On 19 May 1798, Napoleon sailed from Toulon on his hazardous adventure to Egypt, capturing Malta on the way. On 1 August, Rear-Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson sighted Alexandria, with its harbour full of shipping and saw French flags, although none belonged to ships of the line. The French battle fleet was subsequently sighted anchored in Aboukir Bay, 15 miles east of Alexandria, by the British ship 'Zealous', 74 guns. Nelson, in his flagship 'Vanguard', 74 guns, immediately headed there and launched an immediate, late-afternoon attack on the anchored enemy in what subsequently became a devastating night action.

The painting shows the scene at 6.30 p.m., with the French fleet in starboard-quarter view, anchored and visible across the left half of the picture. They can be identified from left to right as the bow of the 'Généreux', 74 guns, the 'Guillaume Tell', 80 guns, 'Mercure', 74 guns, 'Heureux', 74 guns, 'Tonnant', 80 guns, Admiral Brueys's flagship 'L'Orient', 120 guns, 'Franklin', 80 guns, 'Peuple Souverain', 74 guns, 'Aquilon', 74 guns, 'Spartiate', 74 guns, 'Conquérant' 74 guns, and 'Guerrier', 74 guns. The last seven are firing to starboard at the approaching British ships. The leading one, the 'Goliath', 74 guns under Captain Thomas Foley, is about to round the head of the French line. Astern of her and strung out across the right side of the picture, in port-quarter view are the 74-gun ships of the British fleet. The 'Goliath' is followed and partly obscured by the 'Zealous', which is followed by the 'Orion', 'Theseus', 'Minotaur' and 'Bellerophon' in the extreme right foreground. To starboard and beyond her bows can be seen the bows of the 'Defence', while to starboard of the 'Vanguard' is the 'Audacious'.

Whitcombe was born in London in about 1752 and painted ship portraits, battle scenes, harbour views and ships in storms. Although his output was vast, little is known about him. He produced a large number of subjects from the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, 1793-1815, and exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1783 and 1824. His depiction of ships implies specific knowledge of life at sea, although he probably spent most of his career in London. Many of his works were engraved and they included 50 plates to James Jenkins's account of 'The Naval Achievements of Great Britain', published in 1817. The painting is one of a pair with BHC0516, which shows the end of the action, but both may be part of an original set of three: see BHC0516 for further note on this .