High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! 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.