|
The French fleet was more varied than the British, with 74 gun ships flanking a central citadel of larger 80 gun vessels and the giant three-decker L'Orient.
Brueys anchored with his weakest ships at the head of the line, protected as he thought by the guns on Aboukir Island. These proved ineffective, and Nelson was able to pass inshore and concentrate fire on both sides of the weaker van ships, moving down the anchored line to deal with the rest of the fleet in turn.
The main French weapon was the 36-pdr, firing a ball weighing in at nearly 39 English pounds. Some years earlier the British had replaced their lower deck 42-pdrs with 32-pdrs as the larger ball was considered too heavy to effectively handle in action. At close range, rate of fire rather size of shot decided victory and the well-drilled British crews excelled in this area.
|
|
