L’Hermione, a replica of the ship that brought the Marquis de Lafayette and French aid to America in 1780 got a noisy greeting when it arrived in Baltimore Friday. Cannons fired, ship’s horns sounded and the F. McHenry Guard Fife and Drum Corps tootled away.
The 216 foot long vessel with the prominent stern gallery slid carefully alongside the Constellation dock at Harbor Place as crew members tossed lines to a shore crew that made them fast. This is the fifth stop for the ship, called a symbol of Franco-American friendship.
During the welcoming ceremony on the dock, Captain Luc Pag, the French Naval Attache, said his countrymen are proud to have contributed to the foundation of the United States of America and that the French “will always remember what we owe to America.”
He tied the French blockade of the British at Yorktown, the last battle of the American Revolution, to the arrival of the Allies on the beaches of Normandy 164 years later.
"We will always remember," he said, "that you, the American people, were there by our side in the darkest hour of our history."
L’Hermione was part of an effort to revive the once-bustling ship building town of Rochefort, which had fallen on hard times after the French Navy pulled out. Bruno Gravellier, a spokesman for the ship, said city fathers decided it used to be a shipbuilding town, why not build a ship. The only question was what ship?
And the answer was L’Hermione, “possibly the most emblematic ship that has ever been built (there)” because it carried Lafayette to Boston to tell him the King of France had agreed to pitch in with the colonists as they tried to throw off the yoke of Great Britain.
The ship took nearly 17 years to build at a cost of $30 million. But the French seem to think it was worth it. Some 4.5 million people visited the ship while it was under construction. President Francois Hollande appeared at its bon voyage ceremony in April and French media have been covering the ship’s arrival in the U.S.
Earlier in the day Pride of Baltimore II sailed out to meet L’Hermione and escort her into the harbor. The French ship, built with 18th century techniques, was riding comfortably at anchor in front of the cranes of the Dundalk Marine Terminal. She flew the French tri-color and a 15-star, 1812 American flag from her back stays.
As Pride tacked back and forth across the Patapsco, the crew of L’Hermione weighed anchor. and began moving. Crowds gathered along the shoreline at Fort McHenry to watch those two ships pass by while Lady Maryland, the skipjack, Sigsbee, and a host of private boats as well as harbor pilot boats joined the parade.
Stuart Amos, of Pride’s board of directors, said the organization was “honored” to be chosen to escort L’Hermione into Baltimore. "It’s good for the Pride, it’s good for Baltimore, it’s good for Maryland," he said.
As the French frigate pulled close, Pride’s gunner, Patrick Smith, fired a salute and L’Hermione’s crew responded with three cheers. "Hip, hip, hoorah!"
Onshore, Sylvan Masset, who emigrated to the US from France in 2002, had been waiting anxiously for the ship’s arrival. He said he had been following news of it construction for years. And to finally get to see her was a humbling experience.
"It reminds us of the relationship between our two countries and why so many people want to emigrate to the United States," he said. "A lot of people, a lot of citizens forget what America stands for these days and this is a good reminder of what our two countries stand for."
L’Hermione will be open for visitors through the weekend. Check the ship’s website, www.hermione2015.com, for details.