Page "Battle of the Nile" Paragraph 22

Shortly after the French order to set sails was abandoned, the British fleet began rapidly approaching once more and Brueys, now expecting to come under attack on that night, ordered each of his ships to also place springs on their anchor cables and prepare for action.

The Alerte was sent ahead, passing close to the leading British ships and then steering sharply to the west over the shoal in the hope that the ships of the line might follow and become grounded.

None of Nelson's captains fell for the ruse and the British fleet continued undeterred.

At 17: 30, Nelson hailed one of his two leading ships, HMS Zealous under Captain Samuel Hood, which had been racing Goliath to be the first to fire on the French.

The admiral ordered Hood to establish the safest course into the harbour ; the British had no charts of the depth or shape of the bay except a rough sketch map Swiftsure had obtained from a merchant captain, an inaccurate British atlas on Zealous, and a 35-year old French map aboard Goliath.

Hood replied that he would take careful soundings as he advanced to test the depth of the water, and that " If you will allow the honour of leading you into battle, I will keep the lead going.

" Shortly afterwards, Nelson paused to speak with the brig HMS Mutine, whose commander Lieutenant Thomas Hardy had seized some maritime pilots from a small Alexandrine vessel.

As Vanguard came to a stop, the following ships slowed.

This caused a gap to open up between Zealous and Goliath and the rest of the fleet.

To counter this effect, Nelson ordered HMS Theseus under Captain Ralph Miller to pass his flagship and join Zealous and Goliath in the vanguard.

By 18: 00, the British fleet was again under full sail, Vanguard sixth in the line of ten ships as Culloden trailed behind to the north, and Alexander and Swiftsure hastened to catch up to the west.

Following the rapid change from a loose formation to a rigid line of battle both fleets raised their colours ; each British ship added additional Union Flags in its rigging in case its main flag was shot away.

At 18: 20, as Goliath and Zealous rapidly bore down on them, the leading French ships Guerrier and Conquérant opened fire.