The British Navy as it appears at the battles of the Nile and Copenhagen cannot be properly understood without considering the preceding eight years of war with Revolutionary France

The semi-disaster at Toulon, against the young artilleryman, Bonaparte, the real fear of invasion, the growth of the empire, the huge efforts at recruitment into navy

The advances in port technology, the increasing number of enemy ships captured and the weakness of the France, Britain’s principal rival.

In fact the secret of the success of the navy lay in two key areas: huge investment, both in money and manpower, irreplaceable experience in sea fighting.