In April 1756, during the prelude to what later became known as the Seven Years' War, the "Intrepid" left Britain as part of a fleet sailing to the Mediterranean under the command of Admiral John Byng. The French had been menacing British-held Minorca for some time, and on 18 April a large French fleet had established itself off the north-west of the island. They bombarded the island, until Byng's fleet arrived on 19 May. The two fleets were relatively equally matched; the British had 842 guns to the French fleet's 800, and each had around a dozen ships of the line. The next day, at the Battle of Minorca, the fleets met in a wedge; rather than match-up side by side, the British fleet intercepted the French at an angle of around 30 to 40 degrees, meaning that while the ships at the front were engaged, those at the rear were too far from the French to fight. "Intrepid", the sixth British ship from the front, was immobilised early in the fighting when her fore-topmast was hit by enemy fire and destroyed. This caused her to fall back out of the line of battle. Byng instructed the 44-gun frigate HMS "Chesterfield" to lay by "Intrepid" while the rest of the fleet continued. Ultimately, Byng and his council of war called off the attack, and Minorca fell to the French soon after. During the battle, along with the damage suffered, "Intrepid" suffered 45 casualties; 9 killed and 36 wounded.