French Tall Ship Hermione Visits Newport, USA

The French tall ship Hermione arrived in Newport Wednesday for a two-day visit and was greeted by several dignitaries including Rear Adm. P. Gardner Howe III, president of U.S. Naval War College (NWC), during an event at Fort Adams State Park.

The current Hermione is a replica of its namesake ship that brought French Gen. Lafayette to America in 1780 to announce that France was supporting the American independence movement.

The ship was built as a near-exact reproduction of the original using period tools and techniques.

The vessel that made the trip from France to the United States this summer is sailing up North America’s Eastern Seaboard making several port calls until it returns home later this month.

The replica Hermione is a 216-foot Concorde class frigate with three masts and is 185 feet tall. The ship displaces 1,166 tons and carries a crew of 242.

The Hermione arrived in Yorktown, Virginia, on June 5. It has since sailed to Mount Vernon and Alexandria, Virginia; Annapolis and Baltimore, Maryland; Philadelphia; and New York and Greenport, New York. After departing Newport, the ship will sail to Boston; Castine, Maine; and Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada, before returning to France.

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Image: US Navy