 HMS Alceste was a 38 @-@ gun frigate of the Royal Navy . She was built at Rochefort in 1804 for the French Navy as the Minerve , an Armide @-@ class frigate . As part of a French squadron , anchored in the roads of the Île @-@ d 'Aix , in the spring of 1806 , she engaged HMS Pallas , then under Lord Cochrane . During the duel , the ships became entangled and ran aground but Cochrane , having spotted French reinforcements arriving , managed to free his ship and take off . 
