Bermuda’s most impressive warship wreck is the L’Herminie, a 60 gun French warship that sank in 1838. This three-masted, wooden-hulled sailing vessel was returning to France from a skirmish in Mexico when she crashed into a reef. Approximately 25 giant cannons remain scattered across the sea floor, partially buried in the sand.
In depths of 25–30 feet, visitors can see the ship’s timbers, hull sheathing, copper nails, the terra cotta bricks used as an oven and a pair of crossed cannons that serve as a monument to this unique wreck site.
L’Herminie was one of the last French fighting ships that used sail power before European powers switched to steam.
