Departing Toulon on 19 May, Bonaparte's fleet passed along the coast of Provence to Genoa, where 72 additional transport ships were collected.
Sailing south, the fleet reached Corsica on 23 May and collected a fleet of 22 transports from Ajaccio on 28 May. The convoy remained within sight of the eastern coastline until 30 May, crossing the Strait of Bonifacio and following the coastline of Sardinia in anticipation of combining with fleets of transports sailing from Civitavecchia.
On 3 June, a message reached Bonaparte reporting the presence of Nelson's squadron at San Pietro and the French general sent a French squadron to investigate, although by that time Nelson had sailed and the harbour was empty.
Abandoning the wait for the Civitavecchia force, which had still not arrived, Bonaparte gave orders for his fleet to turn southeast, passing Mazara on Sicily and the island of Pantelleria on 7 June.
There a report from a captured British merchant brig warned Bonaparte that Nelson was only a short distance behind his force with a powerful Royal Navy fleet and, concerned for his transports, Bonaparte gave urgent orders for the French fleet to steer for Malta, arriving off Valletta at 05:30 on 9 June, shortly after uniting with the 56 ships of the Civitavecchia convoy, which had missed the rendezvous and continued to Malta alone.

The report on Nelson's activity submitted to Bonaparte on 7 June was inaccurate: Repairs to Vanguard in San Pietro took six days, the squadron sailing on 27 May for Toulon, arriving off the harbour on 31 May. Nelson had already learned of the departure of the French fleet from a captured Marseilles merchant ship, but without reinforcements or knowledge of the French direction he could not begin a pursuit.
On 5 June, the brig HMS Mutine arrived off Toulon and reported that a British fleet was only a few days away, consisting of ten ships of the line and a fourth rate sent by Earl St Vincent from the Tagus on 24 May under Captain Thomas Troubridge in HMS Culloden.
St Vincent, acting under urgent orders from London to send a fleet to the Mediterranean had opted to split his forces, rather than risk taking all of his ships into the Mediterranean and leaving the Spanish at Cadiz unattended.
Troubridge was considered by St Vincent to be the best officer in the fleet, and Nelson, who also held a high opinion of Troubridge, immediately sailed his squadron to the scheduled rendezvous point.
On 6 June, his squadron briefly intercepted a Spanish merchant convoy and capturing two ships before the admiral called off the pursuit to ensure he arrived at the agreed time.
On 7 June at 12:00 the fleets combined, Nelson now commanding 13 74-gun ships of the line, one 50-gun ship and one brig.
Noticeable by their absence were frigates, vital for scouting operations in a campaign of this nature; After his encounter with Hope, Hardy reported to Nelson that the frigates were cruising independently, to which the admiral bitterly responded "I had thought that Hope would have known me better".
Departing Toulon on 19 May, Bonaparte's fleet passed along the coast of Provence to Genoa, where 72 additional transport ships were collected. Sailing south, the fleet reached Corsica on 23 May and collected a fleet of 22 transports from Ajaccio on 28 May. The convoy remained within sight of the eastern coastline until 30 May, crossing the Strait of Bonifacio and following the coastline of Sardinia in anticipation of combining with fleets of transports sailing from Civitavecchia. On 3 June, a message reached Bonaparte reporting the presence of Nelson's squadron at San Pietro and the French general sent a French squadron to investigate, although by that time Nelson had sailed and the harbour was empty. Abandoning the wait for the Civitavecchia force, which had still not arrived, Bonaparte gave orders for his fleet to turn southeast, passing Mazara on Sicily and the island of Pantelleria on 7 June. There a report from a captured British merchant brig warned Bonaparte that Nelson was only a short distance behind his force with a powerful Royal Navy fleet and, concerned for his transports, Bonaparte gave urgent orders for the French fleet to steer for Malta, arriving off Valletta at 05:30 on 9 June, shortly after uniting with the 56 ships of the Civitavecchia convoy, which had missed the rendezvous and continued to Malta alone.
The report on Nelson's activity submitted to Bonaparte on 7 June was inaccurate: Repairs to Vanguard in San Pietro took six days, the squadron sailing on 27 May for Toulon, arriving off the harbour on 31 May. Nelson had already learned of the departure of the French fleet from a captured Marseilles merchant ship, but without reinforcements or knowledge of the French direction he could not begin a pursuit. On 5 June, the brig HMS Mutine arrived off Toulon and reported that a British fleet was only a few days away, consisting of ten ships of the line and a fourth rate sent by Earl St Vincent from the Tagus on 24 May under Captain Thomas Troubridge in HMS Culloden. St Vincent, acting under urgent orders from London to send a fleet to the Mediterranean had opted to split his forces, rather than risk taking all of his ships into the Mediterranean and leaving the Spanish at Cadiz unattended. Troubridge was considered by St Vincent to be the best officer in the fleet, and Nelson, who also held a high opinion of Troubridge, immediately sailed his squadron to the scheduled rendezvous point. On 6 June, his squadron briefly intercepted a Spanish merchant convoy and capturing two ships before the admiral called off the pursuit to ensure he arrived at the agreed time. On 7 June at 12:00 the fleets combined, Nelson now commanding 13 74-gun ships of the line, one 50-gun ship and one brig. Noticeable by their absence were frigates, vital for scouting operations in a campaign of this nature; After his encounter with Hope, Hardy reported to Nelson that the frigates were cruising independently, to which the admiral bitterly responded "I had thought that Hope would have known me better".
Mediterranean campaign of 1798