LÉ ''Deirdre'' (P20) was a ship in the

Irish Naval Service The Naval Service () is the maritime component of the Defence Forces (Ireland), Defence Forces of Republic of Ireland, Ireland and is one of the three branches of the Irish Defence Forces. Its base is in Haulbowline, County Cork. Though prece ...

. She was named after

Deirdre Deirdre ( , ; ) is a tragic heroine in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. She is also known by the epithet "Deirdre of the Sorrows" (). Deirdre is a prominent figure in Irish legend. American scholar James MacKillop (author), James MacKil ...

, a tragic heroine from

Irish mythology Irish mythology is the body of myths indigenous to the island of Ireland. It was originally Oral tradition, passed down orally in the Prehistoric Ireland, prehistoric era. In the History of Ireland (795–1169), early medieval era, myths were ...

who committed suicide after her lover's murder. Built in 1972, ''Deirdre'' was built as an addition to the s, and was the first vessel designed and built for the Irish Naval Service in Ireland. She was to have longer range and be a more seaworthy ship for work in the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

. ''Deirdre'' became the prototype for the later -type vessels. ''Deirdre'' undertook a number of search and rescue operations throughout her careers. For example, ''Deirdre'' was one of the vessels involved in the 1979 Fastnet race rescue operations, assisting the crews of two yachts. In 1990, during the rescue of a Spanish trawler crew in

Bantry Bay Bantry Bay () is a bay located in County Cork, Ireland. The bay runs approximately from northeast to southwest into the Atlantic Ocean. It is approximately 3-to-4 km (1.8-to-2.5 miles) wide at the head and wide at the entrance. Geograp ...

, a member of ''Deirdre'''s crew died – and was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Medal and Spanish Cross of Naval Merit. By the time of the vessel's naval decommissioning in early 2001, ''Deirdre'' had travelled approximately 450,000 nautical miles. She was replaced by a

Róisín-class patrol vessel The ''Róisín''-class large patrol vessel is a class of offshore patrol vessels (OPV) ordered by the Irish Naval Service from December 1997. The first vessel is named , which is also the name given to the class. Construction on this first vesse ...

. ''Deirdre'' was sold at

public auction A government auction or a public auction is an auction held on behalf of a government in which the property to be auctioned is either property owned by the government or property which is sold under the authority of a court of law or a governmen ...

for IR£190,000 in 2001. She was purchased by the English yacht chartering company Seastream International for conversion into luxury charter yacht ''Tosca IV'' for the company's owner, businessman Christopher Matthews. Speaking on the radio, a Seastream spokesman appeared pleased with their bargain as they had been prepared to bid up to IR£500,000. The auction starting price had been IR£60,000. The conversion in a Polish shipyard was not completed as the English owner died. In 2007 she was towed to Brazil for further refit and completion. Substantially complete, she arrived at

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

in September 2012 for final outfitting as ''Santa Rita I''. However, in August 2014, ''Santa Rita I'' was towed to

Green Cove Springs, Florida Green Cove Springs is a city in and the county seat of Clay County, Florida, United States. Green Cove Springs is a part of the Jacksonville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 9,786 at the 2020 census, up from 6,908 at ...

, for breaking.

References

1972 ships Deirdre-class offshore patrol vessels Former naval ships of the Republic of Ireland Ships built in Ireland Naval ships of the Republic of Ireland {{Ireland-maritime-stub