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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

South Carolina

Frigate:
  • Contracted by the U.S. Commissioners in France, Benjamin Franklin, Silas Dean and Arthur Lee
  • Laid down in early 1777 as L'Indien in a private shipyard at Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • 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 Dutch government, under pressure from Great Britain, had forced the Commissioners to sell the new frigate to the King of France.
  • For over 2 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
  • South Carolina took several prizes and led the combined United States-Spanish expedition which captured the Bahamas
  • The British 44-gun fifth rate two-decker HMS Diomede, CAPT. Thomas L. Frederick and the two 32-gun fifth rate frigates HMS Quebec, CAPT. Christopher Mason, and HMS Astraea, CAPT. Matthew Squires captured South Carolina as she attempted to dash out of Philadelphia through the British blockade 20 December 1782
  • Final Disposition, fate unknown. Perhaps her greatest significance comes from the fact the marine architect Joshua Humphreys studied her sleek hull and used her lines in designing the U.S. Navy's first frigates, especially Constitution and Constellation.
    Specifications:
    Displacement 1,430 t.
    Length 170'
    Beam 43'3"
    Depth of Hold 16'6"
    Draft unknown
    Speed unknown
    Complement 550
    Armament
    twenty Swedish 39-pdrs
    ten long 12-pdrs
    two 9-pdrs
    Propulsion sail
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    South Carolina
    0986100201    		 425k Capture of the South Carolina Navy frigate South Carolina by the British frigates Diomede, Quebec and Astrea, c.1925,
    Nation Archives of CAnada    		 Robert Hurst
    South Carolina II
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    Indien (1778) on Wikipedia
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 27 May 2022