Hermione, the 'Freedom Frigate' of 1780 fame, calls for America’s help

Hermione, the “Freedom Frigate” of 1780 fame, calls for America’s help

NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, June 13, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Organizers in France and the United States launched a fundraising campaign Monday to raise $5 million needed to complete restoration of the Hermione, a.k.a. “The Freedom Frigate”, a replica of the 18th-century French frigate that carried the Marquis de Lafayette to America during the Revolutionary War.

The ship has been in dry dock in France since September 2021 after suffering hull damage from a fungus. Restoration costs total $10 million, with $5 million already secured, according to campaign organizers.

The original Hermione carried Lafayette across the Atlantic in 1780 with news that France was sending its Army and Navy to help the American fight for independence. Historians credit the French alliance as crucial to the American victory at Yorktown.

The current vessel is an exact replica built using 18th-century methods at France's Rochefort shipyard. Since its 2014 launch, the ship has sailed more than 22,000 miles, including a 2015 voyage to American ports.

Campaign organizers say they need to raise $1.5 million by September to continue restoration work, with a goal of returning the ship to sea by 2027. Without immediate funding, they warn the vessel could be lost permanently.

"The Hermione helped save American independence in 1780. Now America must help save the Hermione in 2025," organizers said in a statement.
The campaign seeks donations from individuals, corporations and government entities.

The campaign is backed by historians, veterans' groups and heritage organizations. The following have added their signature to this campaign to save the “Freedom Frigate:
Richard A. Azzaro, Co-founder & President, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Foundation • Lynn Briggs, Chairman, Washington Rochambeau Revolutionary Route-New York, Incorporated • Denise Doring VanBuren, Board Chair, The Doughboy Foundation, and Honorary President General, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution • William P. Dunham Jr., past President Mass Lafayette Society • Daun Frankland, Daughters of the American Revolution, Virginia Chapter • Bonnie Fritz, Treasurer/Secretary, American Friends of Lafayette • Peter C. Hein, Secretary, Lower Manhattan Historical Association • Alan R. Hoffman, President, American Friends of Lafayette • Laura Ingenhuyff, Hawaii • James S. Kaplan, Chairman, Lower Manhattan Historical Association • W. Robert Kelly, Jr., Director, Gloucester (Virginia) Museum of History • Paul Jeffrey Lambert - President Williamsburg-Yorktown American Revolution Round Table • Dr. Patti Maclay, M.D., National Chair, Franco-American Memorial Committee, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution • Terri Mitchell, D.A.R., Franco-American Memorial Committee, National Division Vice-Chair, Northwestern Division • Pierre Oury, Colonel (ret), USAF • Lanny R Patten, Sons of the American Revolution of Pennsylvania, W3R • Michael Wingate Rhodes, Past-president, Richard Henry Lee Chapter, Virginia Society, Sons of the American Revolution • Ambrose M. Richardson, President, Lower Manhattan Historical Association • Mark Francis Schneider, Historian • Chuck Schwam, Executive director, & Bicentennial committee chair, American Friends of Lafayette • Susan & David Seal, Lafayette’65 • Joseph Studlick, Founding Director, Battle of Rhode Island Association • Dr John David Thornley, Alaska • Nicole G. Yancey, Honorary Consul of France in Virginia Emerita (as of June 9, 2025)

Tax-deductible Donations can be made through the Friends of Fondation de France at: https://donorbox.org/association-hermione-la-fayette.
[High Res. photos upon request]

For more information on the Hermione, contact:
In France: Isabelle Georget, Association Hermione-Lafayette:
‭Tel: +33 6 70 00 88 99‬ or Email: i.georget@hermione.com‬‬‬‬
In the USA: Thierry Chaunu, president, The American Society of Le Souvenir Français, Inc.
Tel: 646-732-1822 or Email: tchaunu@SouvenirFrancaisUSA.org

https://fregate-hermione.com/en/
https://www.friendsoffdf.org/projects/association-hermione-la-fayette/
www.souvenirfrancaisUSA.org

Thierry J Chaunu
Thierry Chaunu
+1 646-732-1822
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USS Mitscher greeting the Hermione