
As his ship prepares to act, Brueys orders his captain to gather for a conference at Orient and hastily recall the beach party, although most still have not returned at the start of the battle. To replace it, a large number of people were taken out of the frigates and distributed among the ships in that line. Brueys also hopes to lure the British fleet to the shoals on Aboukir Island, sending the Alerte and Railleur brigs to act as bait in shallow waters. By 16:00, Alexander and Swiftsure are also visible, albeit some distance from the UK's main fleet. Brueys gave the order to abandon the plan to remain anchored and instead for his path to sail. Blanquet protested the order on the grounds that there were not enough people on a French ship to sail a ship and fire on a rifle. Nelson gave the order for his ships to lead to slow down, to allow the British fleet to approach in a more organized formation. This convinced Brueys that rather than risking a night battle in limited waters, the UK plans to wait the next day. He canceled previous orders to sail. Brueys probably hoped the delay would allow him to sneak past England at night and thus follow Bonaparte's orders not to directly engage the British fleet if he could avoid it.
Nelson instructed the fleet to slow down at 16:00 to allow his ships to install "springs" on their anchor cords, a system that connects an anchor arc that enhances stability and allows ships to swing their broadside to face enemies while stationary. It also improves maneuverability and therefore reduces the risk of coming under fire raking. Nelson's plan, which was formed through discussions with his senior captains during his return trip to Alexandria, was to advance to France and lower the sides to the sea from the van and the center of the French line, so that every French vessel would face two English and large ships < Orient will fight against three. The wind direction means that the French back division will not be able to join the battle easily and will be cut off from the front of the line. To ensure that in the smoke and confusion of night-time battles his ships would not inadvertently shoot one another, Nelson ordered that each vessel prepare four horizontal lamps on the heads of their mizzen poles and hoist a distinctly different White Ensign designation. of the French tricolor would not go wrong in poor visibility, reducing the risk that British ships might shoot at each other in the dark. When his ship was prepared for battle, Nelson held his last dinner with officers at Vanguard, announcing when he rose: "Before this time tomorrow I will get a noble or Westminster Abbey," referring to the reward of victory or place the traditional cemetery of British military heroes.
Shortly after the French order to sail was abandoned, the British fleet began to rapidly approach once again. Brueys, now expecting to be attacked that night, ordered each of his ships to put springs on their anchor cords and prepare to act. He sent Alerte forward, passing close to the leading English ships and then steering sharply westward over the herd, in the hope that the ships from that line might follow and become grounded. None of Nelson's captains fell because of the ruse and the British fleet kept unaffected. At 5:30 pm, Nelson praised one of his two flagship vessels, HMS
Ten minutes after France fired a shot of Goliath, ignoring the fire from the citadel to the right and from the Guerrier to the port, which was mostly too high to disrupt the ship, crossing the heads of the French line. Captain Thomas Foley noticed as he approached that there was an unexpected gap between the Guerrier and the shallow water of the herd. At his own initiative, Foley decided to exploit this tactical error and change the angle of his approach to pass through the gap. When the Guerrier's bow comes in range, Goliath fires a shot, inflicting severe damage with double sweeping flakes as the British ship turns to the harbor and passes a port that is not ready for the Guerrier side. Foley's Royal Marines and a company from Austrian grenadiers joined the attack, firing their rifles. Foley intended to dock beside a French ship and was intimately involved, but the anchor was too long to descend and his ship passed through the Guerrier completely. Goliath finally stops close to the ConquÃÆ' Â © rant bow, shoots a new opponent and uses an uninvolved starboard weapon to exchange shots occasionally with frigate SÃÆ' Â © rieuse i> and the bombships Hercule, are anchored on the shore of the battle line.
The Foley Attack was followed by Hood on Zealous, which also crossed the French line and managed to dock next to the Guerrier in the space that Foley intended, pulling the main ship's bow from close range.. Within five minutes the Guerrier's forefront had fallen, to the cheers of the approaching English crew. The speed of England's progress left the French captain surprised; they were still on the Orient ship at the conference with the admiral when the shooting began. Immediately launching their boat, they returned to their ship. Captain Jean-FranÃÆ'§ois-Timothà © à © e Trullet from Guerrier shouted orders from his barge so his men returned fire. Happy .
