LÉ ''Ciara'' (P42) was a in the

Irish Naval Service The Naval Service ( ga, An tSeirbhís Chabhlaigh) is the maritime component of the Defence Forces of Ireland and is one of the three branches of the Irish Defence Forces. Its base is in Haulbowline, County Cork. Though preceded by earlier mar ...

. Like the rest of her class, she was originally designed for use by the British Royal Navy in Hong Kong waters, and was delivered in 1984 by Hall, Russell & Company as HMS ''Swallow'' (P242). The ship was passed to the Irish Naval Service in 1988 and was commissioned under her current name by the then Taoiseach Charles Haughey on 16 January 1989. She is the

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...

of .

Royal Navy service

The ship was built as HMS ''Swallow'' with the yard number of 991 at the Aberdeen yard of Hall Russell. She was launched on 30 March 1984 and completed on 17 October 1984. In 1988 she was sold to the Republic of Ireland and renamed LÉ ''Ciara''.

Etymology

In Irish service, the ship took her name from Saint Ciara, born in Tipperary in the 7th century who, after taking religious vows in her teens, founded a convent in Kilkeary, near Nenagh. The ship's coat-of-arms depict three golden chalices which represent the three ancient dioceses among which Tipperary was divided. Also featured is a

Celtic cross The Celtic cross is a form of Christian cross featuring a nimbus or ring that emerged in Ireland, France and Great Britain in the Early Middle Ages. A type of ringed cross, it became widespread through its use in the stone high crosses er ...

as a representation of the North Cross at Ahenny, County Tipperary. The coat of arms incorporates the Tipperary colours of Blue and Yellow as well as the background or field colours of the Tipperary Arms which is Ermine - white with a pattern of black arrowhead shaped points.

Weapons and equipment

The ship's principal armament is an OTO Melara 76 mm Compact gun. This has a range and can fire 85 rounds per minute. It can be used in both anti-aircraft and anti-ship roles. It holds an 80-round magazine that can easily be reloaded by a two-man team. There are also two single 20 mm Rh202 Rheinmetall cannons and two 12.7 mm machine guns. She is equipped with surveillance equipment and a fishery protection information system which is regularly updated via a satellite link to the

base at

Haulbowline Island Haulbowline ( ga, Inis Sionnach; non, Ál-boling) is an island in Cork Harbour off the coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The world's Royal Cork Yacht Club, first yacht club was founded on Haulbowline in 1720. The western side of the islan ...

near

Cobh Cobh ( ,), known from 1849 until 1920 as Queenstown, is a seaport town on the south coast of County Cork, Ireland. With a population of around 13,000 inhabitants, Cobh is on the south side of Great Island in Cork Harbour and home to Ireland's ...

. ''Ciara'' has a cruising speed of and a sprint speed of , making her the fastest ship in the Irish Navy; the crew have nicknamed her "Road Runner" after the speedy cartoon character, which is portrayed on the funnel.

History

Throughout her career, LÉ ''Ciara'' has been involved in fisheries protection patrols as well as search and rescue missions. In 2011, the vessel was temporarily taken out of service to address an issue with the hull, and was again kept out of commission for several months in mid-2014 for removal of asbestos. On 8 July 2022, LÉ ''Ciara'' was decommissioned together with and .

References

External links

IDF LÉ ''Ciara'' webpage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ciara (P42) 1984 ships Naval ships of the Republic of Ireland Peacock-class corvettes of the Irish Naval Service Peacock-class corvettes Ships built by Hall, Russell & Company