She became famous when she ferried General La Fayette to the United States in 1780 in support of the rebels in the American Revolutionary War.

[3][2] She was launched on 28 April 1779, and commissioned on 11 May, with 5 month worth of food and 66 barrels of fresh water, under Lieutenant Latouche-Tréville[2] Shortage of adequate weapons forced Latouche to install 20 older 12-pounder long guns, heavier and longer than originally intended.

[14] From November[14] to 28 December, Hermione underwent a refit to receive a copper sheathing,[8] becoming only the third ship of the French Navy to be so upgraded.

La Fayette was to return as an emissary of Louis XVI to George Washington, and announce that France was sending a 6-ship squadron and 5,000 soldiers in support of the independence of the Thirteen Colonies.

Hermione sailed to the open sea, but in the night of 13, a gale ruptured the spar of her mainsail and she had to anchor off Ile d'Aix to effect repairs.

[18] Official celebration ensued, complete with gun salutes to political and military authorities of France and of the Thirteen Colonies.

[19] On 2 May, Latouche offered to patrol the Bay of Boston and secure it against British privateers and frigates, which the authorities of Massachusetts approved on the next day.

[20] On 14, Hermione set sail and cruised to the North, trying to lure smaller British warships, but she did not catch anything and on 21 May, [21] she returned to Rhode Island.

[27][Note 4] From then on, Hermione was attached to the Ternay's squadron as part of a frigate division under Captain Jean-Marie de Villeneuve Cillart,[28] with his flag on Surveillante, and also comprising Amazone.

[35] On 18 May, As the Americans having returned Ariel to France, she and Hermione sailed to Newport, again with a cargo of food for the French squadron.

[36] From June 1781, Hermione formed a frigate division under Lapérouse, who had his flag on Astrée, tasked with commerce raiding.

[23] On 21 July 1781, Hermione and Astrée encountered a British convoy and engaged, leading to the Naval battle of Louisbourg[38] where they captured the 14-gun corvette Jack.

[23] When the action of 2 September 1781 unfolded close to Boston, Sagittaire, Astrée and Hermione scrambled in an attempt to support Magicienne, but they failed to arrive on time, and Chatham could escape with her prize.

[40] Arrived on 29, Hermione was immediately tasked with logistic duties for the fleet, and in the following days she transported cattle from Lynhaven, along with Iris, Richemond, Diligente and Loyaliste.

[41] From 20 Hermione returned to the frigate screen of the French squadron until De Grasse left in early September.

On 2 February 1782, Hermione departed for France, carrying Antoine Charles du Houx de Vioménil.

[1] Aground off Le Croisic, Hermione suffered heavy hull leaking and proved impossible to refloat in the descending tide.

The rising sea lifted Hermione for a while, but she was so damaged that pumping water proved impossible, and she settled on the bottom, where her hull started to disintegrate.

[43] The court-martial consecutive to the wreck found her pilot, Guillaume Guillemin du Conquet, responsible for her loss; her commanding officer, Captain Martin, was honourably acquitted.

[1][43] On 22 July 1984, while searching for the remains of two British ships, amateur underwater archaeologist Michel Vazquez found the wreck of Hermione.

[46] The located the wreck at 47° 17,295 N; 02° 37,800 W,[47] and positively identified Hermione from the calibre of the cannonballs, the copper sheathing, the dimensions of key part, and the absence of 12-pounder guns, which Martin had managed to have retrieved.

[48] The GRAN retrieved an anchor, 16mm musket bullets, cannonballs, bricks, an old 18-pounder gun probably used as ballast, a 29mm × 10mm nail, and a part of the rudder.

On 18 April 2015, the full-size replica of Hermione started a return voyage to the United States from Rochefort, France.