State-of-the-art technology at the service of authenticity: the ambition of the Hermione-La Fayette Association is to reconstruct the original frigate -- a ship more than 200ft long, carrying three masts and a sail surface of 16,000 square feet, with a hull entirely made of oak -- as authentically as possible, while taking into account modern statutory constraints concerning seaworthiness.

Some following figures underline the extraordinary nature of this challenge:

• A mainmast culminating 177ft above the bottom of the hull
• 2 000 oaks selected in the French forests
• A jig-saw puzzle of more than 400 000 pieces of wood and metal
• Over 1 000 pulleys
• 1 ton of oakum for the caulking
• 26 canons firing 12-pound balls on the battery deck and 8 canons firing 6-pound balls on the quarter-deck

Overview of the ship under construction (summer, 2007)

A visit site conceived and fitted out for the visitors: from the very beginning of the project, the idea was not only to rebuilt in the heart of the former arsenal of Colbert a ship of the 18th century, but it was also, and above all, to share with the public this adventure so that people could discover the main stages of this reconstruction.

The construction site is settled in an old, National Heritage dry dock -- a kind of stone “cradle" which allows the building of footbridges, passageways and makes the discovery of the ship throughout its construction possible.

Since July 1997, when the construction site was first opened to the public, over 2,4 million visitors have come to discover this adventure and to follow the work of the shipcarpenters, the joiners, the blacksmiths...

The reconstruction of the Hermione aims at launching a frigate that might cross the Atlantic Ocean, with a crew of professional sailors.
Indeed, once the frigate is completed, the crossing of the Atlantic Ocean from Rochefort to Boston in the wake of La Fayette can be done.

The definitive program of the " Hermione La Fayette Trip " has not been finalized yet, but the following cities of the American East Coast have been mentionned as possible stopovers: Annapolis, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Newport, Hampton, Portland, New York, Boston... Before coming back home to the quay of Rochefort and its port and be opened to visitors again.

The Hermione sailing to Boston (image 3d)