Replica of American Revolution French Frigate L'Hermione

Tide1986 · Apr 19, 2015

I just read about this today. Cool replica, and cool that it will retrace the voyage of the original ship to America.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...ate-LHermione-prepares-to-cross-Atlantic.html

The €25 million 'Hermione' will seek to retrace the original frigate's trans-Atlantic journey in 1780, when its namesake, under Marquis de Lafayette's command, helped to lay the foundation of French-American relations.

French President Francois Hollande plans to take a short trip on the ship ahead of its official departure on Saturday night.

It is expected to arrived in Yorktown in the US on the 5th of June.

seebell · Apr 19, 2015

Thanks '86. I always think about the sailors climbing the rigging during a storm. Brave are the men who go to the sea in ships.

Tidewater · Apr 19, 2015

Tide1986 said:
I just read about this today. Cool replica, and cool that it will retrace the voyage of the original ship to America.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...ate-LHermione-prepares-to-cross-Atlantic.html

Cool story, but wrong flag.

The hard-luck French navy fought the British repeatedly in the period between the end of the 30 Years' War (1648) and the end of the Napoleonic War (1815).
No matter how badly they outnumbered the Brits, the managed to lose every single engagement.
Except one: the Battle of Cape Henry during the Yorktown Campaign of 1781, the battle that sealed the fate of Cornwallis' army, convinced Parliament to give up the costly struggle to keep the colonies and gave American victory in the war. Even that one the French did not really win the battle (tactically, it was a draw), but the British Royal Navy gave up and returned to New York, leaving Cornwallis to his fate.

Tide1986 · Apr 19, 2015

Tidewater said:
Cool story, but wrong flag.

The hard-luck French navy fought the British repeatedly in the period between the end of the 30 Years' War (1648) and the end of the Napoleonic War (1815).
No matter how badly they outnumbered the Brits, the managed to lose every single engagement.
Except one: the Battle of Cape Henry during the Yorktown Campaign of 1781, the battle that sealed the fate of Cornwallis' army, convinced Parliament to give up the costly struggle to keep the colonies and gave American victory in the war. Even that one the French did not really win the battle (tactically, it was a draw), but the British Royal Navy gave up and returned to New York, leaving Cornwallis to his fate.

It's ironic that Presidents often refer to France as our "oldest ally". In some respects, France is also our oldest enemy (a la the French and Indian War).

Bazza · Apr 19, 2015

Tidewater said:
Cool story, but wrong flag.

The hard-luck French navy fought the British repeatedly in the period between the end of the 30 Years' War (1648) and the end of the Napoleonic War (1815).
No matter how badly they outnumbered the Brits, the managed to lose every single engagement.
Except one: the Battle of Cape Henry during the Yorktown Campaign of 1781, the battle that sealed the fate of Cornwallis' army, convinced Parliament to give up the costly struggle to keep the colonies and gave American victory in the war. Even that one the French did not really win the battle (tactically, it was a draw), but the British Royal Navy gave up and returned to New York, leaving Cornwallis to his fate.

I never knew this - wow....amazing bit of history. Thanks for the back story Tide and thanks '86 for the story about L'Hermione- love those old sailing ships.

Tidewater · Apr 19, 2015

Tide1986 said:
It's ironic that Presidents often refer to France as our "oldest ally". In some respects, France is also our oldest enemy (a la the French and Indian War).

Yeah, the French are complicated. In fairness, the French and Indian War was a British vs. French affair that started in the western hemisphere, and spread across the world. It only involved Americans because they were British subjects.

Not far from my home used to be a roadside marker with the label "The Last Indian Outrage" about one of the last Indian raids along the frontier in Virginia in 1765. The label has been edited to say "The Last Indian Raid," so as to not offend the Shawnee in Virginia (both of them).
I think killing women and children qualifies as an outrage, however.

seebell · Apr 20, 2015

More info about the ship and Lafayette from Smithsonian Magazine.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/marquis-lafayette-sails-again-180954590/

Tidewater · Apr 20, 2015

Bazza said:
I never knew this - wow....amazing bit of history. Thanks for the back story Tide and thanks '86 for the story about L'Hermione- love those old sailing ships.

Everyone know about Trafalgar, but Quiberon Bay and Aboukir Bay were examples of naval battles in which superior British seamanship was decisive in a British fleet defeating the French fleet.
In Aboukir Bay (Alexandria Egypt), the French lined up their ships in the bay near the coast. They had laundry literally covering their cannons on the landward side on the assumption that they were too close to the coast for the British to attack them from the landward. Well, guess where Nelson sailed his ships? Yup, into the gap between the French and the shore, in waters the French assumed was too shallow for sailing. The French never had a chance. They got clobbered.

British superior seamanship. Crucial.

Tide1986 · Jun 5, 2015

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jun/05/hermione-replica-ship-marquis-de-lafayette-virginia

Sails unfurled and greeted by a cheering crowd, the ship that brought the Marquis de Lafayette and bad news for Britain returned to America on Friday – or at least its three-masted twin did, arriving to a hero’s welcome in Virginia.

A replica of the Hermione, the 18th-century frigate that carried Lafayette to the rebellious colonies with the French king’s promise to send an army and a fleet, sailed into Yorktown, Virginia, 235 years after the original docked on American shores.

The Yorktown celebration is only the first of a tour set to last several weeks, as the Hermione travels up the east coast and makes a dozen stops at the hubs of the American revolution, including Philadelphia and Boston. On Independence Day, the Hermione will dock in New York and participate in the annual People’s Parade of Ships with hundreds of other sail boats. The ship is an extremely detailed replica of the original, and will be open to visitors throughout the journey.

mittman · Jun 5, 2015

It is cool. I do enjoy visiting replicas and mock ups looking at what those in the past had to deal with. Putting oneself in the place of those in the past has it's benefits.

However, some of these type things just cause me to say why? I don't have a problem with them doing it, and retracing the voyage, and going through with it. It is their time and their money. I just don't understand the full reasoning behind the effort and what they hope to learn or accomplish.

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