FRIDAY FOTO (June 5, 2015)

Naval Architecture: Then and Now.

(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Michael Sandberg)

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Mitscher (DDG 57), right, welcomes the French tall ship replica, the Hermione, in the vicinity of the Battle of Virginia Capes off the East Coast of the United States.

The original Hermione brought French General Marquis de Lafayette to America in 1780 to inform General Washington of France’s alliance and impending support of the American Revolutionary War.

The symbolic return of the Hermione pays homage to Lafayette and the Franco-American alliance that brought victory at the Battle of Yorktown in 1781. The Hermione visited Yorktown, Virginia on June 5 and will  continue up the east coast visiting cities of Franco-American historical significance such as Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York and Boston.