French frigate Hermione (1779)
Hermione in the Naval battle of Louisbourg, by Rossel de Cercy | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| France | |
| Name | Hermione |
| Builder | Rochefort |
| Laid down | December 1778 |
| Launched | 28 April 1779 |
| Commissioned | 11 May 1779 |
| In service | June 1779 |
| Fate | Ran aground and wrecked due to a navigation error of her pilot at Le Croisic on 20 September 1793 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Concorde-class 12-pounder frigate |
| Tons burthen | 550 tons; 1160 ton burthen |
| Length | 44.2 m (145 ft) |
| Beam | 11.24 m (36.9 ft) |
| Draught | 5.78 m (19.0 ft) |
| Speed |
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| Complement |
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| Armament |
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Hermione was a 32-gun Concorde-class frigate of the French Navy. Designed for speed, she was one of the first ships of the French Navy to receive a copper sheathing. At the beginning of the Anglo-French War of 1778, she patrolled in the Bay of Biscay, escorting convoys and chasing privateers. She became famous when she ferried General La Fayette to the United States in 1780 in support of the rebels in the American Revolutionary War. She took an incidental role in the Battle of Cape Henry on 16 March 1781, and a major one in the action of 21 July 1781.
Hermione grounded and was wrecked in 1793. In 1997, construction of a replica ship started in Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, France; the new ship is likewise named Hermione.