The Battle of the Nile (also known as the Battle of Aboukir Bay, in French as the Bataille d'Aboukir) is a major naval battle fought between British and French fleets at Aboukir Bay on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt from 1–3 August 1798.

The battle is the climax of a naval campaign that has ranged across the Mediterranean during the previous three months, as a large French convoy sails from Toulon to Alexandria, carrying an expeditionary force under General Napoleon Bonaparte.

The French are defeated by the British forces led by Rear-Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson.Bonaparte seeks to invade Egypt, as the first step in a campaign against British India whose ultimate aim is to drive Britain out of the French Revolutionary Wars.

As Bonaparte's fleet crosses the Mediterranean, it is pursued by a British force under Nelson, sent from the British fleet in the Tagus, to establish the purpose of the French expedition and defeat it.

For more than two months, Nelson chases the French, on several occasions only missing them by a matter of hours.

Bonaparte, aware of Nelson's pursuit, enforces absolute secrecy about his destination and is able to capture Malta and then land in Egypt without interception by the British force.With the French army ashore, the fleet anchors in Aboukir Bay, a station 20 miles (32 km) northeast of Alexandria, in a formation that its commander, Vice-Admiral François-Paul Brueys D'Aigalliers, believes established a formidable defensive position.

When Nelson's fleet arrives off Egypt on 1 August and discovers Brueys's dispositions, he orders an immediate attack, and his ships advance on the French line.

As they approach, they split into two divisions, one of which cut across the head of the line and passes between the anchored French and the shore while the other engages the seaward side of the French fleet.

Trapped in a crossfire, the leading French ships are battered into surrender during a fierce three-hour battle, while the center is able to successfully repel the initial British attack.

As British reinforcements arrive, the center comes under renewed assault, and at 22:00 the French flagship Orient explodes.

With Brueys dead and his van and center defeated, the rear division of the French fleet attempts to break out of the bay, but ultimately only two ships of the line and two frigates escape, from a total of 17 ships engaged.The battle reverses the strategic situation in the Mediterranean, and allows the Royal Navy to assume a dominant position which it will retain for the rest of the war.

It also encourages other European countries to turn against France, and is a factor in the outbreak of the War of the Second Coalition.

Bonaparte's army is trapped in Egypt, and Royal Navy dominance off the Syrian coast contributes significantly to its defeat at the Siege of Acre in 1799, which precedes Bonaparte's return to Europe.

Nelson, who had been wounded in the battle, is proclaimed a hero across Europe and is subsequently made Baron Nelson.

His captains are also highly praised, and will go on to form the nucleus of the legendary Nelsonic Band of Brothers.

The battle has remained prominent in the popular consciousness, with perhaps the best-known representation being Felicia Hemans's 1826 poem Casabianca.