Hermione: The Freedom Frigate with Marc Onetto In-Person
Hermione: The Freedom Frigate, “La Frégate de la Liberté”
In March 1780, General Lafayette boarded the frigate Hermione with news for George Washington and the Congress that France would officially support the American cause by sending a French expeditionary force and Naval squadron to support America in the war of independence against the British Empire. He reached Boston on April 27, 1780, and the French assistance helped Washington win the war at the battle of Yorktown in October 1781.
Hermione went on to serve the cause of American Independence with several successful combats and missions, until her return to France in 1782. She continued serving in the French Navy until 1793 when she sank outside the Loire estuary in France.
In 1997, The Hermione-Lafayette Association, based in western France, started to build an exact replica of Hermione in the city of her ancestor and using the same tools and 18th-century technology. The new Hermoine navigated to the U.S. and around Europe for five years before repairs were needed due to a slow-growing fungus. A major repair project is currently underway to allow her to sail again and come back to America in 2026 to celebrate the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence.
This program will be livestreamed and available to view later. Click here to watch.
Marc Onetto will share with us this history of the ship that brought Lafayette to America and the exact replica built in 2005 that is now being repaired.
- Date:
- Thursday, July 25, 2024
- Time:
- 5:30pm - 6:30pm
- Time Zone:
- Mountain Time - US & Canada (change)
- Location:
- John A. and Carole O. Moran Lecture Hall
- Campus:
- The Community Library
- Audience:
- Adults
- Categories:
- Lectures & Conversations
Marc Onetto, originally French, is a resident of Ketchum. He is now retired after serving in senior management positions in major US companies. His last position was SVP Operations and Customer Service at Amazon.com. Marc regularly cruises the Inside Passage between Seattle and Southeast Alaska on his boat. He gave an exciting presentation last year about his 2021 cruise up the Columbia and Lower Snake rivers all the way to Lewiston Idaho.
Marc is also a history buff and is particularly interested in the historical connections between his native country France and his adopted country the United States of America. So, he was naturally attracted to the history of Hermione the French navy ship. Marc is now actively supporting the exact replica of Hermione.
