The Hermione is an 18th century frigate, built in 1778 in the arsenal of Rochefort, in a hold near the Corderie Royale, according to the plans of Henri Chevillard, known as Chevillard the elder. The king gave his consent for its construction on November 2, 1778. It is also called a 12 frigate, in reference to the calibre of the cannonballs it fires. It is part of the 4 frigates, built by the arsenal of Rochefort from 1777: the Courageuse, the Concorde and the Fée. It was completed in 6 months of work and launched after 11 months for a total of more than 35,000 hours of work performed by hundreds of workers and convicts.
The Hermione has a waterline length of 44.30 m for a width of 11.5 m, a depth of 5.78 m with a weight of 1166 tons. It is much lighter than the other ships of that time. It has 4 masts - the 54 m high Grand Mast, the mizzen mast at the rear, the foremast and the Beaupré mast at the front - and a total sail area of 2200 m2. On board, more than 300 sailors set sail.
The frigate was armed with twenty-six cannons for 12-pound cannonballs and eight cannons for 6-pound cannonballs. In total, 34 guns were on board the ship. Normally, one can also call it a frigate of 32, in relation to the number of guns on board, but the Hermione had 8 guns of 8 pounds and not 6. The 12-guns are installed on the battery deck and the 6-guns on the forecastle deck. It is composed of 3 decks - the forecastle deck for manoeuvres, the battery deck for artillery and battles and the false deck, located under the main deck, for rest. The hold can store food for 6 months.
The Hermione was launched on 28 April 1779.
Technical data
| Length overall | 66 m |
| Hull length | 44,30 m |
| Width | 11,5 m |
| Depth | 5,8 m |
| Weight | 1250 tons |
| Front draught | 4,9 m |
| Rear draught | 5,2 m |
| Main mast | 54 m |
| Mizzen mast | 48 m |
| Mizzen mast | 35 m |
| Beaupré | 27 m |
Credit: Association Hermione Lafayette / Francis Latreille
