French frigate Astrée (1780)
{{Short description|Former French ship}}
{{Other ships|French ship Astrée}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}
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{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=File:L'astree---frigate-Frederec Roux-Album de Willaumez.jpg |Ship caption=Watercolour portrait of Astrée, by François Roux, commissioned by Willaumez }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=France |Ship flag={{Shipboxflag|Kingdom of France|naval}} {{Shipboxflag|France|naval-1790}} {{Shipboxflag|France|naval}} |Ship name=Astrée |Ship namesake= |Ship ordered=4 December 1778 {{sfnp|Roche|2005|p=54}} |Ship builder=Brest (originally intended to be built at Saint-Malo) {{sfnp|Roche|2005|p=54}} |Ship laid down=August 1779 {{sfnp|Roche|2005|p=54}} |Ship launched=16 May 1780 {{sfnp|Roche|2005|p=54}} |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned= |Ship decommissioned= |Ship in service=July 1780 {{sfnp|Roche|2005|p=54}} |Ship out of service=29 January 1796 |Ship captured= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship fate=Wrecked 1796 |Ship honours= |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header={{sfnp|Roche|2005|p=54}} |Header caption= |Ship class={{sclass|Nymphe|frigate|0}} frigate |Ship type= |Ship tonnage= |Ship displacement=750 tonnes |Ship tons burthen= |Ship length={{cvt|46.9|m|ftin}} |Ship beam={{cvt|11.9|m|ftin}} |Ship height={{cvt|5.8|m|ftin}} |Ship draught= |Ship sail plan=Full-rigged ship |Ship speed= |Ship endurance= |Ship boats= |Ship capacity= |Ship troops= |Ship complement= |Ship crew= |Ship armament=*Gun deck: 26 × 12-pounder long guns
|Ship notes= }} |
Astrée was a 32-gun {{Sclass|Nymphe|frigate|0}} frigate of the French Navy. She served in the War of American Independence under Captain Lapérouse, notably taking part in the action of 21 July 1781 and the Hudson Bay expedition. During the French Revolutionary Wars, she took part in the Atlantic campaign of May 1794. Astrée was wrecked in 1796
Career
From June 1781, Astrée took part in the War of American Independence under Captain Lapérouse. She was the flagship of a two-frigate division, also comprising {{ship|French frigate|Hermione|1779|2}}, under Lieutenant Latouche Tréville. They engaged in commerce raiding off Boston. On 17 Hermione and Astrée captured the 12-gun merchantman Friendship; the next day, the 8-gun merchantman Phoenix; and on 19, the merchantman Lockard Ross. {{sfnp|Monaque|2000|p=75}} On 21 July 1781, Hermione and Astrée encountered a British convoy and engaged, leading to the Naval battle of Louisbourg{{sfnp|Monaque|2000|p=66}} where they captured the 14-gun corvette Jack.{{sfnp|Monaque|2000|p=75}}
In August 1782, she took part in the Hudson Bay expedition, along with {{ship|French frigate|Engageante|1766|2}} and the 74-gun {{ship|French ship|Sceptre|1780|2}},{{sfnp|Roche|2005|p=54}} under Fleuriot de Langle.
Astrée was put in reserve in Brest in March 1791. In June 1792, under Captain de Cambis, she escorted a convoy to Saint Domingue. She took part in the Atlantic campaign of May 1794 and was part of the squadron under Van Stabel.{{sfnp|Roche|2005|p=54}}
Fate
Astrée was wrecked off Santo Amaro, Azores on 29 January 1796 with the loss of 138 lives.{{cite web |url=http://nautarch.tamu.edu/shiplab/acores-cartaarq03-18.htm |title=Azores's Shipwrecks |publisher=Texas A & M University |accessdate=7 August 2021 }}
Citations
{{Reflist|30em}}
References
- {{Cite book|last=Monaque|first=Rémi|author-link=Rémi Monaque|title=Les aventures de Louis-René de Latouche-Tréville, compagnon de La Fayette et commandant de l'Hermione|year=2000|location=Paris|publisher=SPM|language=fr}}
- {{cite book|first=Jean-Michel|last=Roche|year=2005|title=Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours|isbn=978-2-9525917-0-6|oclc=165892922|publisher=Group Retozel-Maury Millau|volume=1}}
{{1796 shipwrecks}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Astrée (1780), French frigate}}
Category:Ships built in France
Category:Age of Sail frigates of France