During June, the 217-foot French reproduction square-rigged Frigate L’Hermione (pronounced LAIR-mee-yun), under Commandant Yann Cariou with 73 crew, visited the Southern Bay with stops in Annapolis and Baltimore on her way up the East Coast.
The original 32-gun ship was pivotal in early United States history. It has been said that there are only two topics about which French and Americans universally agree: D-Day and Lafayette.
America desperately needed to bring France and Spain into the Revolutionary War as they were the only countries with the military force to match Britain’s. Gilbert du Motier, the 19-year-old Marquis de Lafayette, arrived in the United States in July 1777 as a volunteer and quickly became one of George Washington’s favorite officers.
But America had to show the French and Spanish Kings that they were an independent fighting nation, and Thomas Jefferson was enlisted to draft the document. Richard Henry Lee of Virginia proposed its creation as “the only means by which a foreign alliance can be obtained.” The Declaration of Independence was the result. An initial French Treaty was signed in 1778, but Lafayette returned to France and secured a large measure of troops and ships, returning on L’Hermione in 1780 with the news and support. It was as big a turning point as D-Day was for France. Without them there is likely no Fourth of July.
L’Hermione is thought to be the largest and most authentically constructed tall ship in the past century and a half. The name comes from a princess in Greek mythology. The original frigate was constructed in 1780 by 600 shipwrights within 11 months. The replica L’Hermione took 150 shipwrights 17 years and was completed in 2014.
Three sisterships accompanied the original and one was captured by the British, who developed extensive plans from her to build the Concorde, and those plans were later used in the reproduction, modified for modern safety. Planks are no longer pegged but bolted. The (Oregon pine) composite masts are held together with glue, not metal hoops, to reduce water incursion. The cannons are mostly non-functional to save some weight, though they provide weight for stability.
The sails are of synthetic material for weight, strength, and durability. Jens Langert, the rig designer (le Bosco), with previous experience on the replica Indianman Gothenborg III, described the standing rigging as Manila fiber. The running rigging, that which is used to trim sails, is from Hemp grown in the Netherlands. Synthetics are less than 10 percent of the rigging, for very heavy loads. The largest are 108 millimeter for the lower stays. The top-masts can be struck in a two-hour process for passage under key bridges that don’t provide the 155 foot minimum clearance. Engines, electronics, and advanced sanitation were also required.
As a sailing ship she can do 13 knots, while two 400-hp engine pods can power her at 10 knots. She can point quite well for a square rigger, coming 50 degrees into the wind while giving away 10 degrees in leeway for an effective 60 degrees. All these numbers are fine, but what is striking is how nice she looks, especially given how functional she is. Why have an English muffin when you can have eggs benedict with hollandaise sauce? Indeed as the motto on Lafayette family crest proclaims, “Cur non.” “Why not?”
Story and Photos by Al Schreitmueller
For news and updates on L'Hermione (she has returned to France!) visit hermione2015.com