The third British ship in action was HMS Orion under Captain Sir James Saumarez, who circled the engagement at the head of the battle line and passed between the main French line and the frigates that were located closer to the shore. As he did so, the frigate SÃÆ'  © rieuse fired at Orion , injuring two men. The convention in the sea war at the time was that the line ships did not attack frigates when there were ships of the same size to engage, but in firing the first French captain Claude-Jean Martin had abolished the rule. Saumarez waited until the frigate was within close range before answering. Orion requires only one flyer to reduce the fuselage to wreckage, and the Marty defect ship hovers over the herd. During the delay caused by this detour, two other British ships joined the battle: Theseus, who had disguised himself as a first-class ship, followed Foley's trail across the Guerrier bows. Miller drove his ship through the middle of a short distance between British and French ships that anchored until he found the third French ship, Spartiate . Slowing down to the harbor, Miller's ship fired a shot from close range. HMS brave under Captain Davidge Gould crossed the French line between the Guerrier and Conquà ©  © rant, anchored between the ships and swept them both. Orion then rejoined the action further south than intended, shooting the fifth French ship, Peuple Souverain, and the Admiral Blanquet aircraft carrier, Franklin .
The next three English vessels, led Vanguard followed by HMS Minotaur and HMS Defense, remained in the line of battle formation and anchored to the right side of the French line on 18:40. Nelson focuses his flagship on Spartiate while Captain Thomas Louis in Minotaur attacks the unincorporated Aquilon and Captain John Peyton in Defense i> joined the attack on Peuple Souverain . With the vanguard of France now very much outnumbered, the following English ships, HMS Bellerophon and HMS Majestic , bypassed and advanced so far the center of France not involved. The two boats immediately fought an enemy that was much stronger than them and began to take severe damage. Captain Henry Darby at Bellerophon missed the intended anchor near Franklin and even found his ship under the main battery of a French ship. Captain George Blagdon Westcott at Majestic also missed his station and nearly collided with Heureux, coming under heavy fire from Tonnant. Unable to stop on time, Westcott's jib boom became entangled with the shroud of Tonnant '.
The French also suffered, Admiral Brueys on the Orient was badly injured on the face and hands by the flying debris during the opening exchange of fire with Bellerophon. The last ship of the English line, Culloden under Troubridge, sailed too close to Aboukir Island in the growing darkness and became trapped quickly in the herd. Despite the strenuous efforts of the Culloden, brig Mutine and the HMS 50-gun Leander under Captain Thomas Thompson, the ship of the line can not be moved, and the wave pushed Culloden further into the herd, causing severe damage to the hull of the ship.
Surrender from the French vanguard
At 19:00, the identification lights in the mizzenmast of the British fleet were ignited. At this time, Guerrier has been completely extinguished and beaten out. Exciting is virtually untouchable: Hood has been in Zealous outside the arc most of the French ship's broadsides, and in any case
Transfers from Audacious extending to Spartiate mean that Captain Maurice-Julien Emeriau now faces three opponents. Within minutes the three masts of his ship had fallen, but the battle around the Spartiate continued until 21:00, when the severely injured Emeriau ordered the color to be struck. Although Spartiate is outnumbered, it has been supported by the next line, Aquilon , which is the only French vessel squadron ship fighting against one opponent, Minotaur Captain Antoine Renà © © ThÃÆ'  © venard used a spring in the anchor cord to corner his strait to the attack position on the bow of the aircraft carrier Nelson, which consequently suffered more than 100 victims, including the admiral. At about 8:30 pm, a splinter of iron fired in a langrear shot from Spartiate attacked Nelson over his blind right eye. The wound caused his skin to fall into his face, leaving him completely blind. Nelson collapsed into Captain Edward Berry's arms and was carried down. Certain that his wound was fatal, he exclaimed, "I am killed, remember me to my wife," and called his pastor, Stephen Comyn. The wound was promptly checked by Vanguard 's surgeon Michael Jefferson, who told the admiral that it was a simple meat cut and sewed the skin together. Nelson then ignored Jefferson's instructions to remain inactive, returning to the quarterdeck just before the explosion in Orient to oversee the closing stages of the battle. Although the maneuver of ThÃÆ'  © venard succeeds, he places his own bow under the Minotaur 'weapons and at 21:25 the French ship is fired and attacked, Captain ThÃÆ'  © venard was killed and his junior officer was forced to surrender. With his opponent defeated, Captain Thomas Louis then took the southern Minotaur to join the attack on Franklin.
