HMS Astraea 1808
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Marker: recorded wreck position (Age of Sail).
Key facts
| Name | HMS Astraea | Wikidata label |
|---|---|---|
| Year lost | 1808 | English Wikipedia lead text (year following a loss verb, parsed) |
| Era | Age of Sail | derived from year |
| Ship type | fifth-rate frigate | Wikidata P31 instance of |
| Cause of loss | Grounding or wreck on rocks | Keyword match in English Wikipedia lead sentence |
| Nationality / flag | United Kingdom | Wikidata P137 operator → P17 country |
| Operator | Royal Navy | Wikidata P137 operator |
| Sea / ocean | North Atlantic Ocean | Natural Earth marine areas (public domain), point-in-polygon |
| Nearest coast | British Virgin Islands | Natural Earth (public domain); approx. 3 km from land |
| Position | 18.6934, -64.2593 | Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0) |
About the wreck
HMS Astraea (or Astrea) was a 32-gun fifth rate Active-class frigate of the Royal Navy. Fabian at E. Cowes launched her in 1781, and she 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 March 1808 off the coast of Anegada in the British Virgin Islands.
Diving & visiting
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.
Location
- Recorded position: 18.6934, -64.2593 (Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0); may be approximate)
- Sea / ocean: North Atlantic Ocean
- Nearest coast: British Virgin Islands
Wreck positions on this site are for interest only and are not for navigation. Many wrecks are war graves or legally protected: never disturb human remains or remove artefacts, and check local law before diving.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article HMS Astraea (1781) (revision 1375279039), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section and section(s) “Wreck site”; condensed by selecting paragraphs; citations and formatting removed. No text added. This excerpt is available under the same licence.
Wreck facts from Wikidata (CC0).
Nearby wrecks
- RMS Rhone 1867 · 46 km
Browse more: Central America & Caribbean wrecks · North Atlantic Ocean · Age of Sail