Association Hermione – La Fayette
The Hermione Association aims to:
- preserve the replica (built by the organization from 1997 to 2014, and owned by the organization) of the Hermione, the 18th century frigate of the French Navy, on which La Fayette embarked in 1780 to announce George Washington the France's military commitment to American Independence.
- promote the Hermione adventure thanks to visits opened to the public
- maintain the Hermione replica in seaworthy conditions and implement navigation programmes with a strong historical and cultural content to maintain its status of French Ambassador ship
- implement training and integration actions to select and prepare the crew an d to promote the various professions around the construction, maintenance and navigation of the fregate.
Further to a routine refit of the Hermione replica, the presence of slow-growing funghi on certain areas of the vessel was discovered, which requires an exceptional long-term repair work. TO save the ship, unprecedented technical challenges are to be addressed with the help of experts, laboratories abd research centers to benefit from the best expertise, but also to advance non-destructive control research for better predictive maintenance.
The grant will contribute to the financing of the ship restoration, carried out in front of the public- also including the training and the insertion of young people far from employment; the promotion of all the professions around wood and the marine world, and an exhibit open to visitors organized nearby the ship. The grant can also further contribute to the return of the frigate to the sea and to cover some costs on order to carry out new major voyages, in particulatr in American ports.
You are about to make a donation to Friends of Fondation de France, a 501(c)(3) public charity, to support Association Hermione – La Fayette.