Defense and Orion attacked the fifth French ship, Peuple Souverain , from both sides and the ship quickly lost front and main pole. On an Orion ship, a wooden block struck one of the mast, killing two people before injuring Captain Saumarez on the thigh. At Peuple Souverain , Captain Pierre-Paul Raccord was seriously injured and ordered his ship's pruning in an effort to avoid the bombing. Peuple Souverain hovered south towards the Orient flagship, which mistakenly fired shots onto a dark ship. Orion and Defense can not immediately catch up. Defense has lost its top forward and an improvised fireship that floated through the almost missed battle of Orion. The origin of this ship, abandoned and burnt ship aboard laden with highly flammable materials, is uncertain, but may have been launched from the Guerrier when the battle began. Peuple Souverain anchored not far from Orient , but did not take part in the battle. The damaged ship surrendered that night. Franklin remained in battle, but Blanquet suffered a severe head injury and Captain Gillet was carried away subconsciously with severe injuries. Shortly after, a fire broke out in the quarterdeck after the weapons locker exploded, which was eventually exhausted by the crew.
In the south, HMS Bellerophon is in serious trouble when the Orient's wide side is pounding the ship. At 19:50, the mizzenmast and main pillar collapsed and fires coincided at some point. Although the fire was extinguished, the ship suffered more than 200 casualties. Captain Darby admits that his position is untenable and ordered the anchor cable to be cut at 20:20. The battered ship was away from the battle under continuous fire from Tonnant when the mast collapsed as well. Orient also suffered significant damage and Admiral Brueys was hit in the upstream by a cannonball that almost cut it in half. He died fifteen minutes later, remaining on the deck and refused to be taken down. Captain Orient Luc-Julien-Joseph Casabianca, also wounded, was beaten on the face by flying debris and fainted, while his twelve-year-old son had a leg torn by a cannonball. as he stood beside his father. The southernmost British ship, Majestic , has been entangled briefly with the 80-gun Tonnant , and in the resulting battle, suffered heavy casualties. Captain George Blagdon Westcott was among the dead, killed by a French shotgun. Lieutenant Robert Cuthbert took command and succeeded in releasing his ship, allowing the destructed Majestic to drift further south so that at 20:30 it was placed between Tonnant and the next line, Heureux , involves both. In support of the center, Captain Thompson of Leander abandoned a futile attempt to drag the Culloden feet from the herd and sail to the embattled French line, entering the gap created by drifting > Peuple Souverain and open a fierce malignant fire in Franklin and Orient .
As the fighting raged in the bay, two wandering British boats made a strenuous effort to join the engagement, focusing on the flashes of shots in the dark. Be warned away from the Aboukir herd by Grounded Culloden , Captain Benjamin Hallowell at Swiftsure passes a short distance at the head of the line and steers his ship in central France. Shortly after 8PM, a wide-eyed hulk was seen drifting in front of Swiftsure and Hallowell initially ordered his men to shoot before canceling orders, worried about the identity of the strange ship. Calling a battered ship, Hallowell received a reply, "Bellerophon, out of a handicap." Relieved that he accidentally attacked one of his own ships in the darkness, Hallowell paused between Orient and Franklin and fired at them both. Alexander , the last uninvolved British ship, which followed Swiftsure , approached Tonnant , which began to move away from embattled France. its flagship. Captain Alexander Ball then joins the attack on Orient.
