Battle of the Nile The Burning of L Orient
Nelsons annihilation of the French Fleet at Aboukir Bay was complete, but for the escape of Admiral Villeneuve who would again confront his nemesis just seven years later at Trafalgar. Doubled by the British ships and ravaged by their relentless gunnery, the French faced utter defeat as the battle raged into the night. At the centre of the French line lay the massive three decker L Orient. The British Alexander positioned herself astern of L Orient and began to fire mercilessly into her fragile stern galleries. Within a short time, a terrible fire started that raged through her hull, eventually reaching her powder magazine, causing a massive explosion that literally blew L Orient to pieces. In this scene, shortly before the explosion, Alexander can be seen astern of the burning L Orient, minus her maintop, and trying to move away in the intense heat. To her port, the British Majestic is also starting to slip away while, in the foreground, the French Franklin is ablaze and threatened with being caught in the imminent blast. At the extreme right of the picture, crews are racing to remove sails from the British Orion to lessen the risk of fire in the event of L Orients spectacular demise.
