HMS Hannibal
Encyclopedia
HMS Hannibal was a 74-gun third-rate
ship of the line
of the British Royal Navy
, launched on 15 April 1786, named after the Carthaginian general Hannibal Barca
. She is best known for having run aground during the first part of the Battle of Algeciras Bay
on 5 July 1801, which resulted in her capture. She then served in the French Navy until she was broken up in 1824.
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 Hector
left on a cruise during which at some point they pursued two French frigates. They actually 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. Colossus got within gunshot of one of them and opened fire, at which the frigates took different courses. Robust
and Hannibal pursued two; the 32-gun fifth-rate
frigate Astraea pursued and captured the 36-gun Gloire after an hour-long fight. 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 resigned 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 J. Loring replaced him, only to pay Hannibal of later that year.
On the morning of 5 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 Caesar
, Saumarez's flagship. From there she maintained firing 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 maneuvered, 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 Venerable
to assist Hannibal but a shot demolished Caesars 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 Hannibals fire had dwindled to almost nothing so Feris ordered his men to shelter below decks. He then signaled capitulation by hoisting Hannibals 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 HMS Calpe
to save Hannibals crew. The French detained the boats and their crews, including Calpés lieutenant, T. Sykes; after firing several broadsides at the enemy's shipping and batteries, Calpé 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 several days later.
Admiral 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 Gladiator
in Portsmouth on 1 September honorably acquitted Captain Ferris, his officers and crew for the loss of their ship.
encountered Annibal, two frigates (Pomone and Incorruptible), and the corvette Victorieuse off Cabrera in the Mediterranean but escaped.
Third-rate
In the British Royal Navy, a third rate was a ship of the line which from the 1720s mounted between 64 and 80 guns, typically built with two gun decks . Years of experience proved that the third rate ships embodied the best compromise between sailing ability , firepower, and cost...
ship of the line
Ship of the line
A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th through the mid-19th century to take part in the naval tactic known as the line of battle, in which two columns of opposing warships would manoeuvre to bring the greatest weight of broadside guns to bear...
of the British Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
, launched on 15 April 1786, named after the Carthaginian general Hannibal Barca
Hannibal Barca
Hannibal, son of Hamilcar Barca Hannibal's date of death is most commonly given as 183 BC, but there is a possibility it could have taken place in 182 BC. was a Carthaginian military commander and tactician. He is generally considered one of the greatest military commanders in history...
. She is best known for having run aground during the first part of the Battle of Algeciras Bay
Battle of Algeciras Bay
The Battle of Algeciras Bay refers to two separate battles in July 1801 between an allied French-Spanish fleet and the British near Gibraltar. In the first battle, the French drove off an attack by the larger British fleet and captured one ship of the line...
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
John Colpoys
Admiral Sir John Colpoys, GCB was an officer of the British Royal Navy who served in three wars but is most notable for being one of the catalysts of the Spithead Mutiny in 1797 after ordering his marines to fire on a deputation of mutinous sailors...
. 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 Hector
HMS Hector (1774)
HMS Hector was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 27 May 1774 at Deptford.She was converted for use as a prison ship in 1808, and was broken up in 1816....
left on a cruise during which at some point they pursued two French frigates. They actually 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
Alan Gardner, 1st Baron Gardner
Admiral Alan Gardner, 1st Baron Gardner was a British Royal Navy officer and peer of the realm. He became one of the Georgian era's most dashing frigate captains and, ultimately, a respected senior admiral.-Naval career:...
. 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. Colossus got within gunshot of one of them and opened fire, at which the frigates took different courses. Robust
HMS Robust (1764)
HMS Robust was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 25 October 1764 at Harwich. She was the only vessel of the Royal Navy to bear the name....
and Hannibal pursued two; the 32-gun fifth-rate
Fifth-rate
In Britain's Royal Navy during the classic age of fighting sail, a fifth rate was the penultimate class of warships in a hierarchal system of six "ratings" based on size and firepower.-Rating:...
frigate Astraea pursued and captured the 36-gun Gloire after an hour-long fight. 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
Corvette
A corvette is a small, maneuverable, lightly armed warship, originally smaller than a frigate and larger than a coastal patrol craft or fast attack craft , although many recent designs resemble frigates in size and role...
