he British victory ensured the French presence in Egypt would soon expire, and ended any future threat to India in one stroke, a possibility Nelson had always taken seriously (Strathern, 2007: 170). The victory marked “the establishment of British naval supremacy in the Mediterranean, never again to be lost” (Mostert, 2007: 276). In his lengthy work on the history of the British Royal Navy, Wilson writes that
The Battle of the Nile exemplified all that was best about the Royal Navy. The captains acted with zeal and good sense. The French fought valiantly in defence of their line, but they could not match the discipline and skills in the British sailors. (2013: 421)
This was the French admirals' first experience with Nelson, who suddenly became a “potential determinant of the whole course of war” (Moster, 2007: 276). The French admirals' nightmare of facing Nelson at sea only ended in with Nelson's death at the Battle of Trafalagar in 1805. By this point though it was too late for French naval fortunes in the Napoleonic Wars.
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