LÉ Aisling (P23)

LÉ ''Aisling'' (; meaning " dream, vision"), now known as ''Al-Karama'', was a patrol vessel in the Irish Naval Service from 1980 to 2016. She was built in Verolme Dockyard, Cork, Ireland in 1979 and originally named after Patrick Pearse's poem, "Aisling" to commemorate the centenary of his birth. During her career, ''Aisling'' participated in the ''Sonia'' and ''Marita Ann'' incidents, and was one of the first ships to arrive on the scene of the Air India Flight 182 disaster, and subsequently participated in recovery operations. She was the adopted ship of Galway, and officially decommissioned in her adopted city in June 2016.

In March 2017, stripped of arms and armaments, she was sold to a Dutch broker, and in May 2018 a United Arab Emirates company sold her to Khalifa Haftar's internationally unrecognised Libyan National Army, in violation of a UN arms embargo. She was reportedly commissioned as the Libyan National Army's flagship and named ''Al-Karama'' (dignity).

Construction

There were three Emer Class offshore patrol vessels (Modified version of Deirdre Class) built for the Irish Naval Service; ''Aisling'' was the last, built at Verolme Dockyard in Cork. Offshore patrol vessels were designed to patrol the Irish EEZ. ''Aisling''s main weapon system is a Bofors 40mm Cannon capable of firing 240 2.5 kg shells a minute at a range of 1 km. Her secondary weapons system included two Rheinmetall 20mm Cannons capable of firing 1000 shells per minute at the range of 2 km.

Irish operational history

''Marita Ann'' incident

During September 1984, the vessel was involved in the arrest of the ''Marita Ann'' off the southwest coast of Ireland, which carried a cargo of arms and ammunition consigned to the IRA. LÉ ''Emer'', LÉ ''Aisling'' and LÉ ''Deirdre'' maintained some distance until the arms entered Irish territorial waters. The contraband had come from the United States, and crossed the Atlantic on a fishing trawler, the ''Valhalla''. She did not approach the Irish coast, but transferred her illicit cargo to the ''Marita Ann'' outside Irish waters. The intelligence services were aware of the plot, and ''Valhalla''s voyage had been monitored by international agencies, and the naval service had begun to lay a trap once the ''Marita Ann'' left Dingle. ''Aisling'' (Lt Cdr J.Robinson) and ''Emer'' left Haulbowline, with Gardaí onboard both vessels. ''Marita Ann''s course was plotted and by midnight it was 1,800 yards into territorial waters. Emer made a full-speed intercept and when half-a-mile off the target, called on her to stop. Such signals were ignored, and the vessel, which when illuminated by ''Emer''s searchlights was revealed as ''Marita Ann'', altered course. The ''Marita Ann'' could not outrun either vessel, and ''Aisling'' moved into a position to prevent a breakout. After four rounds of tracer had been put across her bows, ''Marita Ann'' gave up two miles inside the limit. The Naval Service/Garda boarding party met no resistance, and found five men and a large quantity of ammunition and arms on board.

Two men, Martin Ferris and Gavin Mortimer were taken on board the ''Emer'', John P. Crawley (a United States citizen) and John McCarthy were transferred to the ''Aisling'', and Michael "Mike" Browne (aged 42) remained on the ''Marita Ann'', which was towed by ''Aisling''. The convoy, escorted by LE ''Deirdre'', made its way to Haulbowline, Cobh, where a gathering of international media awaited its arrival.

''Sonia'' incident

In 1984 LÉ ''Aisling'' was involved an international incident with a 330-ton Spanish fishing trawler called ''Sonia'', based in the Basque port of Ondarroa. ''Aisling'' came across ''Sonia'' illegally fishing in Irish waters south of the Saltee Islands near County Wexford. ''Sonia'' quickly retrieved its gear before ''Aisling'' could send a boarding party. When ''Sonia'' got underway, she would have hit ''Aisling'' amidships had the patrol vessel's engines not been put full astern. As it was, ''Sonia'' missed ''Aisling'' by , a small margin given the weather conditions. According to the captain, the heavy trawler's hull would have sliced ''Aislings thin plating.

The episode continued with ''Aisling'' giving chase and firing 600 warning shots. ''Sonia'' turned towards ''Aisling'' numerous times causing the latter to take evasive action. After five hours pursuing the ''Sonia'' the captain of the ''Aisling'' was ordered to break off as she approached British waters.

When ''Aisling'' returned to its base in Haulbowline, Cobh that evening, news was fed back that ''Sonia'' sank due to sea conditions and both a German freighter and a Sea King helicopter flying out of RAF Brawdy had rescued the 13 crewmen. The Spaniards denied that any attempt had been made to ram ''Aisling'' and accused the Naval Service of causing their ship to sink by riddling it with gunfire. The Irish Government denied this, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Peter Barry, TD, reiterated this to the Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs, who happened to be in Luxembourg negotiating Spain's entry to the European Economic Community.

Decommissioning from Irish service

Lieutenant Commander Roberta O'Brien, the state's first female commander of a Naval Service ship, took command of LÉ ''Aisling'' in 2008.

The vessel was officially decommissioned in its adopted city of Galway in June 2016.

At the time of decommissioning, a proposal was made to potentially convert ''Aisling'' into a museum ship in Galway as a tourist attraction. However, while representatives of the Department of Defence advised that the proposal was "under consideration" as of December 2016, it was noted that the vessels of the type may be "unsuitable for conversion to use as museums or visitor attractions".

Sale and Libyan service

''Aisling'' was put up for a public auction on 23 March 2017 at the Carrigaline Hotel in County Cork, and was purchased by a Dutch broker for his clients for a reported price of €110,000, there being no other higher bids. As of 10 May 2017, the vessel was listed on a brokerage website with an asking price of $750,000 (€685,000), with the difference between sale price and asking price attracting attention from representative groups.

In 2018 LÉ ''Aisling'' was commissioned, under the name ''Al Karama'', as the flagship of the Libyan National Army's Navy.

References

Sources

* MacGinty, Tom. (1995) ''The Irish Navy - A story of courage and tenacity'', 1st Irish Ed., Tralee: Kerryman; , Chapter 18.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aisling (P23)
1979 ships
Former naval ships of the Republic of Ireland
Deirdre-class offshore patrol vessels
Ships built in Ireland