By Vladimir Brezina
The Hermione was a French frigate that, most famously, in 1780 carried the Marquis de Lafayette to America with news of French help for the American Revolution. The Hermione was then a brand-new ship, having been built in Rochefort, France, in 1779. She survived only another few years, being wrecked in 1793.
But now there is Hermione 2.0! A full-scale replica, she was built again in Rochefort and launched in 2014. Earlier this summer, she sailed across the Atlantic for a tour of the major US ports of Franco-American historical significance.
We went to see her when she arrived in New York City.
Here is a selection of photos from that visit (click on any photo to start slideshow):
And here are more photos of L’Hermione’s visit to NYC by tugster.
Magnifique! (Sp?) Oh, you guys MUST go see that new rap musical, “Hamilton.” Mr. Lafayette didn’t come off so well, LOL… a bit late to the party. You will love it!!!! Thx for a great post. See you soon!!!! J&A
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“Hamilton” is on the list… See you very soon! :-)
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Way cool. Haven’t been aboard one of those old sailing ships in 20 years. Thanks.
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She is definitely a masterpiece.
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We were up in Maine when they stopped there. It is always impressive to see tall ships. :-)
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nice boat :-)
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Goodness! That must have taken some building!
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A few years… the original was built much faster :-)
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Great photos – what an experience!
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beautiful!
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Fantastic pictures: thanks for sharing. What I also discovered – I hadn’t known that before – is that one of the famous “Flying P Liners”, The “Peking” is docked in NY harbour as a museum ship. Now that’s another itiem on my bucket list.
Have a great day,
Pit
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Thanks, Pit!
But if you want to see the Peking, you’d better come soon. Apparently she’s in bad condition and the South Street Seaport doesn’t have money for refurbishment or even maintenance. They offered to give her to Hamburg, but there was no money there either and that deal fell through… So she might end up getting scrapped :-(
Have you seen the Irving Johnson film of the Peking’s 1929 passage around Cape Horn? There’s an excerpt on YouTube:
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Looks like that video has been removed from YouTube :-(
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Oh the ropes! I could easily get them tangled!
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Yes… and then the ship would go down :-)
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Love those old ships – they’re breathtaking on the water.
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Thanks for the info and the video: ever so interesting. I’m sorry to hear about the possible fate of the Peking. :( I’m not quite sure, but I believe there’s only one other surviving, the Passat, in Travemuende, Germany. And they have problems financing the upkeep, too.
Have a great day,
Pit
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According to Wikipedia, there are four Flying P-Liners still in existence:
The Pommern is a museum ship in Mariehamn, Finland.
The Peking is a museum ship in New York City (South Street Seaport).
The Passat is a museum ship in Lübeck’s sea resort Travemünde, Germany.
The Padua is the only ship still active: she is today a school ship and sails as the Kruzenshtern under Russian flag.
Many more are now gone.
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Thanks so much for the info. I should at least have known about the Kruzenstern. We jokingly called her “Dieselstern” because, miraculously ;) she could move in the tall ship races when all the other windjammers were stuck in a fog with no wind.
Have a great time,
Pit
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Even the Hermione 2.0 has an engine (well hidden). I was wondering how she could keep such a tight schedule up the East Coast if she was sometimes obliged to wait maybe for days for favorable wind to enter port, as Hermione 1.0 would have done in the 18th century, but apparently ships are beyond that now :-)
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Well, there’s nothing against an auxiliary engine, isn’t it? In my long-bygone sailing days I was always happy to have one – just in case.
Have a great weekend,
Pit
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Made a flashing visit to NYC yesterday. I think we saw her, too. Not as closely as you. :-) Great pictures.
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