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 resigned 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 J. Loring replaced him, only to pay Hannibal of 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 5 July Saumarez's squadron of six line-of-battle ships attacked French Admiral Linois's
Charles-Alexandre Léon Durand Linois
Charles-Alexandre Léon Durand, Comte de Linois was a French admiral during the time of Napoleon Bonaparte. He won a victory over the British at the Battle of Algeciras in 1801 and was reasonably successful in a campaign against British trade in the Indian Ocean and South China Sea in...
three line-of-battle ships and a frigate in Algeciras Bay
Bay of Gibraltar
The Bay of Gibraltar is a bay at the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula. It is around long by wide, covering an area of some , with a depth of up to in the centre of the bay...
. Hannibal was the last in and she anchored ahead of Caesar
HMS Caesar (1793)
HMS Caesar, also Cæsar, was an 80-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 16 November 1793 at Plymouth. She was designed by Sir Edward Hunt, and was the only ship built to her draught.-Battle of Algeciras Bay:...
, Saumarez's flagship. From there she maintained firing 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
French ship Formidable
A number of ships of the French Navy have born the name Formidable, honouring the trait of inspiring fear in the enemy. Among them:* Formidable , a 96-gun ship of the line* Formidable , a 80-gun ship of the line...
, Linois's flagship. As Hannibal maneuvered, 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 Venerable
HMS Venerable (1784)
HMS Venerable was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 19 April 1784 at Blackwall Yard.In 1797, Venerable served as Admiral Duncan's flagship at the Battle of Camperdown....
to assist Hannibal but a shot demolished Caesars 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 Hannibals fire had dwindled to almost nothing so Feris ordered his men to shelter below decks. He then signaled capitulation by hoisting Hannibals ensign upside down. The battle had cost Hannibal 75 men killed, 62 wounded and six missing.
Commander George Dundas
George Heneage Dundas
Rear Admiral George Heneage Lawrence Dundas CB was a senior naval officer and First Naval Lord.-Family:He was the fifth son of Thomas Dundas by his wife Charlotte, daughter of the third Earl Fitzwilliam.-HMS Queen Charlotte:In February 1800 George Heneage Dundas was aboard Lord Keith's flagship,...
, deceived by a signal from Hannibal, sent boats from HMS Calpe
HMS Calpe (1800)
HMS Calpe was the former 14-gun polacca San José of the Spanish Navy, originally built in 1796 in Greece. The British captured her in 1800 and commissioned her as a sloop-of-war...
to save Hannibals crew. The French detained the boats and their crews, including Calpés lieutenant, T. Sykes; after firing several broadsides at the enemy's shipping and batteries, Calpé returned to Gibraltar. The French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
were unable to repair Hannibal quickly enough for her to take part in the eventual defeat of the Franco-Spanish squadron several days later.
Admiral 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 Gladiator
HMS Gladiator (1783)
HMS Gladiator was a 44-gun fifth-rate Roebuck-class ship of the Royal Navy. She was launched on 20 January 1783 by Henry Adams of Bucklers Hard. She spent her entire career on harbour service, never putting to sea. Even so, her crew earned prize money for the seizure of two Russian and five...
in Portsmouth on 1 September honorably acquitted Captain Ferris, his officers and crew for the loss of their ship.
French service
Renamed Annibal in French service, the ship sailed from Cadiz for Toulon on 9 February 1802 (along with Intrepide and Formidable). She underwent a refit a Toulon between March and June 1802, and 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 carronbades replacing ten of her 9-pounder guns. In May 1807, the 38-gun frigate HMS SpartanHMS Spartan (1806)
HMS Spartan was a Royal Navy 38-gun fifth-rate frigate, launched at Rochester in 1806.-Napoleonic Wars:Spartans first captain was George Airie, but he was soon replaced by Captain Jahleel Brenton, who took Spartan to the Adriatic Sea for service in the Adriatic campaign...
encountered Annibal, two frigates (Pomone and Incorruptible), and the corvette Victorieuse off Cabrera in the Mediterranean but escaped.