HMS ''Astraea'' (or ''Astrea'') was a 32-gun

fifth rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a fifth rate was the second-smallest class of warships in a hierarchical system of six " ratings" based on size and firepower. Rating The rating system in the Royal N ...

of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

. Fabian at E. Cowes launched her in 1781, and she saw action in the

American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

as well as during the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

. She is best known for her capture of the larger in a battle on 10 April 1795, while under the command of Captain Lord Henry Paulet. She was wrecked on 23 March 1808 off the coast of

Anegada Anegada is the northernmost of the British Virgin Islands (BVI), a group of islands that form part of the archipelago of the Virgin Islands. It lies about north of Virgin Gorda. Anegada is the only inhabited British Virgin Island formed from ...

in the

British Virgin Islands The British Virgin Islands (BVI), officially the Virgin Islands, are a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean, to the east of Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands, US Virgin Islands and north-west ...

Capture of ''South Carolina''

Captain Matthew Squire commissioned ''Astraea'' in July 1781. On 7 October she sailed for North America. On 20 December 1782 the British 44-gun

two-decker , Captain Thomas L. Frederick and the sister frigates - , Captain Christopher Mason, and ''Astraea'', captured the American frigate ''South Carolina'' in the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and is the longest free-flowing (undammed) river in the Eastern United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for a ...

. ''South Carolina'' was attempting to dash out of

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, through the British blockade. She was in the company of the brig ''Constance'', schooner ''Seagrove'', and the ship ''Hope'', which had joined her for protection. The British chased ''South Carolina'' for 18 hours and fired on her for two hours before she

struck Struck is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Adolf Struck Adolf Hermann Struck (1877–1911) was a German sightseer and writer. He is known for his Travel literature, travelogue ''Makedonische Fahrten'' and for surveying the ...

. She had a crew of about 466 men when captured, of whom she lost six killed or wounded. The British suffered no casualties. ''Astraea'' and ''Quebec'' also captured ''Constance'', which was carrying tobacco. Prize crews then took ''South Carolina'' and ''Constance'' to New York. On 15 March 1783, ''Astraea'', , and captured the ship ''Julius Cæsar''. In January 1784 ''Astraea'' was paid off. In September 1786, ''Astraea'' was commissioned under Captain Peter Rainier, Jr. She proceeded to Ferrol, Madeira, and the West Indies, where she remained for three years. During this time she visited all the British islands and most of the French and Spanish colonies.

French Revolutionary Wars

From March 1793 until the spring of 1795, ''Astraea''s captain was Robert Moorsom. After he removed to , Captain Lord Henry Paulet (or Powlett) replaced him. ''Astraea'' was among the ships that shared in the prize money for the recapture of the ship and the French corvette ''Jean Bart'' on 28 and 30 March. (The Navy took ''Jean Bart'' into service as .) The other ships were , , , , , , , and .

''Astraea'' and ''Gloire''

On 10 April 1795, Rear-admiral Sir John Colpoys, was cruising in the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

with a squadron composed of five ships of the line and three frigates, when they spotted three French frigates through a break in thick fog. ''London'' got within gunshot of one of them and opened fire, causing the French frigates to separate. ''Robust'' and ''Hannibal'' pursued two. ''Astraea'' gave chase to a third. She caught up, and after foiling an attempt from the French ship to rake her, ''Astraea'' came alongside; the two ships exchanged broadsides for 58 minutes before the French ship

. She was the 32-gun ''Gloire'', with 275 men aboard and armed with twenty-six 12-pounder guns on her main deck, ten 6-pounder guns and four 36-pounder

carronade A carronade is a short, smoothbore, cast-iron cannon which was used by the Royal Navy. It was first produced by the Carron Company, an ironworks in Falkirk, Scotland, and was used from the last quarter of the 18th century to the mid-19th cen ...

