Battle of the Delaware Capes

Battle of the Delaware Capes
Part of the American Revolutionary War
Capture of the American frigate South Carolina by the British frigates Diomede, Quebec and Astraea, c.1925, National Archives of Canada
Date 20 – 21 December 1782 Location Delaware Bay, Cape May, United States 38°57′54″N 74°58′19″W / 38.965°N 74.972°W / 38.965; -74.972 Result British victory
Belligerents
Great Britain	United States  South Carolina
Commanders and leaders
Captain Thomas Frederick	Captain John Joyner
Strength
3 fifth-rate frigates	1 frigate, 2 brigs, 1 schooner
Casualties and losses
Light	1 frigate & 2 brigs captured 14 killed or wounded, 530 captured

The Battle of the Delaware Capes or the 3rd Battle of Delaware Bay was a naval engagement that was fought off the Delaware River towards the end of the American Revolutionary War. The battle took place on 20 and 21 December 1782, some three weeks after the signing of the preliminary articles of peace between Great Britain and the former American colonies. It was an engagement between three British Royal Navy frigates HMS Diomede, Quebec and Astraea, that battled the South Carolina Navy's 40-gun frigate South Carolina, the brigs Hope and Constance, and the schooner Seagrove on the other. The British were victorious, with only Seagrove escaping capture.^[1]