French ship Annibal (1779)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Achille, French ship Achille, and French ship Annibal.

300px Achille (left) being dismasted by HMS Brunswick at the Glorious First of June
History
France
Name:	Annibal
Launched:	1778
Renamed:	Achille, 1786
Captured:	1 June 1794
Fate:	Captured by Royal Navy in the Glorious First of June battle
United Kingdom
Name:	Achille
Commissioned:	never commissioned
Fate:	Broken up, 1796
General characteristics
Class & type:	Annibal class ship of the line
Tons burthen:	1500 tonnes
Length:	54.7 m (179 ft)
Beam:	14.3 m (47 ft)
Draught:	7.2 m (24 ft)
Propulsion:	Sails
Armament:	74 guns of various weights of shot

The Annibal was a 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, lead ship of her class. She was designed by Jacques-Noël Sané, and was one of the earliest of his works. She was built at Brest in 1778.

She sailed out to the West Indies and took part in the Battle of Grenada under Lamotte-Picquet.

She was then sent out to the East Indies with Suffren and fought at the battles of Porto Praya, Sadras, Providien, Negapatam and Trincomalee in 1782. The following year she fought at the battle of Cuddalore.

She was renamed Achille in 1786 to prevent confusion with the Petit Annibal.

She served with the French Navy until 1794, when she was captured by the Royal Navy during the battle of the Glorious First of June. She was commissioned into the Royal Navy as the third-rate HMS Achille, retaining the French spelling of the name. However, she was in a poor state and was broken up at Plymouth in 1796, just two years after her capture.

Some accounts say she fought at the Battle of Trafalgar, but these writers have mistaken her for her namesake HMS Achille (1798), a new ship built at Gravesend.