Destruction Orient
At 21:00, the British observed a fire on the lower deck of the Orient , the French aircraft carrier. Identifying the dangers posed to Orient, Captain Hallowell directs his gun crew to fire their rifles directly into the flames. Continuous British gun fire spreads fire across the stern of the ship and prevents all attempts to extinguish them. Within minutes the fire had climbed the rigging and set the wide screen down. The closest British ship, Swiftsure , Alexander , and Orion , all stopped firing, closed their gunports, and began to move away from the burning ship in anticipation of the explosion stock of large ammunition stored on board. In addition, they take crews from weapons to form a fire party and soak the sails and deck in the seawater to help withstand the fires that occur. Likewise the French ships, Tonnant, Heureux and Mercure, all cut their anchor cords and drifted south away from the burning vessels. At 22.00 the fire reached the magazine, and Orient was destroyed by a huge explosion. The explosion was strong enough to tear the seams of the nearest ship, and the burning debris landed in a large circle, mostly flying directly over the surrounding ships to the sea outside. Falling ruins start burning at Swiftsure , Alexander , and Franklin , although in each case the sailor team with the water bucket managed to extinguish the fire, despite the secondary explosion on Franklin .
It has never been clear how the fire in Orient broke, but one general note is that the bottle of oil and paint has been left on the dirt deck, instead of being stored properly after the painting of the fully paid vessel shortly before the battle. Burning a blob from one of the British ships is believed to have drifted onto the dirt deck and triggered the paint. The fire quickly spread through the admiral's cabin and became a ready-made magazine that housed vaccum ammunition, designed to burn harder in water than in the air. Or, Fleet Captain Honorà © Ganteaume later reported the cause as an explosion in the quarterdeck, preceded by a series of small fires on the main deck among the ship's ships. Whatever it came from, the fire spread quickly through the ship's rigging, out of control by the fire pump on board the ship, which had been destroyed by British fire. The second fire then started in the bow, trapping hundreds of sailors at the ship's waist. Subsequent archaeological investigations found debris scattered over 500 meters (550 m) from the seafloor and evidence that the ship was destroyed by two large explosions one by one. Hundreds of men plunged into the sea to escape the flames, but fewer than 100 survived the explosion. British ships captured about 70 survivors, including wounded staff staff, LÃÆ'  © onard-Bernard Motard. Several other people, including Ganteaume, made it to the beach on the raft. The remaining crew, numbering more than 1,000, were killed, including Captain Casabianca and his son, Giocante.
For ten minutes after the explosion, there was no shot; Sailors from both sides were either shaken by a desperate explosion or firefighter on their own ship to continue the battle. During the interval, Nelson gave the order for the ship to be sent to pull the victim out of the water around the remnants of the Orient . At 22:10, Franklin restarted the engagement by shooting Swiftsure . Isolated and battered, Blanquet's ship was soon disillusioned and admiral, suffering from severe head injuries, forced to surrender by the combined weapons of Swiftsure and Defense . More than half of Franklin's crew were killed or wounded.
In the middle of the night alone Tonnant remained involved, as Commodore Aristide Aubert's Du Petit Thouars resumed his fight with Majestic and fired Swiftsure when the English ship moved into distance. At 3 o'clock, after more than three hours of close combat, Majestic had lost its main post and mizzen while Tonnant was a disappointed hulk. Although Captain Du Petit Thouars has lost both legs and arms, he remains in command, insisting on using a tricolor nailed to the pole to prevent him from beating and giving orders from his position propped on the deck in a bucket of grain. Under his guidance, the battered Tonnant slowly drifted south away from the action to join the southern division under Villeneuve, which failed to bring these ships into effective action. Throughout the engagement, the French backyard continued to ignite an arbitrary fire on the struggling ships ahead. The only visible effect is smashing timolÃÆ' Â © in ' s rudder by misdirected shots from neighbor GÃÆ' Â © nÃÆ' Â © reux .
