text: A replica of the warship that carried France's Marquis de Lafayette to help American colonists in their war of independence sets sail for the United States on Saturday, symbolic of a historic moment that binds the two nations. Lafayette crossed the Atlantic on the original Hermione in 1780 to tell his friend George Washington, commander of the American insurgents against British imperial rule, that France was sending a strong military force to help them. The replica fired its cannons as it sailed up the French river Charente on Saturday to the military shipyards of Rochefort, where both vessels were built. French President Francois Hollande paid a brief visit to the warship, which was due to set sail later in the day. Scroll down for video . The replica of an 18th Century French navy frigate L'Hermione,set sail on its maiden voyage to the United States off the coast of Fouras, southwestern France on Saturday . The ship will leave towards the United States with several stopovers, including Philadelphia, New York and Boston. The real version carried France's Marquis de Lafayette to help American colonists in their war of independence . Lafayette crossed the Atlantic on the original Hermione in 1780 to tell his friend George Washington, commander of the American insurgents against British imperial rule. The replica is pictured on Saturday leaving Southwestern France . The new Hermione has been under construction since 1997 and cost 25 million euros ($27 million) to build. It will head for Yorktown, Virginia, where Lafayette and his forces played a critical part in a decisive battle against the British. 'I feel it's important that this boat is remembered as more than just a modern recreation, that it represents the historical boat as well,' said Adam Hodges-LeClaire, a U.S. citizen, history student and one of the 80-strong crew aboard the 1.2 tonne warship. Hodges-LeClaire had made his own period costume to wear during the voyage. The frigate is due to arrive in Yorktown on June 5 for a two-month tour of key locations in the American Revolution, including Annapolis, Boston, Philadelphia and New York City. A number of smaller boards surround the replica near Fouras, southwest France . French President Francois Hollande (right) and the captain of the Hermione, Yann Cariou attend the ceremony of departure of the frigate 'L'Hermione'. The French helped the Red Coats during the War of Independence . Hollande took a short trip on the boat before it left on it's voyage across the Atlantic . To the American independence movement of the time, Lafayette - whose full name was Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert de Motier de Lafayette - was 'our Marquis'. Although an aristocrat who persuaded King Louis XVI into sending military help to Washington's men, Lafayette also maintained a civic role after the king and much of the French nobility had been executed in France's own revolution, which began in 1789, less than a decade after his voyage. The two countries sealed their friendship almost a century after Lafayette's voyage with the 1876 inauguration of the Statue of Liberty at the entrance to New York harbour, a gift from the French people to commemorate the centenary of the declaration of independence. Since then, Franco-U.S. military and diplomatic relations have ebbed and flowed, hitting a recent low point when France opposed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. More recently, France resisted, then gave in to pressure from the United States, its NATO ally, to delay the delivery of a helicopter-carrying warship to Russia due to the Ukraine crisis. Fireworks crackle around the replica of the frigate Hermione, used to bring French troops and funds to American revolutionaries in 1780 . People watch as the replica of the historic vessel sails in the Charente Estuary in Fouras .
target: The Hermione carried France's Marquis de Lafayette to America in 1780 .
  Was sent to warn George Washington French troops were being sent .
  They were being deployed to help the revolutionaries defeat Red Coats .
  The replica set sail on Saturday for it's maiden voyage across the Atlantic .