i was at salisbury point last summer myself, looking for any information i could scratch up about the Hacketts and the Alliance. I own some documents out of the alliance, and I’ve found a strong suggestion in writings both from france and the US that Pierre Landais was the true designer of that ship. He met with franklin and deane in france early on and impressed them with his knowledge in efficient ship design just before he was given the Flammand (a secret arms ship being sent to the US for Washington). He’d sailed prior with Bouganville, a kind of french captain cook, and his knowledge about the newest french hull shapes impressed franklin alot because of their efficiency of design, speed, and smaller size made them easier to pop out in america. And the ship that ended up the Alliance was originally slated to be some 74 guns, then it was reduced to 54 guns, then due to the influence of Landais and the discovery of a big shortage of cannon in the colonies, it was reduced to 36. Landais was also sent up to supervise the construction of the ship by congress, I found that in writing. I’m in the process of writing a book, of which the building of the ship is just a small part of the story, but info on the Hackett family seems to be not easy to find. I hear there are pieces of the hull floating around in private hands. I’m curious what you might have found out about the Hacketts, and subject of the Alliance itself. Thanks.
Regards,
Dennis Devona
i was at salisbury point last summer myself, looking for any information i could scratch up about the Hacketts and the Alliance. I own some documents out of the alliance, and I’ve found a strong suggestion in writings both from france and the US that Pierre Landais was the true designer of that ship. He met with franklin and deane in france early on and impressed them with his knowledge in efficient ship design just before he was given the Flammand (a secret arms ship being sent to the US for Washington). He’d sailed prior with Bouganville, a kind of french captain cook, and his knowledge about the newest french hull shapes impressed franklin alot because of their efficiency of design, speed, and smaller size made them easier to pop out in america. And the ship that ended up the Alliance was originally slated to be some 74 guns, then it was reduced to 54 guns, then due to the influence of Landais and the discovery of a big shortage of cannon in the colonies, it was reduced to 36. Landais was also sent up to supervise the construction of the ship by congress, I found that in writing. I’m in the process of writing a book, of which the building of the ship is just a small part of the story, but info on the Hackett family seems to be not easy to find. I hear there are pieces of the hull floating around in private hands. I’m curious what you might have found out about the Hacketts, and subject of the Alliance itself. Thanks.
Regards,
Dennis Devona