Morning
As the sun rose at 4:00 on August 2, the shooting occurred once again between the southern French division of Guillaume Tell, Tonnant, GÃÆ' © nÃÆ'  © reux and TimolÃÆ'  © on and the outdated Alexander and Majestic . Although briefly defeated, the English ships soon joined Goliath and Theseus . When Captain Miller steered his ship into position, Theseus was briefly attacked by frigate Artà © mise . Miller rotated his ship toward Art Art matte, but Captain Pierre-Jean Standelet hit the flag and ordered his men to leave the frigates. Miller sent a boat under Lieutenant William Hoste to take possession of the empty ship, but Standelet had burned his ship as he left and Artezemise exploded shortly after. French ships that survived from that line, covering their retreat with gunfire, gradually pulled east from the shore at 06:00. aggressively pursued, and was able to prevent the warship of Justice from riding on Bellerophon, anchored at the southern point of the bay, which was in a hurry.
Two other French ships are still flying tricolor, but no one can back off or fight. When the Heureux and Mercure have cut their anchor cords to avoid the Orient explosion, their crew panicked and no captain (both wounded) managed to regain control his ship. As a result, the two boats were washed into the herd. Alexander , Goliath , Theseus and Leander attacked a ship stranded and helpless, and both surrendered within minutes. Distractions provided by Heureux, Mercure and Equity allowed Villeneuve to bring most of the surviving French ships to the mouth of the bay at 11:00.. At the fired of Tonnant, Commodore Du Petit Thouars is now dead from his wounds and thrown overboard at his own request. Since the ship could not make the required speed, the ship was pushed ashore by its crew. TimolÃÆ'Â © at too far south to escape with Villeneuve and, in an effort to join the victims, also landed in the herd. The force of that impact removed the ship's foremast. The remaining French ships: the ships from the Guillaume Tell line and GÃÆ' Â © nÃÆ' Â © reux and the frigates Justice and Diane , was formed and stood overboard, pursued by excited . Despite the strenuous effort, the isolated ship of Captain Hood was under great fire and could not cut Trailing Justice as a French survivor fled towards the sea. Happy was hit by a number of French shots and lost one person killed.
For the rest of the ship August 2 Nelson made improvised improvements and climbed and consolidated their prize. Culloden is in dire need of help. Troubridge, having finally dragged his ship from a herd at 2 o'clock, discovered that he had lost the wheel and took over 120 tonnes of water for an hour. Emergency repair to the stomach and make a replacement rudder from the backup topmast took most of the next two days. On the morning of August 3, Nelson sent Theseus and Leander to force the submission of ground Tonnant and TimolÃÆ' © on Tonnant , the deck was packed with 1,600 survivors of other French ships, surrendered when British ships approached when Timolà ©  © on was burned by the remaining crew who then escaped self to the beach on a small boat. Timolà ©  © on exploded shortly after noon, the eleventh and last French ship of the line was destroyed or captured during the battle.
Aftermath
"[I] went to the deck to see the state of the fleet, and the terrible scenery. The entire bay was covered with corpses, crushed, injured and burned, not a garment on it except their trousers."
British casualties in the battle were noted with some precision as soon as 218 were killed and about 677 wounded, although the number of wounded who later died is unknown. The most affected ship is Bellerophon with 201 casualties and Majestic with 193. In addition to Culloden, the lighter loss occurs on Exciting i>, who has killed one person and seven people injured.
The list of casualties included Captain Westcott, five lieutenants and ten junior officers among the dead, and Admiral Nelson, Captain Saumarez, Ball and Darby, and six wounded injured. In addition to Culloden , the only British vessels damaged in their hulls are Bellerophon , Majestic, and Vanguard . Bellerophon and Majestic are the only ships missing the pole: the main Majestic and the mizzen and Bellerophon .
French casualties are harder to quantify but significantly higher. Estimates of France's losses range from 2,000 to 5,000, with a median point of 3,500, which includes more than 1,000 people who were arrested and injured and nearly 2,000 dead, half of them dead in Orient. In addition to Admiral Brueys was killed and Admiral Blanquet was injured, four captains were killed and seven others seriously injured. The French ships suffered severe damage: Two ships from the line and two frigates were destroyed (as well as a bombshell fired by its crew), and three other captured vessels were too obsolete to sail again. From the rest of the prize, only three are sufficiently fixed for front-line services. For weeks after the battle, the corpses were stranded along the Egyptian coast, decaying slowly under the dry heat.
