Action of 18 August 1798

Significance

The action of 18 August 1798 was a direct consequence of the Battle of the Nile, fought three weeks earlier, in which a British fleet under Rear-Admiral Horatio Nelson destroyed a French fleet at Aboukir Bay. Généreux was among only four French ships to escape that engagement, while Leander had been detached by Nelson on 6 August to carry dispatches to the squadron under Earl St Vincent off Cádiz. The interception of Leander off the western shore of Crete disrupted the timely communication of news from the Nile to British naval command in the western Mediterranean, delaying the relay of intelligence from one of the most decisive fleet actions of the French Revolutionary Wars.

Commanders (2)