"Aboukir Bay: Enemy Fleet in Sight, 1st August 1798"

Oil on Linen Canvas

22 x 30 inches (56 x 76 cm)

Signed, lower left 

Framed

Rear-Admiral Nelson's urgent search across the Mediterranean for the French fleet, which eluded his pursuit and succeeded in landing General Buonaparte's Army of Egypt near Alexandria, was finally rewarded when the leading ships of his squadron sighted a distant forest of masts at anchor in Aboukir Bay.

This scene shows Nelson's fleet settling on the port tack as they make directly for the enemy, although much of the action will not take place until after sunset. From left to right: HMS Zealous, scouting out ahead; the French fleet at anchor; HM ships Bellerophon, Vanguard (Nelson's flagship), Minotaur and Theseus. For this painting I am highly indebted to two excellent eye-witnesses: Captain Miller of the Theseus, who gives the exact arrangement of this group of ships at this time, and the army officer Colonel Fawkes, who noted the paint schemes of all the ships involved in the battle. Vanguard and Theseus are particularly interesting in this respect; although two-decked 74-gun ships, like all of Nelson's ships except for the 50-gun Leander, both of them had painted their hammock cloths with a yellow stripe and black gunports to give the appearance of a third gundeck.

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A larger photograph / full description available on request