Nelson, who at the bay survey on the morning of August 2 said, "Victory is not a strong enough name for such a scene", remains at anchor in Aboukir Bay for the next two weeks, is busy with recovery from his wounds, writes posts and assesses the situation the military in Egypt using documents taken on board one of the prizes. Nelson's head wound was recorded as a "three-inch long" with a "skull open to an inch". He suffered injuries for the rest of his life and was deeply hurt, styling his hair to disguise it as much as possible. When their commander recovered, his men stripped off useful carcasses of supply and made repairs for their boats and gifts.
Throughout the week, Aboukir Bay is surrounded by bonfires lit by Bedouins in celebration of British victory. On 5 August, Leander was sent to Cadiz with a message for Earl St. Vincent brought by Captain Edward Berry. Over the next few days, Britain occupied all but 200 of the prisoners caught on the shore on condition of tight parole, although Bonaparte then ordered them to be formed into infantry units and added to his troops. The wounded officers who were detained were held in a vanguard ship, where Nelson regularly entertained them at dinner. Historian Joseph Allen recounts that on one occasion Nelson, whose vision still suffered after his wound, offered a toothpick to an officer who had lost his teeth and then took out a tobacco box to an officer whose nose had been torn, causing much shame. On August 8, a fleet of ships stormed Aboukir Island, which surrendered without a fight. The landing party unleashed four rifles and destroyed the others along with a fort installed, renaming the island "Nelson Island".
On August 10, Nelson sent Lieutenant Thomas Duval of Happy with a message to the government in India. Duval traveled through the Middle East through a camel train to Aleppo and took the ship of the East India Company
The first message to reach Bonaparte on the disasters that followed the fleet arrived on August 14 at his camp on the road between Salahieh and Cairo. The envoy was a staff staffer sent by Governor-General of Alexandria Jean Baptiste KlÃÆ'Ã… © ber, and the report had been written in a hurry by Admiral Ganteaume, who later rejoined the Villeneuve ships at sea. One account reported that when he received the message, Bonaparte read it without emotion before calling the envoy to him and demanded further details. When the envoy has finished, the French General reportedly announced "Nous n'avons plus de flotte: eh bien." Il faut rester en ces contrÃÆ' Â © es, ou en sorting grands comme les anciens " (" We do not again have a fleet: well, we have to stay in this country or stop as big as the ancients "). Another story, as told by the secretary-general, Bourienne, claims that Bonaparte was almost overcome by the news and exclaimed "Poor Brueys, what have you done!" Bonaparte then put a lot of mistakes on the defeat of the wounded Admiral Blanquet, falsely accusing him of handing Franklin while his ship was not damaged. The protests from Ganteaume and the Minister ÃÆ' â € ° tienne Eustache Bruix then reduced the level of criticism that Blanquet faced, but he never again served in command capacity. But Bonaparte's most pressing concern was with his own officers, who began to question the wisdom of the entire expedition. Inviting his most senior officer for dinner, Bonaparte asked them how they were. When they replied that they were "incredible," Bonaparte replied that it was the same, because he would have them shoot if they continued to "encourage rebellion and preaching of rebellion." To crush the rebellion among the native population, the Egyptians heard talk of battle threatened with their tongues cut off.
