Étoile du Roy

Étoile du Roy, formerly Grand Turk, moored in Dunkirk, France.
History
United Kingdom
NameGrand Turk
OwnerTurk Phoenix Ltd.
Laid downDecember 1996
LaunchedSeptember 1997
FateSold, 2010
France
NameÉtoile du Roy
OwnerÉtoile Marine Croisières
Port of registrySaint-Malo, Brittany
Acquired2010
Identification
Statusin active service, as of 2019
General characteristics
TypeTall ship
Tonnage
Length
  • 152 ft (46 m) o/a
  • 125 ft (38 m) deck
  • 97 ft (30 m) w/l
Beam34 ft (10 m)
Draught10 ft (3.0 m)
Propulsion
  • 2 × 400 hp (298 kW) Kelvin TAS8 diesel engines
  • 2 shafts
  • 1 × 60 hp (45 kW) bow thruster
Sail plan
Speed9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph) (engines)
Crew9 permanent + up to 23 volunteers
Armament
  • 6 × 9-pounder guns
  • 3 × 2-pounder guns

Étoile du Roy (English: "King's Star"), formerly Grand Turk, is a tall ship launched in 1997. Designed to represent a generic European warship during the Age of Sail, her design was modelled after HMS Blandford, a sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. The ship was built in Marmaris, Turkey between 1996 and 1997 to provide a replica of a British frigate for the production of the ITV Network series Hornblower. In 2010, the French company Étoile Marine Croisières, based in Saint-Malo, purchased the ship and renamed her Étoile du Roy. Having been featured in several films or television series, she is currently used mainly in sailing events, for corporate or private charter, and for receptions in her spacious saloon or on her deck.