The Battle of the Nile (also known as the Battle of Aboukir Bay; French: Bataille d'Aboukir; Egyptian Arabic: معركة أبي قير البحرية) 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 Egypt from 1 to 3 August 1798. The battle was the climax of a naval campaign that had ranged across the Mediterranean during the previous three months, as a large French convoy sailed from Toulon to Alexandria carrying an expeditionary force under then General Napoleon Bonaparte. In the battle, the British fleet, led by Rear-Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson, decisively defeated the French under Vice-Admiral François-Paul Brueys d'Aigalliers.