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L’Hermione, a 250-year-old symbol

In 1780, the Marquis de Lafayette, then just 22 years old, boarded L’Hermione to cross the Atlantic. His mission: to join the American revolutionaries and inform George Washington of the imminent arrival of French reinforcements. His commitment would make him one of the most celebrated Frenchmen in American history. But the frigate did more than simply transport the emissary: “L’Hermione did not merely deliver the message; she also took part in the fighting,” recalls Marc Onetto, a French-American patron of the association.

A new adventure that began nearly 30 years ago

The present-day replica of L’Hermione is itself the result of an extraordinary undertaking. Reconstruction began in Rochefort in 1997. For 17 years, craftspeople, shipwrights, sailors and volunteers worked to bring this 18th-century frigate back to life, using traditional construction methods and, in particular, the expertise of the Compagnons du Tour de France.

 

 

Completed in 2014, L’Hermione embarked the following year on the voyage for which she had been recreated: crossing the Atlantic in Lafayette’s wake. In 2015, the ship sailed up the East Coast of the United States, from Yorktown to Boston, with stops in Philadelphia and New York, drawing crowds of curious visitors and enthusiasts who came to welcome the French frigate at every port of call.

Today, the ship that embodies this shared history is at risk of disappearing

Ten years later, the situation could hardly be more different. Since September 2021, L’Hermione has been immobilized in Anglet, at the Port of Bayonne, after significant fungal damage was discovered on part of her hull. The restoration project is expected to cost approximately €10 million. Five million euros have already been raised, allowing half of the work to be completed. Another €5 million still needs to be found.

The battle is no longer technical or maritime, but financial and legal

Since September 18, 2025, the Hermione-La Fayette Association has been under court-supervised restructuring. Last July, the La Rochelle Judicial Court authorized the continuation of the observation period and highlighted the progress made toward developing a recovery plan. In its assessment, however, the court noted that none of the takeover proposals submitted to date had yet secured the necessary financing.

 

 

A crucial deadline is fast approaching: September 23, 2026

A new court hearing is scheduled for that date. By then, the association must raise €1 million so restoration work can resume as quickly as possible. Judicial liquidation would lead to the immediate deterioration of the ship and jeopardize any future plans. If the work cannot be carried out very soon, the frigate may no longer be able to sail, as she was not designed to remain in dry dock for an extended period. The countdown has begun.

Help Save L’Hermione

L’Hermione, a major symbol of Franco-American relations

Boston Consulting Group has renewed its pro bono support for the association and is finalizing a ten-year business plan covering 2026 to 2036. The plan calls for completing the hull repairs in France before bringing L’Hermione back to the United States in 2028 for the Los Angeles Olympic Games, and again in 2031 for the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Yorktown.

The ambition, then, is not simply to preserve a historic monument at the dock, but to see L’Hermione sail again one day. According to Emilie Beau, the association’s executive director, the situation is urgent. “L’Hermione is a major symbol of the historic relationship between France and the United States, just like the Statue of Liberty. Without rapid funding, a part of French—and American—history will disappear. With your help, everything is still possible.”

Since a tax-deduction program was introduced in the fall of 2023, more than 6,000 people have donated to the association. Since the court-supervised restructuring proceedings began, €292,500 has been raised and 4,750 people have signed the manifesto to save L’Hermione. The campaign continues this summer. In Anglet, the Grand Carénage restoration site remains open to the public. Through September 3, 19 artists will hold an exhibition and sale to benefit the frigate’s restoration. If all the works are sold, the initiative could raise up to an additional €230,000.

 

 

But with €5 million still needed, individual donations alone will not be enough. Recent wildfires in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, in the middle of the summer season, have also affected revenue from tourist visits. The campaign must now move to another level, mobilizing companies, foundations and major donors internationally. “When I saw her in all her grandeur, I understood what we were at risk of losing,” says Crystelle Desnoyer, a former board member of La French Tech New York. “I have lived in New York for 15 years, and this summer I began volunteering with the Hermione-La Fayette Association to help raise awareness about the frigate’s situation and mobilize new support in the United States. A few weeks earlier, I had the opportunity to see L’Hermione in Anglet. Standing before that immense hull out of the water, you immediately understand what the numbers cannot convey: the work that has already been accomplished, the expertise and craftsmanship mobilized over decades to first rebuild and then restore this ship, but also what we truly stand to lose.”

Back in New York, one thing became clear: saving L’Hermione cannot be solely a French endeavor. Because L’Hermione is also part of the American story.

Mobilizing American philanthropy

L’Hermione is more than an important piece of French maritime heritage. She tells a shared story: that of France’s support for the birth of the United States and of a Franco-American friendship stretching back nearly 250 years.

 

 

Nor is Lafayette a distant historical figure in the United States. When L’Hermione returned to America in 2015, the frigate called at twelve ports, including Yorktown, Philadelphia, New York and Boston. That shared memory remains deeply rooted in the relationship between the two countries. Today, this common history opens up an especially important opportunity: mobilizing American philanthropy.

Friends of Fondation de France, a U.S.-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, allows individuals, families, companies and foundations in the United States to support eligible French projects within the American tax framework. Donations can be made directly to the association in France to fund urgent repairs, or pledged in the United States. Donating is one way to take action.

But for the French and Franco-American communities in the United States, there are other ways to help: talk about L’Hermione, make an introduction, share this appeal, mobilize your network. Because behind the €5 million still needed lies a much simpler question: Do we want to see L’Hermione cross the Atlantic again one day?

A.V.