Aboukir Bay, Battle of

Naval battle during the Napoleonic Wars between Great Britain and France, in which Admiral Horatio Nelson defeated Napoleon Bonaparte's fleet at the Egyptian seaport of Aboukir on 1 August 1798. The defeat put an end to French designs in the Middle East.

When the British fleet left the Mediterranean, Napoleon Bonaparte was ordered to seize Egypt, make a channel through the Isthmus of Suez, and secure the Red Sea for France. Nelson was sent back to the Mediterranean with a squadron to ascertain what the French were doing, and on 1 August discovered their fleet at anchor in Aboukir Bay; it consisted of 13 ships of the line, 4 frigates, and a number of troop transports. Nelson split his force of 14 ships in two and sailed one half into the bay, between the French and the shore, while the other half sailed in line on the seaward side. Caught between two lines of fire, the French fleet was almost entirely destroyed, only two ships escaping capture or destruction.