s on her quarterdeck, and two 6-pounder guns on her forecastle. ''Gloire'' had suffered casualties of 40 killed and wounded, including her captain, Captain Beens, because the British had fired into her hull; ''Astraea'', of 32 guns and 212 men, had only eight wounded because the French had fired high, at the mast and rigging in an attempt to cripple her. For this feat Paulet received the Naval Gold Medal. John Talbot,

first lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a se ...

on ''Astraea'', took ''Gloire'' to Britain, where he received promotion to

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

and took over the 14-gun

sloop-of-war During the 18th and 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a warship of the Royal Navy with a single gun deck that carried up to 18 guns. The rating system of the Royal Navy covered all vessels with 20 or more guns; thus, the term encompassed all u ...

. ''Astraea'' shared the prize money for ''Gloire'' with ''London'', ''Colossus'', ''Valiant'', ''Hannibal'', ''Robust'' and ''Thalia'', and shared with them in the prize money for ''Gentille'', one of the other French frigates. In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Astraea 10 April 1795" to any surviving crewmen that came forward to claim it. The French squadron had left Brest three weeks earlier but had made only one capture, a small Spanish brig. The Admiralty bought in ''Gloire'' as a 36-gun frigate and retained her name. She was already a 17-year-old ship and in March 1802 the Admiralty sold her.

Cruising

In June 1795, Captain Richard Lane took command. ''Astraea'' was present at the Second

Battle of Groix The Battle of Groix (, ) took place on 23 June 1795 off the island of Groix in the Bay of Biscay during the War of the First Coalition. It was fought between elements of the British Channel Fleet and the French Ponant Fleet, Atlantic Fleet, whi ...

, which took place on 23 June 1795, off the west coast of France, but did not take part in the actual, inconclusive battle. On 10 March 1796, she set sail for Jamaica. On 27 April 1796, ''Astraea'' brought troops to the naval squadron attacking Sainte-Lucie. The Navy contributed a force of 800 seamen under the command of Lane and Captain Ryves of . The British captured the island on 26 May 1796. ''Astraea'' was in a poor state so Rear Admiral and Commander-in-Chief of the West Indies station Sir Hugh Cloberry Christian had her carry the dispatches back to Britain. On 16 February 1797, ''Astraea'' was under the command of Captain Richard Dacres when she and captured the French

privateer A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in commerce raiding under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign o ...

''Tartare''. On 1 June 1797, off The Skaw, ''Astraea'' captured the Dutch privateer ''Stuiver'', of 10 guns and with a crew of 48 men. ''Stuiver'' was from Amsterdam and had been out 18 days, but had captured nothing. In September 1797, in the North Sea, ''Astraea'' rescued Midshipman Benjamin Clement, who would one day rise to the rank of

post captain Post-captain or post captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of captain in the Royal Navy. The term "post-captain" was descriptive only; it was never used as a title in the form "Post-Captain John Smith". The term served to di ...

, and the crew of his jolly boat. Clement had been returning from to his ship, , in the evening but his crew were drunk and they did not reach her. By morning, the fleet was out of sight; he and his crew ended up drifting for 40 hours without food or water. By the time ''Astraea'' rescued them they were exhausted from cold and hunger, but presumably were sober. At end-February 1798 ''Astraea'' and towed in to

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth ( ), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside resort, seaside town which gives its name to the wider Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. Its fishing industry, m ...

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

, after her crew had abandoned her. On 22 April, ''Astraea'' captured the French privateer

schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...

''Renommée'' on the

Dogger Bank Dogger Bank ( Dutch: ''Doggersbank'', German: ''Doggerbank'', Danish: ''Doggerbanke'') is a large sandbank in a shallow area of the North Sea about off the east coast of England. During the last ice age, the bank was part of a large landmass ...

