Blockade duties around Cadiz were still being carried out by the Royal Navy over two years since Trafalgar (1805). The intention was the same as it was in 1805 to keep the Franco-Spanish fleet 'locked up' and also to keep a watchful eye on any movements by sea and attack if necessary. These included vessels such as that under the command of Captain Murray Maxwell with his 38-gun frigate "Alceste", 28-gun frigate "Mercury", Captain James Alexander Gordon, and 18-gun brig-sloop "Grasshopper" (16 carronades, 32-pounders, and two long sixes), under Captain Thomas Searle