Algeciras as a fortified refuge near Gibraltar

The second case begins during the War of the Second Coalition with French plans to reach Cádiz and combine with Spanish forces. Linois found James Saumarez's blockade force too strong to fight through directly. He therefore put into Algeciras opposite Gibraltar rather than risk being intercepted on the final approach to Cádiz. Spanish fortifications, gunboats, and shoals turned the anchorage into a defended refuge. British familiarity with the eastern side of Gibraltar Bay did not translate into equal knowledge of the western shallows. Saumarez attacked because waiting risked allowing Linois to help the larger allied fleet trap his squadron between two forces.