HMS Astraea (1893)
HMS Astraea was an second class cruiser of the Royal Navy. She was built towards the end of the nineteenth century, and survived to serve in the First World War. Construction and commissioning Astraea was ordered as part of the eight-ship Astraea class under the Naval Defence Act of 1889. She was laid down at Devonport Dockyard in August 1890 and launched from there on 17 March 1893. She was completed and commissioned for service in November 1895. Career Astraea served in the Mediterranean Sea in early 1900 under the command of Captain Alfred Paget, and was in China the following year under the command of Captain Casper Joseph Baker. She left Hong Kong on 27 March 1902, homeward bound, arriving in Singapore on 2 April, Colombo on 10 April, Suez on 27 April, Malta on 2 May, and in Plymouth on 14 May, having convoyed the destroyer from the Mediterranean. She paid off at Chatham on 12 June 1902, and was placed in the B Division of the Fleet Reserve. She was again sent to the China Station in 1906, followed by a period at Colombo between 1908 and 1911. She returned to Britain in January 1912, where she