Seatrade Cruise News is part of the Informa Markets Division of Informa PLC

This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 8860726.

Freedom frigate Hermione sets sail for US east coast

Freedom frigate Hermione sets sail for US east coast
In June, some of the cruise ports on the US East coast are to welcome a unique guest: a majestic French tall ship and exact replica of the Marquis de La Fayette’s vessel,  Hermione, which he boarded to go to America in March 1780 and that fought with the United States' founding fathers in the War of Independence.

The Hermione set sail for the US on Saturday evening with well wishes from French President François Hollande and US President Barack Obama, who sent a personal letter. The journey started from the mouth of the River Charente, in Port des Barques, where Lafayette boarded on March 10, 1780. The transatlantic crossing is expected to take 27 days in total, before making landfall at Yorktown, Virginia.

In order to rebuild Hermione in the former Maritime Arsenal of Rochefort, state-of-the-art technology has been utilised to recreate a three masted ship more than 200ft long (with a 177ft mainmast) and a sail surface of 16,000sq ft and a hull entirely made of oak, while taking into account modern statutory constraints concerning seaworthiness. The project has taken 18 years to complete and cost €25m.

Stateside, the vessel will visit Yorktown (June 5-7), Mount Vernon (9), Alexandria (10-12), Annapolis (16-17), Baltimore (19-21) and Philadelphia (25-28), where it will join Tall Ships America.

On July 1-4, Hermione will be in New York to celebrate Independence Day, then sail to Greenport (6-7), Newport (8-9), Boston (11-12), Castine (14-15) and reach Lunenburg (Canada) on July 18, before calling at Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon and heading back to France.