HMS Hannibal ( 1786 ) HMS " Hannibal " was a 74 - gun third - rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy , launched on 15 April 1786 , named after the Carthaginian general Hannibal Barca . She is best known for having taken part in the Algeciras Campaign , and for having run aground during the First Battle of Algeciras on 5 July 1801 , which resulted in her capture . She then served in the French Navy until she was broken up in 1824 . Early service . " Hannibal " was commissioned in August 1787 under Captain Roger Boger . In May 1790 " Hannibal " was recommissioned under Captain John Colpoys . She was recommissioned in August 1791 for service as a guardship at Plymouth . When war with France became increasing likely towards end of 1792 the guardships at the three naval seaports were ordered to rendezvous at Spithead . " Hannibal " and the other Plymouth - based ships left on 11 December and arrived at Spithead the next day . The guardships from the other ports took longer to arrive . On 15 February 1793 she and left on a cruise during which at some point they pursued two French frigates . They captured a French merchant ship , the " Etoille du Matin " , on 23 February . They returned on 4 March . They then were fitted for service in the West Indies and on 24 March left with the fleet under Rear - Admiral Sir Alan Gardner . " Hannibal " returned to Britain in early 1794 , and underwent fitting at Plymouth from March to December . Captain John Markham took command of " Hannibal " in August 1794 . On 10 April 1795 Rear - Admiral Colpoys , while cruising with a squadron composed of five ships of the line and three frigates , chased three French frigates . got within gunshot of one of them and opened fire , at which the frigates took different courses . and " Hannibal " pursued two ; the 32 - gun fifth - rate frigate pursued and captured the 36 - gun " Gloire " after an hour - long fight at the Action of 10 April 1795 . The next day " Hannibal " captured the French 36 - gun frigate " Gentille " , but the " Fraternité " escaped . The " Gentille " lost eight men killed and fifteen wounded ; " Hannibal " had four men wounded . The Royal Navy took into service . Ten British warships , " Hannibal " being one of them , shared in the proceeds of the recapture of the " Caldicot Castle " on 28 March 1795 and the capture on 30 March of the French corvette " Jean Bart " . On 14 May 1795 " Hannibal " sailed for Jamaica . On 21 October , while on the West Indies station , " Hannibal " captured the 8 - gun French privateer schooner " Grand Voltigeur " . Three days later she captured the 12 - gun French privateer " Convention " . On 13 November she captured the French privateer " Petit Tonnerre " . Markham left " Hannibal " in December . His successor , in January 1796 , was Captain T . Lewis . On 27 January 1796 , " Hannibal " and captured the privateer " Alerte " . " Alerte " was armed with 14 guns and " Sampson " was the actual captor . Captain Robert Campbell assumed command in April 1798 . Captain E . T . Smith followed him in October , and remained in command until 1800 , when Captain John Loring replaced him , only to pay " Hannibal " off later that year . Defeat and loss . Captain Solomon Ferris commissioned her in March 1801 , and under his command she sailed from Spithead on 6 June 1801 . She joined Rear - Admiral Sir James Saumarez in Cawsand Bay on 12 June , ready to sail for the Mediterranean . On the morning of 6 July Saumarez ' s squadron of six line - of - battle ships attacked French Admiral Linois ' s three line - of - battle ships and a frigate in Algeciras Bay . " Hannibal " was the last in and she anchored ahead of , Saumarez ' s flagship . From there she fired broadsides for about an hour . At about 10 o ' clock Ferris Saumarez ordered " Hannibal " to cut her cables and move to support by engaging " Formidable " , Linois ' s flagship . As " Hannibal " manoeuvred , the variable winds pushed her into shoal water and she grounded . Still , from his immobile position , Ferris maintained fire on " Formidable " with those of his forward guns that could bear on her ; the other guns fired at the town , batteries and gunboats . Saumarez sent boats from " Caesar " and to assist " Hannibal " but a shot demolished " Caesar " s pinnace ; Ferris then used one of his own cutters to send them back to " Caesar " . At about 1 : 30pm the British ships withdrew to Gibraltar , leaving " Hannibal " immobile and unsupported . Ferris consulted with his officers and decided that further resistance was pointless and that the only way to save the lives of the remaining crew was for " Hannibal " to strike . By this point " Hannibal " s fire had dwindled to almost nothing so Ferris ordered his men to shelter below decks . He then signalled capitulation by hoisting " Hannibal " s ensign upside down . The battle had cost " Hannibal " 75 men killed , 62 wounded and six missing . Commander George Dundas , deceived by a signal from " Hannibal " , sent boats from to save " Hannibal " s crew . The French detained the boats and their crews , including " Calpe " s lieutenant , T . Sykes ; after firing several broadsides at the enemy ' s shipping and batteries , " Calpe " returned to Gibraltar . The French and Spanish were unable to repair " Hannibal " quickly enough for her to take part in the eventual defeat of the Franco - Spanish squadron at the Second Battle of Algeciras several days later . Sir James Saumarez then arranged to exchange the men from " St Antoine " , which the British had captured in the second part of the battle , for the men from " Hannibal " and " Calpe " . A court martial on in Portsmouth on 1 September honourably acquitted Captain Ferris , his officers and crew for the loss of their ship . French service . The French renamed " Hannibal " to " Annibal " . In November 1801 convoyed the Straits fleet to Gibraltar , arriving there on 16 November . On the way they encountered dreadful weather in the Bay of Biscay . While " Racoon " was near Brest , she observed " Hannibal " and underway . Both former Royal Navy vessels were under jury - mast s and French colours . Later , on 9 February 1802 , " Annibal " ( along with " Intrépide " and " Formidable " ) , sailed from Cadiz for Toulon where she underwent a refit between March and June . " Annibal " then served in the French Navy until 1821 ( undergoing a further refit at Toulon during 1809 ) . She was partly re - armed in 1806 , with one pair of upper deck guns being removed , and sixteen 32 - pounder carronade s replacing ten of her 9 - pounder guns . In May 1807 , the 38 - gun frigate encountered " Annibal " , two frigates ( " Pomone " and " Incorruptible " ) , and the corvette " Victorieuse " off Cabrera in the Mediterranean but escaped . Fate . In January 1821 " Annibal " became a hulk at Toulon , and was broken up in 1824 .