Battle of the Nile ( 1798 ) Animation

The battle of the Nile was a naval engagement, between a British fleet under command of Admiral Nelson and a French fleet under command of Admiral Brueys. The French fleet had been guarding Napoleon's invasion fleet heading to Egypt. Now they had dropped anchor in the Bay of Aboukir. Aboukir Bay is a bay 20 kilometers east of Alexandria. The western part of the bay is protected by a peninsula and an island, that was at that time called Aboukir Island. The French admiral had ordered his ships to

form a line of battle, that was covering the hole western part of the bay. The ships had dropped anchor and were connected by ropes, so they formed an impenetrable barrier. His massive flagship, the Orient, was positioned in the center of his line. The admiral thought, they had not left any room between his ships and the shallow waters at the back and front of his line. But by accident the first ship had left a gap that was big enough for a British ship Meanwhile, the British fleet was approa

ching. Nelson had ordered his ships to form a line of battle. He had a total of 14 ships of the line under his command. One ship more than the French had. His flagship the Vanguard was at 6th place, while his line was led by Captain Foley on Goliath. Nelsons initial plan was to attack the eastern side of the enemies fleet. If he would let his battle line sail along the French line, every British ship would come under fire from every French ship it passed. That would mean, that the first ships of

his line would be hugely damaged and potentially unmanoeuvrable when they reached the end of the line. To prevent that, Nelson had chosen a different approach. The first ship would anchor next to the first enemy vessel, then the next ship could approach under cover of the first ship and anchor besides the next enemy. That way every British ship would have to fight just one opponent. When Captain Foley on the leading ship was approaching, he noticed, that there was a gap between the first French

vessel and the shallow waters in front of it. So he decided to abandon Nelsons initial strategy and manoeuvred his ship behind the enemies line. The following four British captains followed Foleys example and also moved their ships behind the enemies line. That maneuver totally surprised the French. As they had only expected an attack from the other side, their cannons on this side were neither prepared nor manned when the first British broadside hit their ships. The first man to stick to his

original plan was Nelson himself, who attacked the enemy from the other side. He dropped anchor next to the third French ship. Which meant that that ship was now sandwiched between Vanguard and Goliath. The next ships were all following Vanguard. Soon 8 British ships were firing at only five French ships, while the rest of the French fleet was unable to move and help their comrades. The following British ships went for the middle part of the French line. Bellerophon had the misfortune to end up

next to the Orient who had almost 50 cannons more than her. The French vessel Conquerant, who had been under fire by two ships, was the first ship to surrender. Shortly after that the French ship Peuple Souverain cut her anchor and slowly started to drift to the south out of the fighting zone. At the same time the Bellerophon realized that the Orient was to strong for her and started to move away from the French flagship. But her position would soon be taken over by the new arriving Alexander

and Swiftsure. After Conquerant and Peuple Souverain were out of the fighting the first six British ships could concentrate their fire on the remaining 3 French vessels, who would ultimately have to give in to these superior numbers. Meanwhile, a fire had broken out on board of the Orient. When it got more and more out of control, the Orient capped her anchor. The burning ship drifted to the south threatening to incinerate the ships around her. The British ships had to stop firing and closed th

eir gun ports. The ships south of the Orient had to cap their anchors themself, if they didn't want to collide with the burning ship. At ten o'clock in the evening the Orient went down in a massive explosion, taking more than a thousand men of her crew with her. The fighting around her had stopped and both French and British ships send out boats to search for survivors. Meanwhile, some of the French ships still kept drifting southwards. The crews were unable to regain control of their vessels. S

o the ships ended up stranded on the nearby coast. At that point, the last remaining French ships started to move away from the battlefield. The admiral of the French rear guard, Admiral Villeneuve, managed to escape with 2 of his ships. The rest of the French ships were forced to surrender, or destroyed themselves. From the 13 ships of the French fleet only two ships remained in French hand. As a result of the battle, the British could now control the waters around the Egyptian coast, so Napole

on's army was trapped in Egypt.