LÉ Aoife (P22)

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300px
Aoife at Haulbowline in March 2008
History
Ireland
Name: LÉ Aoife
Namesake: Aoife, step-mother to the children of Lir
Laid down: 3 July 1978
Launched: 12 April 1979
Commissioned: 29 November 1979
Decommissioned: 31 January 2015
Homeport: Haulbowline Naval Base
Identification: P22
Fate: Donated to Malta, 2015
Malta
Name: P62
Commissioned: 26 June 2015
Status: in active service, as of 2024
General characteristics
Class & 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

LÉ Aoife (P22) was an offshore patrol vessel in the Irish Naval Service. The ship was named after Aoife, step-mother to the children of Lir, whom she turned into swans. It is the sister ship of LÉ Deirdre (decommissioned in 2001), LÉ Emer (decommissioned in 2013) and LÉ Aisling (in active service).

Aoife was decommissioned from the Irish Naval Service in 2015, and was donated to the Maritime Squadron of the Armed Forces of Malta. It was commissioned as the patrol boat P62 on 28 June 2015. It is currently Malta's largest naval vessel.[1]

Operational history

Ireland service

Aoife was commissioned after funding became available from the European Union (then known as the EEC) when the Irish Exclusive Fisheries Zone was extended from 12 nautical miles (22 km; 14 mi) to 200 nautical miles (370 km; 230 mi) in 1976.[2]

Aoife operated primarily as a fisheries protection vessel but had assisted in emergency rescue operations as well as other naval support roles.

In 1986 Richard Branson's Virgin Challenger II was attempting to win the Blue Riband[note 1] by making the fastest Atlantic crossing.[3] Challenger left New York Harbour on 26 June 1986. She refueled, as prearranged, at an oil rig on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. However, four tons of water also entered her tanks. Soon, Challenger needed more fuel filters.[note 2] Branson's London control center requested help from the RAF. The Royal Navy did not have a ship in the area. Aoife, 160 miles distant, was informed. An RAF Nimrod dropped a canister of filters to Challenger. At 00:43 29 June, Aoife reached Virgin Challenger II.[4] Aoife's crew refueled Challenger which then proceeded to complete the voyage in a time of two hours and nine minutes shorter than 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.[5]

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 regularly fund-raised for the children's ward of Waterford Regional Hospital.[6]

LÉ Aoife was decommissioned in Waterford on 31 January 2015 and later donated to Malta.[7][8]

Malta service

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]

Irish naval jack flying from bow of LÉ Aoife while at port in Dublin

Footnotes

  1. ↑ or so his publicity material claimed, which he could as the Blue Riband is an unofficial accolade. General opinion is that it is limited to ships on a regular passenger carrying westward voyage
  2. ↑ 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

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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