LÉ ''Eithne'' (P31) is a
patrol vessel which was previously in service with the
Irish Naval Service. The ship is named after
Eithne, a
tragic heroine and the daughter of the one-eyed
Fomorian King,
Balor in an early
Irish romantic tale. ''Eithne'' was the
flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically ...
of the Irish Naval Service.
''Eithne'' was originally built as a Helicopter Patrol Vessel for long-range
fisheries patrol vessel, intended to be at sea for up to 30 days. She was the only ship in her class, as the other planned members of the ''Eithne''-class were never built.
Decommissioned in July 2022 after 38 years with the Irish Naval Service, ''Eithne'' has been laid up awaiting disposal since 2023.
Design
''Eithne'' was designed to carry a
SA365F Dauphin helicopter, and was the only ship in the
Irish Naval Service fleet to have a flight deck. Helicopter operations were limited primarily to the vessel's early years of service. These operations stopped in later years, due in part to the purchase of
CASA CN235-100MP Persuader
Maritime Patrol Aircraft and decommissioning of the Dauphin helicopters. The vessel was fitted with retractable fin stabilisers to reduce rolling during helicopter operations at sea. She was the only ship in her class, as the other planned members of the ''Eithne''-class were never built.
Service
''Eithne'' was the last ship of the Irish Naval Service to have been built in
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
, constructed at
Verolme Dockyard at
Rushbrooke,
County Cork
County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...
and completed in 1984. Shipbuilding operations ceased at the yard in 1984, and the yard went into
receivership
In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver – a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights" – especia ...
.
In July 2005 LÉ ''Eithne'' represented Ireland at the
International Fleet Review at
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...
,
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
.
In April–June 2006 ''Eithne'' travelled to
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
,
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
, in the first-ever deployment of an Irish ship in the southern hemisphere, in order to participate in commemorations of the impending
sesquicentenary of the death of
Admiral William Brown who had been born in Ireland. The ship brought back a statue of Brown for display in Dublin.
In 2014, asbestos was found on the ship necessitating a clean-up. ''Eithne'' was the third Naval Service vessel found to contain the cancer-causing substance, after asbestos was also found on board and .
In May 2015 Minister of Defence
Simon Coveney announced the deployment of ''Eithne'' to the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...
as part of the EU's ongoing rescue mission for migrants. Together with other Naval Service vessels, between 2015 and 2017 ''Eithne'' undertook a number of deployments in the Mediterranean, rescuing several hundred migrants as part of each mission.
In late 2018, the navigation systems onboard ''Eithne'' were upgraded to use a Warship Electronic Chart Display and Information System (WECDIS), reportedly making it the first vessel in the Naval Service fleet to "achieve paperless navigation".
In mid-2019 LÉ ''Eithne'', together with , was "withdrawn from operations
.indefinitely due to a lack of personnel". The manner and messaging on the vessel's removal from service caused some controversy, as statements from the
Minister of State at the Department of Defence Paul Kehoe (who suggested that the vessel was removed for "routine maintenance") contradicted previous statements made by Flag Officer Commander Mick Malone (who confirmed that the vessel would be tied-up "until adequate numbers of
.personnel are available").
In March 2020, ''Eithne'' was returned to active service and deployed to
Cork as part of
Ireland's response to the coronavirus pandemic, alongside
NSR personnel and
Army engineers.
Decommissioning
In July 2022 LÉ ''Eithne'', together with and , was decommissioned, to be replaced with a new multi-role vessel.
Following her decommissioning,
Cork County Council requested the transfer of ''Eithne'' to the city for preservation as a
museum ship
A museum ship, also called a memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public for educational or memorial purposes. Some are also used for training and recruitment purposes, mostly for the small numb ...
.
It was also reported, in early 2023, that the
Dublin Port company also hoped to use the vessel as a museum ship in Dublin. However, as of late 2023, the vessel was reputedly due to be "broken up for recycled scrap, after plans to convert the HPV into a museum came to nothing".
On 5 March 2024, ''Eithne'' was towed from her berth at Haulbowline naval base to Cork Dockyard, formerly Verolme Dockyard (where she was built), to join ''Cíara'' and ''Orla'' to await disposal.
See also
*
References
External links
Defence Forces Ireland LÉ ''Eithne'' webpage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eithne (P31)
1983 ships
Ships built in Ireland
Naval ships of the Republic of Ireland
Former naval ships of the Republic of Ireland