. ''Renommee'' had a crew of 54 men and was armed with five 9-pounder guns on slides amidships so that she could deploy the guns on either side. On 30 July, ''Astraea'', , and captured the Dutch Greenlandsmen ''Frederick'' and ''Waachzamghheer''. Then a week later they captured the Dutch Greenlandsman ''Liefde ''. In 1799, ''Astraea'' served in the North Sea while still under Dacres. On 29 March ''Astraea'' and several other vessels were in company with at the capture of the

galiot A galiot, galliot or galiote, was a small galley boat propelled by sail or oars. There are three different types of naval galiots that sailed on different seas. A ''galiote'' was a type of French flat-bottom river boat or barge and also a fla ...

''Neptunus''. ''Astraea'' was some 20 miles west of the Texel on 10 April when she captured the 14-gun French privateer lugger ''Marsouin'' after a chase of three hours. ''Marsouin'' had a crew of 58 men and was armed with 14 guns. She was a day out of Dunkirk and had taken nothing. Five days later, ''Astraea'' was among the vessels that captured ''Aeolus'' and ''Sex Soskendi''. The next day ''Astraea'' was in company with ''Latona'', the hired armed cutter ''Courier'', and when ''Cruizer'' captured the Prussian

hoy Hoy may refer to: People Given name * Hoy Menear (died 2023), American politician * Hoy Phallin (born 1995), Cambodian footballer * Hoy Wong (1920–2009), American bartender Surname * Hoy (surname), a Scottish and Irish surname * H� ...

''Dolphin''. In April 1800, Captain Peter Ribouleau commissioned ''Astraea''. Between 27 April 1800, and 2 May 1800, she was at St Lucia. On 30 August 1800, ''Astraea'' was in Admiral Sir

John Borlase Warren Admiral Sir John Borlase Warren, 1st Baronet (2 September 1753 – 27 February 1822) was a Royal Navy officer, diplomat and politician who sat in the British House of Commons between 1774 and 1807. Early life Born in Stapleford, Nottinghamshir ...

's squadron when the boats of the squadron captured the French privateer ''Guêpe''. ''Astraea'' did share in the prize money, but does not seem to have qualified for the Naval General Service Medal. In 1801, ''Astraea'' served under in the Mediterranean. ''Astraea'' was armed

en flute EN or En or en may refer to: Businesses * Bouygues (stock symbol EN) * Island Rail Corridor, formerly known as the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway (reporting mark EN) * Euronews, a news television and internet channel Language and writing * N, 14t ...

when she took part in the landings in March at

Abu Qir Bay The Abū Qīr Bay (sometimes transliterated Abukir Bay or Aboukir Bay) (; transliterated: Khalīj Abū Qīr) is a spacious bay on the Mediterranean Sea near Alexandria in Egypt, lying between the Rosetta mouth of the Nile and the town of Abu Qir ...

. Fire from the French on shore wounded one seaman. Because ''Astraea'' served in the navy's Egyptian campaign between 8 March 1801 and 2 September, her officers and crew qualified for the clasp "Egypt" to the Naval General Service Medal that the Admiralty authorised in 1850 for all surviving claimants.

Napoleonic Wars

Captain James Carthew commissioned ''Astraea'' in April 1805 for the Downs. On 21 October, ''Astraea'' was among the British vessels sharing in the capture of the ''Anna Wilhelmine''. Captain James Dunbar replaced Carthew in February 1806. On 1 December ''Astraea'' limped into Elsinore, Denmark, with water in her hold and her masts gone. She had experienced bad weather near the Skaws and then grounded on a shoal some three miles off the island of Anholt in the

Kattegat The Kattegat (; ; ) is a sea area bounded by the peninsula of Jutland in the west, the Danish straits islands of Denmark and the Baltic Sea to the south and the Swedish provinces of Bohuslän, Västergötland, Halland and Scania in Swede ...

