Honneur, Patrie, Valeur, Discipline.

The bold silhouette of the French warship De Grasse dominates the quayside of Western Harbour first thing this morning.

One of three Tourville Class frigates, this vessel - specialising in anti-submarine warfare - is named after François Joseph Paul de Grasse, the French admiral who commanded the French fleet at the Battle of the Chesapeake, an action which lead to the British surrender at Yorktown in 1781 (and ultimately the end of the American War of Independence two years later) although the following year he lost to a British Fleet commanded by Admiral Sir George Rodney at The Battle of the Saintes, fought in The West Indies.