Order of battle at the Battle of the Nile The Battle of the Nile was a significant naval action fought during 1 – 3 August 1798 . The battle took place in Aboukir Bay , near the mouth of the River Nile on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt and pitted a British fleet of the Royal Navy against a fleet of the French Navy . The battle was the climax of a three - month campaign in the Mediterranean during which a huge French convoy under General Napoleon Bonaparte had sailed from Toulon to Alexandria via Malta . Despite close pursuit by a British fleet of thirteen ships of the line , one fourth rate and a sloop under Sir Horatio Nelson , the French were able to reach Alexandria unscathed and successfully land an army , which Bonaparte led inland . The fleet that had escorted the convoy , consisting of thirteen ships of the line , four frigates and a number of smaller vessels under Vice - Admiral François - Paul Brueys D ' Aigalliers , anchored in Aboukir Bay as Alexandria harbour was too narrow , forming a line of battle that was protected by shoals to the north and west . Nelson reached the Egyptian coast on 1 August and discovered the French fleet at 14 : 00 . Advancing during the afternoon , his ships entered the bay at 18 : 20 and attacked the French directly , despite the rapid approach of nightfall . Taking advantage of a large gap between the lead French ship " Guerrier " and the northern shoal , HMS " Goliath " rounded the French line at 18 : 40 and opened fire from the unprepared port side , followed by five more British ships . The rest of the British line attacked the starboard side of the French van , catching the ships in a fierce crossfire . For three hours the battle continued as the British overwhelmed the first five French ships but were driven away from the heavily defended centre . The arrival of reinforcements allowed a second assault on the centre at 21 : 00 and at 22 : 00 the French flagship " Orient " exploded . Despite the death of the Admiral Brueys , the French centre continued to fight until 03 : 00 , when the badly damaged " Tonnant " managed to join the thus far unengaged French rear division . At 06 : 00 firing began again as the less damaged ships of the British fleet attacked the French rear , forcing Rear - Admiral Pierre - Charles Villeneuve to pull away for the mouth of the bay . Four French ships were too badly damaged to join him and were beached by their crews , Villeneuve eventually escaped to open water with just two ships of the line and two frigates . On 3 August the last two remaining French ships stranded in the bay were defeated , one surrendering and the other deliberately set on fire by its crew . The almost total destruction of the French fleet reversed the strategic situation in the Mediterranean , giving the Royal Navy control of the sea which it retained until the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 . Nelson and his captains were highly praised and generously rewarded , although Nelson privately complained that his peerage was not senior enough . Bonaparte ' s army was trapped in the Middle East and Royal Navy dominance played a significant part in its subsequent defeat at the Siege of Acre , Bonaparte himself abandoned the army late in 1799 to return to France and deal with the outbreak of the War of the Second Coalition . Of the captured ships , three were no longer serviceable and were burnt in the bay , and three others were judged fit only for harbour duties owing to the damage they had received in the battle . The remainder enjoyed long and successful service careers in the Royal Navy ; two subsequently served at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 . Orders of battle . " The ships in the orders of battle below are listed in the order in which they appeared in the respective battle lines . Listed in the casualties section are the totals of killed and wounded as best as can be established : due to the nature of the battle , French losses were hard to calculate precisely . Officers killed in action are marked with a † symbol . Note that as carronades were not traditionally taken into consideration when calculating a ship ' s rate , these ships may have been carrying more guns than indicated below . "