Indien ( 1778 ) Indien " ( 1778 ) , often L ' Indien , was a frigate built for the U . S . Commissioners in France — Benjamin Franklin , Silas Deane , and Arthur Lee — to a design by the French naval architect Jacques Boux . She was laid down early in 1777 by a private shipyard in Amsterdam and launched in February 1778 . Apparently she was built with the scantlings and lines of a small 74 - gun Third Rate ship of the line but was a frigate in construction . In 1780 the Duke of Luxembourg chartered her to the navy of South Carolina and she sailed as South Carolina " . Her armament consisted of 28 Swedish long 36 - pounder guns on her main deck , and 12 long 12 - pounders on her forecastle and her quarterdeck . Perhaps her greatest significance is that the marine architect Joshua Humphreys studied her sleek hull and used her lines in designing the United States Navy ' s first frigates , especially and . Construction history . Late in the year John Paul Jones sailed for France , hoping to assume command of " Indien " ; but , before his arrival , financial difficulties and opposition from the still - neutral Dutch government , under pressure from Great Britain , had forced the Commissioners to sell the new frigate to Louis XVI , King of France . For over three 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 , for a quarter - share of her prizes . Gillon renamed the frigate " South Carolina " . Service as " South Carolina " and capture . In 1781 " South Carolina " , manned by American officers and a group of European seamen and marines , sailed from Texel via Scotland and Ireland . On the way she captured a privateer . She then stopped at Corunna and Santa Cruz before sailing across the Atlantic toward Charleston . On the way to Tenerife she captured the brig " Venus " , loaded with a cargo of salt fish from Newfoundland for Lisbon . When she found that the British had already occupied Charleston she sailed for the West Indies . On the way she captured five Jamaican vessels in the Gulf of Mexico . She then took her prizes to Havana , Cuba . " South Carolina " arrived at Havana on 12 January 1782 . At Havana , after negotiations between Gillon and the Spanish , the " South Carolina " joined a force of 59 vessels sent to capture the British colony of New Providence in the Bahamas . On 22 April the expedition sailed and by 5 May the whole fleet had reached New Providence . On 8 May the colony surrendered . This was the third capture of New Providence during the American Revolutionary War . " South Carolina " then sailed north , arriving at Philadelphia on 28 May . On the way , on 25 May a British privateer , the " Virginia " of New York , trailed her , firing the occasional cannon to try to draw the attention of any vessels of the Royal Navy that might be cruising in the area . " South Carolina " sustained no damage . She remained in Philadelphia nearly six months . While she was there the Duke of Luxembourg dismissed Gillon and replaced him as captain with Captain John Joyner . She sailed in November but not very far . Most of her crew had never been out to sea and began to have regrets . Fortunately she had some 50 Hessian marines and eight British soldiers aboard who had been captured from General John Burgoyne ’ s army at the Battle of Saratoga and who had been recruited from prison . Ironically , they remained loyal , thus forestalling the brewing mutiny . On 20 December , while she was attempting to dash out of Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , through the British blockade she ran into a squadron of three British frigates . " South Carolina " was in the company of the brig " Constance " , schooner " Seagrove " and the ship " Hope " , which had joined her for protection . The three British vessels were the 44 - gun fifth rate two - decker , Captain Thomas L . Frederick and the two 32 - gun Fifth Rate frigates , Captain Christopher Mason , and , Captain Matthew Squires . The British chased " South Carolina " for 18 hours and fired on her for two hours before she struck in the Delaware River . She had a crew of about 466 men when captured , of whom she lost six men killed and eight wounded . The British suffered no casualties . " Astraea " and " Quebec " captured " Hope " and " Constance " , which was carrying tobacco . Prize crews then took " South Carolina " , " Hope " and " Constance " to New York . " Seagrove " escaped . The British did not take " South Carolina " into service because she was too lightly framed for the Royal Navy . The problem was that " South Carolina " s hull had hogged ( sagged in the middle ) as a consequence of the weight of her guns . ( American warship designers subsequently put much more longitudinal strength into the design of their frigates . ) Fate . The British put " South Carolina " up for sale to private parties for use as a merchantman . Her last recorded trip was to Deal , Kent in 1783 as part of the British evacuation of New York . She carried some 600 German soldiers , some of whom may well earlier have served on her as marines . There is no information about what happened to " South Carolina " thereafter though the discovery during World War II of a ship ' s bell with the name " South Carolina " on it in a jute mill between Calcutta and the coast on the Ganges River in India suggests that she may have reached the Indian Ocean .