. One of ''Astraea''s passengers, Lord Hutchinson, had gone ashore indisposed. Dunbar had to throw her guns and stores overboard and cut away her masts before she floated free. He then had a mizzen-jury mast erected, which enabled her to sail the 25 miles to Elsinore. August 1807 was a busy month for ''Astraea''. On the 19th she and captured two Danish merchant vessels: ''Two Sisters'' and ''Three Brothers''. One week later, ''Astraea'', , and captured the Danish vessel ''Fama''. That same day ''Astraea''captured the Danish merchant vessel ''Anna Dorothea''. Also during the month, ''Astraea'', ''Agamemnon'', and ''Cruizer'' shared in the capture of the Danish merchant vessels ''Anne and, Catherine'', ''Anne and Margaret'', and ''Three Brothers''. In November 1807 Captain Edmund Heywood took command of ''Astraea'' as she was fitting out at Chatham for the West Indies. On 14 December, ''Astraea'' captured the French privateer lugger ''Providence''. At the time of the capture, the sloop-of-war had joined the pursuit and gun-brigs and were in sight. ''Providence'' carried 14 guns and a crew of 52 men.

Loss

In 1808, ''Astraea'' escorted the mail

packet ship Packet boats were medium-sized boats designed mainly for domestic mail and freight transport in European countries and in North American rivers and canals. Eventually including basic passenger accommodation, they were used extensively during t ...

''Prince Earnest'' past the danger of Caribbean

s. Heywood, thinking that Anegada was

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

, wrecked upon the deadly horseshoe reef on 23 March. All but four of her crew survived, either by making it to the island or to

Virgin Gorda Virgin Gorda () is the third-largest island (after Tortola and Anegada) and second-most populous of the British Virgin Islands (BVI). Geography Located at about 18 degrees, 30 minutes North, and 64 degrees, 30 minutes West, it covers an area o ...

. Two days after the wreck, the 22-gun sloop-of-war and former French privateer (also known as the ''St Kitts''), arrived and rescued the crew. The two 32-gun frigates and , and the sloop-of-war arrived later, and engaged in salvage attempts. The British abandoned the wreck on 24 June. Many of the crew went on to serve aboard .''The Annual biography and obituary'', Volume 21, p. 445. As was usual, Captain Heywood, his officers and crew, were subject to a

court martial A court-martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the mili ...

for the loss of his ship. This took place on 11 June 1808 on in Carlisle Bay,

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

. The court held that the ship foundered due to an "extraordinary weather current", and exonerated Heywood. The court martial held:"... having heard the narrative thereof by Captain Edmund Heywood, together with explanations given by himself and also by Mr. Allan McLean, the master of the said ship, and having fully completed the inquiry, and maturely and deliberately weighed and considered the whole thereof, the court is of opinion that the loss was occasioned by an extraordinary weather current having set the ship nearly two degrees to the eastwards of the reckoning of all the officers on board ... and that no blame is attributable to Captain Heywood, his officers, and ship's company."

Wreck site

The

have honoured ''Astraea'' with a stamp. The reason is that in 1967 Bert Kilbride, Her Majesty's

Receiver of Wreck The Receiver of Wreck is an official who administers law dealing with maritime wrecks and salvage in some countries having a British administrative heritage. In the United Kingdom, the Receiver of Wreck is also appointed to retain the possession o ...

in the British Virgin Islands, rediscovered her. Subsequently, some items were salvaged, but not the heavy cannon. However, conditions at the reef remain treacherous; tourists rarely dive the wreck.

Notes

Citations

References

* * * Marshall, John (2007) ''Royal Naval Biography; Or Memoirs of the Services of All the Flag-Officers, Superannuated Rear-Admirals, Retired Captains, Post-Captains and Commanders...'' (Kessinger). * * Wilson, Sir Robert Thomas and Herbert Randolph (1862) ''Life of General Sir Robert Wilson ...: from autobiographical memoirs, journals, narratives, correspondence''. (J. Murray). * *

External links

Tage W. Blytmann's comprehensive site dedicated to HMS ''Astraea''

Michael Phillip's Ships of the Old Navy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Astraea (1781) Frigates of the Royal Navy 1781 ships Ships built in England Maritime incidents in 1806 Maritime incidents in 1808 Shipwrecks of the British Virgin Islands Shipwrecks in the Caribbean Sea Anegada