Reactions
Nelson's first set of consignments was arrested when Leander was intercepted and defeated by GÃÆ' © nà © Ã… © reux in a fierce battle off the west coast of Crete on 18 August 1798. As a result, the battle report not until the English until Capel arrived at Mutine on October 2, entered Admiralty at 11:15 pm and personally relayed the news to Lord Spencer, who fainted when hearing the report.. Although Nelson had previously been sentenced for failing to intercept the French fleet, rumors of battles began to arrive in Britain from the continent in late September and the news Capel brought was greeted with celebrations throughout the country. Within four days Nelson had been appointed to Baron Nelson of the River Nile and Burnham Thorpe, a title he personally dissatisfied, believing his actions deserved better rewards. King George III spoke at the Houses of Parliament on November 20 with the words:
A series of unparalleled naval victories have received a new splendor of impressive and decisive action, in which the detachment of my fleet, under the command of Rear Admiral Lord Nelson, attacked, and almost destroyed the superior power of the enemy, reinforced by every advantage of the situation. With this great and brilliant victory, a company, where injustice, skill, and luxury have improved the attention of the world, and which is specifically directed against some of the most valuable interests of the British Empire, has, in the first instance, turned into the confusion of its authors and the blows given to power and influence of France, have opened up opportunities, which, if enhanced by appropriate mobilization on the part of other forces, could lead to the general liberation of Europe.
Saumarez's first gift party stops first in Malta, where Saumarez provides help for the island's rebellion among the Maltese population. Then sailed to Gibraltar, arriving on October 18th for the garrison cheers. Saumarez writes that, "We can never do justice to the warmth of their applause, and the praise they give in our squadron." On October 23, after the transfer of the wounded to the military hospital and the provision of basic supplies, the convoy sailed to Lisbon, leaving Bellerophon and Majestic behind for more extensive repairs.. Peuple Souverain also remains in Gibraltar: The ship was deemed too badly damaged for the Atlantic voyage to England and so was converted into a guard under the name HMS Guerrier . The remaining prize underwent basic repairs and then sailed to England, spent several months in Tagus and joined the annual merchant convoy of Portugal in June 1799 under a squadron escort ordered by Admiral Sir Alan Gardner, before finally arriving in Plymouth. Their age and battered state mean that either the Conquà ©  © rant or Aquilon is considered suitable for the active service in the Royal Navy and both are subsequently hijacked, even though they have been purchased to services for  £ 20,000 (equivalent to Ã, £ 1,803,000 per 2018) respectively as HMS Conquerant and HMS Aboukir to give financial rewards to the crew who had caught it. The same amount is also paid for the Guerrier Mercure, Heureux and Peuple Souverain , while other captured vessels are valued much more. Built from Adriatic teak, Tonnant was built in 1792 and Franklin and Spartiate is less than one year old. Tonnant and Spartiate , both then fought in the Battle of Trafalgar, joined the Royal Navy under their old name while Franklin , considered " best in the world ", renamed HMS Canopus . The total value of prizes taken on the Nile and then purchased to the Royal Navy is estimated at more than Ã,  £ 130,000 (equivalent to Ã, £ 11,720,000 in 2018).
Additional awards are given to the British fleet: Nelson is awarded  £ 2,000 ( £ 193,210 in 2018) per year to live by the British Parliament and  £ 1,000 per year by the Irish Parliament, although the latter is inadvertently terminated after the Act of Union dissolves Parliament Ireland. Both parliament voted unanimously, each captain in charge of the battle awarded a special gold medal and the first lieutenant of every ship involved in the battle was promoted to commander. Troubridge and his men, initially expelled, received an equal share in the award after Nelson personally brokered Culloden's stranded crew, though they did not directly participate in the engagement. The Honored East India Company introduced Nelson with Ã,  £ 10,000 (Ã,  £ 966,050 in 2018) in recognition of the benefits of his actions on their ownership and the cities of London, Liverpool and other city bodies and companies making similar awards. Captain Nelson himself gave him swords and portraits as "proof of their appreciation." Nelson openly pushed this close bond with the officers and on September 29, 1798 described them as "We are little, we are a little happy, we are a group of brothers", echoing William Shakespeare's play Henry V. From here grew the idea of ​​the Brothers National Band, a cadre of high-quality naval officers who served with Nelson for the rest of his life. Nearly five decades later the battle was between acts recognized by the buckles attached to the Naval General Service Medal, granted on request to all British participants still living in 1847.
Other awards were given by foreign countries, particularly the Ottoman Emperor Selim III, who made Nelson the first Knight Commander of the newly created Order of the Crescent, and gave him a chel, a diamond scattered with roses, sable fur, and many b
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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