Spring 1798 Bonaparte's Plans:

The Mediterranean Fleet had got the information about French ship movements in Genua and Toulon. Doubtless the French were organising a great campaign in the Mediterranean Sea. As many rumours said that General Bonaparte was the commander in chief of this campaign the British took the danger very seriously and Earl St. Vincent ordered Nelson with three ships of the line and five frigates to Toulon to check the French naval strength.

On the 20th of May, the British lookout squadron had arrived at Toulon, but the British had to realize that Bonaparte's Armada had already left. A terrible tempest broke off the mast of Nelson's flagship "Vanguard" and separated the ships of the line from their frigates which sailed back to Gibraltar. Nelson repaired "Vanguard" and blockaded Toulon with the remaining ships to prevent the leaving of other French ships. Reinforcements of 10 ships of the line and the 50 gun ship "Leander" under the command of his friend Captain Thomas Troubridge from the Culloden arrived at Nelson's lookout squadron.

Encounter in Egypt:
While Nelson and Troubridge were still thinking about the destination of the French fleet Bonaparte sailed directly in the direction to Egypt to achieve his order. The French plan was it to conquer Egypt as a base for a campaign into the rich British East India. The French thought if the British lost India with its great possibilities to earn money for the crown they would be weaker, because they wouldn't have enough money to pay for the army and navy. They wouldn't be able to pay other European powers to fight against France.

On its way to Egypt the French fleet conquered the isle of Malta and took the gigantic treasures of the order of Malta. After the possession the fleet sailed on and arrived finally at Alexandria on the 1st of June. General Bonaparte immediately ordered the landing of his 35000 troops. Soon he won against the Turks in the battle of the pyramids. The French fleet had one big problem -- Admiral Nelson was still searching for them!

Searching for the French:
In fact, he had the right idea about where to search for the French! The French Admiral Brueys had several meetings with General Bonaparte in which he tried to convince Bonaparte that the fleet had to leave the bay of Abukir. But Bonaparte needed the fleet nearby and wasn't able to renounce it for further operations in Egypt. So the fleet stayed anchored in a line in the bay of Abukir. This means they were only able to use one of the two broadsides. Admiral Brueys' flagship was the "Orient", a ship of the 1st rate with 120 guns. Furthermore he had 13 normal ships of the line and 4 frigates.

On 1st of August, the British fleet arrived at the bay in the early evening. Nelson ordered his ships to attack to enemy according to the tactics which had been discussed several times on the way to Alexandria every time when the weather was good enough to arrange a meeting of all captains of the fleet. They came on board the Vanguard and Nelson introduced his tactic to them. This group of captains was called the Band of Brothers. He had some advantages, because the French could only use one broadside and the French crews weren't complete, because some sailors had left their ships to get water for the fleet.

Nelson's ships attacked now the French line. Some of the British ships sailed between the French and the land, and so the French line was attacked from all sides. One ship after the other was shot to a wreck and had to surrender. The "Orient" was hit at its most sensitive place - the powder room. After a few seconds the fire, caused by the English broadside, inflamed the powder and the ship exploded. This shocked all fighting men so much that the weapons rested for some minutes. After this break the battle was continued till the next morning.

Victory Statistics:
It was a great victory for the English, especially for the English position in the Mediterranean Sea. 11 ships of the line were conquered or destroyed, 1700 French were dead, 1500 were wounded and 3000 were taken prisoner. Only 2 battleships, 2 frigates and some smaller vessels could escape. General Bonaparte was now isolated in Egypt:
-He had no fleet to support his campaign to Syria or to India.
-He had no connection with France. So he couldn't get supplies for his army.
-He had to be afraid of a landing operation of the Alliance.

Nelson's Injury:
The British fleet stayed for some days in the bay of Abukir. The ships were repaired and all
dead men were buried on an island, which was named after the great winner in the Battle of , the Abukir: Nelson's Island. But Nelson was lucky to have survived the battle, because he had been hit by a part of a canonball. Nelson was taken full of blood to the doctor's room which was located in the deepest part of his ship. He waited patiently till the doctor had time for him. While Nelson was lying in the Vanguard he thought that he had to die. He said to his officers: "I will die, greet my wife from me!" Nelson's wound only bled profusely, and soon he recovered and went back on deck.

After the battle, Nelson was very satisfied and proud of the action of his beloved fleet, because with this victory he won against his arch-enemy General Bonaparte, who, to Nelson, was only a Corsic rascal. In England, many people were afraid of this rascal who had just conquered Italy. Of course, Nelson and his fleet got many awards for their honourable achievement. Nelson became Earl of the Nile and Burnham Thorpe, furthermore he received gifts from the Russian Tsar and a chelengk from the Sultan of Turkey for his admiral hat. He sent six ships of the line as prizes home to England.

One of Nelson's captains ordered his crew to recover some wood of the sunken Orient. This captain gave the wood to Nelson, who should use it for his coffin. Indeed when Nelson was buried after the battle of Trafalgar his coffin was made of wood from the "Orient".