French ship Orient (1791)
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Orient was an Océan-class 118-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, famous for her role as flagship of the French fleet at the Battle of the Nile in August 1798, and for her spectacular destruction that day when her magazine exploded. The event was commemorated by numerous poems and paintings.
Battle of the Nile, August 1st 1798 at 10 pm, by Thomas Luny. Orient is depicted aflame at the centre left.
The destruction of L'Orient at the Battle of the Nile, 1 August 1798, painting by George Arnald, on display at the National Maritime Museum.
The Battle of the Nile, August 1st 1798, painting by Thomas Whitcombe
The Battle of the Nile, engraving by Thomas Whitcombe
Battle of the Nile
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The Battle of the Nile was a major naval battle fought between the British Royal Navy and the Navy of the French Republic at Aboukir Bay on the Mediterranean coast off the Nile Delta of Egypt from the 1st to the 3rd of August 1798. The battle was the climax of a naval campaign that had raged across the Mediterranean during the previous three months, as a large French convoy sailed from Toulon to Alexandria carrying an expeditionary force under General Napoleon Bonaparte. The British fleet was led in the battle by Rear-Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson; they decisively defeated the French under Vice-Admiral François-Paul Brueys d'Aigalliers.
The Destruction of L'Orient at the Battle of the Nile George Arnald, 1827, National Maritime Museum, in Greenwich, London, England
Rear-Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson, Lemuel Francis Abbott, 1800, National Maritime Museum. Visible on his cocked hat is the aigrette presented by the Ottoman Sultan as a reward for the victory at the Nile
François-Paul Brueys d'Aigalliers artist unknown, Palace of Versailles
Battle of the Nile, Augt 1st 1798, Thomas Whitcombe, 1816, National Maritime Museum. The British fleet bears down on the French line.