Battle of the Nile ship had Australian connections

AN ageing ship on the Derwent in Tasmania became the focal point of local celebrations of the centenary of the Battle of the Nile because of its secret past.

Aladdin, a gunpowder store ship anchored in the Derwent in Tasmania in 1900. It was formerly La Mutine, a captured French ship that was used by Horatio Nelson during the 1798 Battle of the Nile. Picture: State Library of Victoria

ANCHORED for several years on the Derwent River in Hobart, Tasmania, the Aladdin had been used to store gunpowder. So it must have seemed odd that in 1898 the old ship was suddenly draped with flags. It had been discovered that the ship, once a French naval ship named La Mutine, had taken part in the Battle of the Nile, 220 years ago today. The Aladdin then became a focal point of celebrations of the centenary of the battle.

The Battle of the Nile, more accurately known as the Battle of Aboukir Bay, was one of Horatio Nelson’s most famous victories against Napoleon. The ship became one of Australia’s connections with that celebrated moment in British history, but it was not our only one. South Australia’s first governor also took part in the battle.

In 1798 French General Napoleon Bonaparte was planning a full-scale invasion of Egypt in an attempt to control the Mediterranean, disrupt British trade routes and put India within striking distance of the French. In May 1798, Napoleon had set sail from Toulon and in June captured Malta.

The Destruction of L’Orient at the Battle of the Nile 1798, by George Arnald, 1827, National Maritime Museum, in Greenwich, London, England.

Portrait of Rear-Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson, 1799, oil on canvas by Lemuel Francis Abbott.

Hearing of the French plans, the British Admiralty quickly sent Rear Admiral Horatio Nelson with a fleet to Toulon to gauge the French objective. Nelson had lost an eye and an arm in the battles of Calvi and Tenerife, but was still the navy’s most able commander. When Nelson discovered the French had left Toulon he correctly surmised that the target could be Egypt and headed there.

Arriving in Alexandria in late June and finding it devoid of the French, Nelson headed to Sicily to resupply his fleet, before setting out for Egypt again on July 24.

On August 1 the British sighted the French fleet anchored at Aboukir Bay, just east of Alexandria.

Under the command of Admiral Francois-Paul Brueys d’Aigalliers, the French fleet awaited the return of Napoleon and his troops who were conquering Egypt.

Despite the fact that the French had drawn their fleet up into a strong defensive position, backed by batteries on shore, Nelson gave the order to attack. But the French commander had left gaps in his defensive line that the British immediately exploited, breaking through and getting behind the French line. Brueys had made the mistake of only ordering his ships to roll out their guns on one side, leaving the other side exposed and helpless.

Painting of the Battle of the Nile where Napoleon suffered his first defeat, undated.

After several hours of battle the British gained the upper hand. The most dramatic moment of the fight was when the French flagship L’Orient exploded, Brueys was aboard but by then had been cut down by a cannonball. The fire aboard the Orient also nearly claimed the British vessel Bellerophon, but for the action of a brave 13-year-old midshipman named John Hindmarsh, who ordered crewmen to cut the anchor cable and raise sail to move the ship away from the flaming wreck, while his captain was temporarily incapacitated. Nelson would later commend Hindmarsh for this when the midshipman was promoted to lieutenant. Hindmarsh would later become better known for his role as South Australia’s first governor.

News of Nelson’s triumph was sent aboard La Mutine, a former French ship that had been captured at the Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Canary Islands) in 1797.

South Australia's first governor Captain (later Rear-Admiral Sir John) Hindmarsh, in late 1930s.

Nelson’s victory ended Napoleon’s plans for Egypt, without naval support his army was unable to hold the country. The British later recaptured Malta and La Mutine was one of many ships that patrolled the Mediterranean capturing enemy vessels. La Mutine served the British navy well until it was sold off in 1803. It was later bought by a man named Bennett, the overseer of the blacksmith department of the Woolwich Naval Dockyard, UK. He had the ship overhauled and fitted out as a whaling ship and a trader, registering it under the name Aladdin in 1825.

In 1847 Aladdin was sold to Tasmanian-based merchant Charles Seal, who owned the biggest whaling fleet in Australia. He brought the ship to Australia and later sold the ship to one of its long-time commanders, Captain John McArthur, who had previously owned a quarter share of the ship.

When McArthur cladded the ship with copper in 1867, he discovered a cannonball embedded in the wood from its years as a military vessel. On an 1867 whaling voyage the captain also put down a mutiny aboard by force.

McArthur died in 1875 and the ship’s new owners continued using Aladdin as a whaling vessel. It was sold to the Tasmanian government in 1892 and spent its final years storing gunpowder, but had a brief moment in the spotlight for the 1898 centenary of the Battle of the Nile. It was broken up in 1902.

Originally published as Battle of the Nile ship had Australian connections