The third coin in the collection features Royal Navy ‘HMS Astrea’, a 32-gun frigate of the British Royal Navy. The design on the coin shows a side profile of the ship sailing. HMS Astrea (or Astraea) was built at East Cowes, Isle of Wright. After having been rigged and fitted out she was commissioned in Portsmouth on October 1st, 1781. A total of 220 men and officers made up her roster, and she was finally ready to do her duty in the Royal Navy.
Her first triumph didn’t happen until the 10th of April, 1795 when she captured the larger 42-gun French frigate ‘La Glorie’ during the French war. The first gun was fired at sunset and only after a long and severe battle did the French frigate strike her colours just before midnight. In 1796, HMS Astrea was dispatched to the West Indies with a large convoy where she eventually participated in the capture of St. Lucia, St. Vincent, and Grenada from the French. Shortly thereafter the greater part of the British fleet was withdrawn from this part of the world. In 1808, commanded by Captain Edmund Heywood, Astrea escorted the mail packet ship ‘Prince Earnest’ past the danger of Caribbean privateers. Heywood, thinking that Anegada was Puerto Rico, wrecked upon the deadly horseshoe reef on 23 March.
The coin is available in Virenium®, a metal developed by Pobjoy Mint which is light gold in colour. The obverse of the coin features an effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II produced exclusively by Pobjoy Mint.
