The French frigate Sensible had been detached from the convoy after the capture of Malta, under orders to carry wounded soldiers and looted treasure back to France while the main body continued to Egypt.

Lookouts on Seahorse spotted Sensible at 16:00 on 26 June, and Captain Edward Foote immediately gave chase, the French frigate fleeing southwards.

For 12 hours the pursuit continued until Foote was able to catch and defeat his opponent, inflicting heavy casualties on the weaker and overladen French frigate.

[1] The fleet's target was Egypt, a territory nominally controlled by the Ottoman Empire that French General Napoleon Bonaparte considered an ideal springboard for operations against British India.

[7] Although Bonaparte had not expected British interference in his operations against Egypt, the Royal Navy had responded to the reports of French mobilisation on the south coast by despatching a small squadron to the Ligurian Sea under Rear-Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson.

Although he was reinforced by another ten ships of the line and a fourth rate on 7 June, he still lacked any scouts and was thus severely hampered in his ability to search for information on French operations.

Reinforcements sent by Vice-Admiral Earl St Vincent at the Tagus River suffered from the same problem, the frigates spreading out widely in their search but failing to discover either of the main British or French forces, which were rapidly sailing southeastwards towards Alexandria.

[12] On 26 June, Seahorse was passing along the southern Sicilian coast in search of information about the whereabouts of the British fleet when at 16:00 his lookout sighted a ship.

[12] At 04:00 on 27 July, with the island of Pantelleria 36 miles (58 km) to the northwest, Foote was able to pull Seahorse alongside his opponent and open a heavy fire from close range.

[14] The British admiral was at this time resupplying his ships at Syracuse on Sicily, and when he sailed on 25 July he passed eastwards to Morea where he learned of the French invasion of Egypt from the Turkish governor of Coron.

[17] Among the treasures removed from the ship was a decorated brass cannon captured from the Ottomans in the seventeenth century and presented to the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem by King Louis XIV of France, as well as a model of a galley made from gilt silver.

This level of criticism, which British naval historian William James considers excessive, was eventually toned down and after a spirited defence by d'Hilliers both officers were honourably acquitted.