Irish Offshore Patrol Vessel
|
History
|
Ireland
|
Name
| LE
Aoife
|
Namesake
| Aoife
,
step-mother
to
the children of Lir
|
Builder
| Verolme Dockyard
, Cork
|
Laid down
| 3 July 1978
|
Launched
| 12 April 1979
|
Commissioned
| 29 November 1979
|
Decommissioned
| 31 January 2015
|
Homeport
| Haulbowline Naval Base
|
Identification
| |
Fate
| Donated to Malta, 2015
|
Malta
|
Name
| P62
|
Commissioned
| 26 June 2015
|
Identification
| |
Status
| in active service
|
General characteristics
|
Class and type
| Emer
-class
offshore patrol vessel
|
Displacement
| 1019.5 tonnes standard
|
Length
| 65.2 m (214 ft) overall
|
Beam
| 10.5 m (34 ft)
|
Draught
| 4.4 m (14 ft)
|
Speed
| 31.5 km/h (17.0
kn
) maximum
|
Complement
| 46 (5 officers and 41 ratings )
|
Armament
|
- 1 ×
Bofors 40 mm
- 2 × Rheinmetall Rh202 20 mm cannons (removed before transfer to Malta)
- 7.62 mm
L7 GPMGs
|
LE
Aoife
(P22)
of the
Irish Naval Service
, now known as
P62
of the
Maritime Squadron of the Armed Forces of Malta
, was built as an
offshore patrol vessel
in 1978.
Serving the Irish Naval Service since 1979,
Aoife
was decommissioned by Ireland in 2015, and donated to the
Armed Forces of Malta
. It was commissioned as the patrol boat
P62
on 28 June 2015.
[1]
Operational history
[
edit
]
Irish service
[
edit
]
Aoife
was first commissioned when
European Union
(then
EEC
) funding became available in response to the extension of the
Irish Exclusive Fisheries Zone
from 12
nautical miles
(22 km; 14 mi) to 200 nautical miles (370 km; 230 mi) in 1976.
[2]
Together with
sister ships
LE
Deirdre
(decommissioned in 2001),
LE
Emer
(decommissioned in 2013) and
LE
Aisling
(decommissioned in 2016),
Aoife
was built at Verolme Cork Dockyard.
[3]
Originally named after
Aoife
,
step-mother
to
the children of Lir
,
Aoife
operated primarily as a fisheries protection vessel.
Aoife
also assisted however in emergency rescue operations and other naval support roles.
In 1986
Richard Branson
's
Virgin Challenger II
was attempting to break the
transatlantic speed record
set by
United States
in 1952.
[note 1]
[4]
Challenger
left
New York Harbour
on 26 June 1986 and refueled, as prearranged, at an oil rig on the
Grand Banks of Newfoundland
. However, four tons of water also entered her tanks and soon,
Challenger
needed more
fuel filters
.
[note 2]
Branson's London control centre requested help from the
RAF
but the
Royal Navy
did not have a ship in the area.
Aoife
, 160 miles distant, was informed and an RAF
Nimrod
dropped a canister of filters to
Challenger
.
Aoife
reached
Challenger
at 00:43 on 29 June.
[5]
Her crew refueled
Challenger
, which went on to complete the voyage, taking two hours and nine minutes off the previous record. Branson invited representatives of the ships company to the celebrations in London, saying "We could not have succeeded without their help".
In October 2004,
Aoife
assisted in the rescue of the
Canadian Forces
submarine
Chicoutimi
off the north-western coast of
Ireland
.
In July 2007,
Aoife
assisted in the rescue of over 100 children taking part in a sailing regatta off Dun Laoghaire Harbour.
[6]
Despite the ship's home port being Haulbowline Island in Cork Harbour, it had a close relationship with the city of
Waterford
and its crew were involved in fund-raising for the children's ward of the
University Hospital Waterford
.
[7]
LE
Aoife
was decommissioned in Waterford on 31 January 2015 and later donated to
Malta
.
[8]
[9]
Maltese service
[
edit
]
Aoife
was commissioned into the
Maritime Squadron of the Armed Forces of Malta
on 28 June 2015, and given the pennant number
P62
. It is the largest vessel in the Maritime Squadron, being larger than the flagship, the
Diciotti
-class
offshore patrol boat
P61
.
[1]
It arrived in Malta in November 2015,
[10]
intended initially for use in humanitarian operations in the Mediterranean.
[11]
On 24 May 2019,
P62
was involved in the recovery of a
WWII
aircraft engine off the
Grand Harbour
. The engine, most probably that of a
Short Sunderland
flying boat, was retrieved after a 14-hour operation.
[12]
During 2020, the ship participated in joint training operations with the
Royal Netherlands Navy
and
Hellenic Navy
.
[13]
[14]
- ^
Known as the Blue Riband, the competition is unofficial, and general opinion is that it is limited to ships on a regular passenger-carrying voyage
- ^
These fuel filters were blocks of foam encased in a rubber skin. Diesel fuel can pass through them while water is trapped in the foam. After thirty minutes they have to be replaced. They can, as in this event, be drained of water and reused, but it is for decreasing shorter periods of time
References
[
edit
]
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Active fleet
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Decommissioned
| |
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