Born to a family from Rochefort-sur-Mer with a maritime tradition, Gérard Delacroix grew an early interest in ships. In the 1980s, he started building ship models and from there went on to study archives of the 18th century about naval construction.[1]
After meeting [2] Jean Boudriot, he published his first monograph in 1995, Le Fleuron (1729), about a 64-gun ship of the early 18th century. He went on to write about the 118-gun Commerce de Marseille (1788), as well as about galleys with La Fleur de Lis (1690).
He also worked on more common ships such as Mediterranean tartanes, with La Diligente (1738), or the exploration ship of Kerguelen, le Gros-Ventre (1766).
Gérard Delacroix is a Chevalier in the Ordre du Mérite Maritime[3]