The British expedition to Ostend took place on 18 May 1798 during the French Revolutionary Wars which was intended to destroy the gun-boats harboured in Ostend and destined to take part in the planned invasion of Britain. It also hoped to destroy the infrastructure of the port including the locks, basin-gates, and sluices of the Bruges–Ostend Canal. The expedition was a combined Royal Navy and British Army expedition under the command of Captain Home Popham (R.N.) and Major-General Eyre Coote. The British destroyed their objectives, but bad weather meant that the army contingent was unable to disembark, and after a brief fight were captured by the French. Background Planning In 1798 the French Revolutionary Wars were ongoing and France had for several years been threatening what would be the first of several planned invasions of Britain. By the start of the year the majority of the invasion forces brought together for this had been diverted to join the French campaign in Egypt and Syria, but enough remained to cause worry. Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger and his government, aware of the invasion flotilla that had been built up in France and the Batavian Republic, put out requests for solutions to halt or defend against Napoleon's plans. These included the scouring of the archives to create a dossier of documents profiling how the English had planned to defend against the Spanish Armada of 1588, which Pitt then used to create the Provisional Cavalry and Army of Reserve. In April a proposal was put forward by General Sir Charles Grey, the commander of the British Army's Southern District, for offensive anti-invasion operations. In order to avoid attacks by Royal Navy warships in the English Channel, the French were moving their invasion craft from Flushing to Ostend and Dunkirk using the newly expanded Bruges–Ostend Canal. At nearby large sluice gates had been built but left unprotected. Grey put forward the plan on the recommendation of Captain Home Riggs Popham of the Royal Navy, who suggested that an amphibious landing be made at Ostend where they could then destroy the canal's basin gates and the new sluices. This would hamper the operational capability of the canal and interrupt French maritime movement between Holland, Flanders, and France, stopping the Dutch part of the invasion flotilla from assembling. Organisation The government supported the plan, but the Admiralty, to whom Popham had to submit his idea,