nine o'clock in the evening
This order excited the bitterest feeling of anger and humiliation among the French officers and sailors , who had relied confidently in taking their part in the bombardment ; and silently their ships , one by one , left the port . The Italian and American vessels remained for a time ; and as the British ships followed , in stately order , their crews manned the rigging and vociferously cheered our sailors , who replied as heartily . All , save the British men of war , took up their stations well out at sea , in a direction where they would be out of the fire of the Egyptian batteries . It was not until nine o'clock in the evening that the two last British ships , the Invincible and Monarch , steamed out of port . At half-past four in the morning the ships got under weigh again , and moved to the positions marked out for them . Fort Mex , and the batteries on the sand hills were faced by the Penelope , the Monarch , and the Invincible ; the Alexandra , the Superb , and the Sultan faced the harbour forts , Ada , Pharos , and Ras-el-Teen ; the Temeraire and Inflexible prepared to aid the Invincible in her attack on Fort Mex , or to support the three battleships engaged off the port , as might be required ; and the five gunboats moved away towards Fort Marabout , which lay some distance to the west of the town . At seven o'clock , the Alexandra began the engagement by firing a single gun .