Indien (1778)
Capture of the American Frigate South Carolina by the British frigates Diomede, Quebec and Astrea, c.1925, National Archives of Canada
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| History | |
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 South Carolina
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| Name: |
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| Laid down: | Early 1777 |
| Launched: | February 1778 |
| Fate: |
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| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Frigate |
| Displacement: | 1,430 long tons (1,453 t) |
| Length: | 170 ft (52 m) |
| Beam: | 43 ft 3 in (13.18 m) |
| Draft: | 16 ft 6 in (5.03 m) |
| Propulsion: | Sail |
| Complement: | 550 officers and men |
| Armament: | 28 × 36-pounder guns + 12 × 12-pounder guns |
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 USS Constitution and USS Constellation.
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.
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