HMS Astraea ( 1781 ) HMS " Astraea " ( or " Astrea " ) was a 32 - gun Fifth Rate " Active " Class frigate of the Royal Navy . She was launched in 1781 by Fabian at E . Cowes , and saw action in the American War of Independence as well as during the Napoleonic Wars . She is best known for her capture of the larger French frigate " Gloire " in a battle on 10 April 1795 , while under the command of Captain Lord Henry Paulet . She was wrecked on 23 May 1808 off the coast of Anegada in the British Virgin Islands . 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 Fifth Rate 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 . " South Carolina " was attempting to dash out of Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , 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 . 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 " Caldicot Castle " and the French corvette " Jean Bart " on 28 and 30 March . The other ships were , , , , " Valiant " , , and . " Astraea " and " Gloire " . On 10 April 1795 , Rear - admiral Sir John Colpoys , was cruising in the English Channel 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 the her , " Astraea " came alongside ; the two ships exchanged broadsides for 58 minutes before the French ship struck . She was the 42 - 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 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 on " Astraea " , took " Gloire " to Britain where he received promotion to Commander and took over the 14 - gun sloop of war . " 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 as a 36 - gun frigate and retained her name . She was already somewhat of an 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 , which took place on 23 June 1795 , off the west coast of France . She 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 " 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 , 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 . On 22 April 1798 , " Astraea " captured the French privateer schooner " Renommée " on the Dogger Bank . " 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 " 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 the " Aeolus " and the " Sex Soskendi " . The next day " Astraea " was in company with " Latona " , the hired armed cutter " Courier " and when " Cruizer " captured the Prussian hoy " 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 ' 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 when she took part in the landings in March at Abu Qir Bay . Fire from the French on shore wounded one seaman . Because " Agincourt " 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 . 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 , the " Two Sisters " and the " 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 had joined the pursuit and gun - brigs and were in sight . " Providence " carried 14 guns and a crew of 52 men . Loss . In 1808 , the " Astraea " escorted the mail packet ship " Prince Earnest " past the danger of Caribbean privateer s . Heywood , thinking that Anegada was Puerto Rico , wrecked upon the deadly horseshoe reef . All but four of her crew survived , either by making it to the island or to Virgin Gorda . Two days after the wrecking , the 22 - gun sloop and former French privateer " St Christopher " ( also known as the " St Kitts " ) arrived and rescued the crew . The two 32 - gun frigates " Jason " and , and the sloop arrived later , and engaged in salvage attempts . The British abandoned the wreck on 24 June . Many of the crew went on to serve aboard . As was usual , Captain Heywood , his officers and crew , were subject to a court martial for the loss of his ship . This took place on 11 June 1808 on in Carisle Bay , Barbados . The court held that the ship foundered due to an " extraordinary weather current , " and exonerated Heywood . Wreck site . The British Virgin Islands have honoured " Astraea " with a stamp . The reason is that in 1967 Bert Kilbride , Her Majesty ' s Receiver of Wreck 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 .