L'Indien
1691639
187797737
2008-01-29T22:57:47Z
Benea
4456044
no such HMS Astrea in service with the Navy
{| {{ship table header 01}}
|colspan="2" align="center" |[[Image:No Photo Available.svg|300px]]
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!align="center" style="color: white; height: 30px; background: navy;"| Career
!align="center" style="color: white; height: 30px; background: navy;"| [[Image:Ensign of the South Carolina Navy.svg|52px|South Carolina Navy Ensign]]
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|Ordered:
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|Laid down:
|early [[1777]]
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|Launched:
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|Commissioned:
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|Decommissioned:
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|Fate:
|transferred to the [[South Carolina Navy]], captured by [[Royal Navy]]
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|Stricken:
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!colspan="2" align="center" style="color: white; background: navy;"|General characteristics
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|Displacement:
|1430 tons
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|Length:
|170 feet
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|Beam:
|43 feet 3 inches
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|Depth in hold:
|16 feet 6 inches
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|Complement:
|550 officers and men
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|Armament:
|28 32-pdrs., 12 12-pdrs.
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|Motto:
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'''L'Indien''', a [[frigate]] built for the U.S. Commissioners in [[France]] — [[Benjamin Franklin]], [[Silas Deane]], and [[Arthur Lee (diplomat)|Arthur Lee]] — was laid down early in [[1777]] by a private [[shipyard]] in [[Amsterdam]]. Late in the year [[John Paul Jones]] sailed for France, hoping to assume command of ''L'Indien''; but, before his arrival, financial difficulties and opposition from the still-neutral [[Netherlands|Dutch]] government, under pressure from [[Great Britain]], had forced the Commissioners to sell the new frigate to the [[King of France]].
For over two years the ship remained idle while several American and European agents schemed to obtain her. Finally, on [[30 May]] [[1780]] the King granted her to the [[Duke of Luxembourg]], who simultaneously chartered her to [[South Carolina]], represented by Commodore [[Alexander Gillon]] of the [[South Carolina Navy]]. Gillon renamed the frigate ''South Carolina''.
Subsequently, she took several prizes and led the combined [[United States]]-[[Spain|Spanish]] expedition which captured the [[Bahamas]]. British men-of-war [[HMS Diomede|''Diomede'']] and [[HMS Quebec|''Quebec'']] captured ''South Carolina'' as she attempted to dash out of [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]], through the British blockade [[20 December]] [[1782]].
Perhaps her greatest significance comes from the fact the marine architect Joshua Humphreys studied her sleek hull and used her lines in designing the [[United States Navy]]'s first frigates, especially [[USS Constitution|''Constitution'']] and [[USS Constellation (1797)|''Constellation'']].
== References ==
{{DANFS}}
[[Category:Age of Sail frigates]]