HMS Hannibal was a 50-gun fourth rate 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 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...

, built by Adams of Bucklers Hard

Bucklers Hard

Bucklers Hard is a hamlet situated on the banks of the Beaulieu River in the English county of Hampshire.- Overview :With its Georgian cottages running down to the river, Bucklers Hard is part of the 9,000 acre Beaulieu Estate...

 and launched on 26 December 1779. She was subsequently captured by the French ship Héros

French ship Héros (1778)

The Héros was a 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, known mostly for being the flagship of Pierre André de Suffren de Saint Tropez during the American war of independence....

 off Sumatra

Sumatra

Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...

, on 21 January 1782.

She was called Petit Annibal to distinguish her from the eponymous 74-gun Annibal, which was in the same fleet. English-language histories often refer to her as Hannibal for this reason. Admiral the Bailli de Suffren

Pierre André de Suffren de Saint Tropez

Admiral comte Pierre André de Suffren de Saint Tropez, bailli de Suffren , French admiral, was the third son of the marquis de Saint Tropez, head of a family of nobles of Provence which claimed to have emigrated from Lucca in the 14th century...

 took her into his fleet, and she saw service in his five battles with British Admiral Sir Edward Hughes

Edward Hughes (admiral)

Sir Edward Hughes RN was an admiral of the British Royal Navy.Hughes joined the Royal Navy in 1735, and four years later, was present at the capture of Portobelo, Panama. In 1740, he was promoted to lieutenant and served in the Cartagena expedition of 1741, and at the indecisive Battle of Toulon...

in 1782 and 1783.

She was decommissioned in 1787 and used as a hulk from 1792.