[1] In April 1797, Ninfa and a similar frigate, Santa Elena, were bound for Cadiz with a cargo of silver and would have blundered into a large blockading fleet under Sir John Jervis, were it not for a fortuitous encounter with some Spanish fishermen on the night of 25 April.

[2] Having been warned of the danger, the captains decided to transfer the precious cargo into the fishing boat and for the Spanish frigates to try to sneak into port by hugging the coastline.

Outgunned, Ninfa and Santa Elena chose to seek shelter in Conil Bay, hoping the hazard of Laja de Cape Rocha, a large rocky ledge in the entrance, would deter the British from following.

Before she could be taken possession of however, Santa Elena cut her cable and drifted onto the shore where she was so badly damaged that when the British tried to refloat her, she sank.

Her British career was cut short however when she sank whilst trying to shelter from a storm in Algiers Bay, on 25 December 1797.