LÉ ''Orla'' (P41) 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 m ...

. Like the rest of her class, she was originally designed for use by the

British Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fra ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

waters, and was delivered in 1985 by

Hall, Russell & Company Hall, Russell & Company, Limited was a shipbuilder based in Aberdeen, Scotland. History Brothers James and William Hall, Thomas Russell, a Glasgow engineer, and James Cardno Couper founded the company in 1864 to build steam engines and boile ...

as HMS ''Swift'' (P243). "Long Éireannach" (LÉ),

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

for "Irish ship", is the designation given to ships in the

's fleet. The ship was named after

Orla Orla may refer to: Places *Orla, Missouri, USA *Orla, Texas, USA *Orla, Jharkhand, India *Orla, Podlaskie Voivodeship (north-east Poland), a village **Gmina Orla, a commune centred on the village *Orla, Krotoszyn County in Greater Poland Voivodesh ...

, a grand niece (great niece) of

Brian Boru Brian Boru ( mga, Brian Bóruma mac Cennétig; modern ga, Brian Bóramha; 23 April 1014) was an Irish king who ended the domination of the High Kingship of Ireland by the Uí Néill and probably ended Viking invasion/domination of Ireland. ...

who was murdered by her husband around 1090. The crest shows the arms of Clare on the top segment and a sword and royal collar on the base. 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 .

Specifications

''Orla'' has a

displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and Physics *Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

of 712 tons fully loaded. The ship was launched in 1984 and purchased by the Irish government in 1988. She is powered by two Crossley

Pielstick SEMT Pielstick was a French company that designed and built large diesel engines. Its full name was (Company of Thermal Machines Studies). Founded in 1948, SEMT was bought by MAN Diesel in 2006 During its existence as an independent compan ...

18 PA6V 280 diesels rated at , providing a top speed of and a range of at . She carries a crew of 39, including six officers. She is armed with one 76 mm/62

OTO Melara OTO Melara was a subsidiary of the Italian company Finmeccanica, today Leonardo, active in the defence sector, with factories in Brescia and La Spezia. The Mod 56 pack howitzer, in service throughout the world, and the 76mm naval gun, ...

compact gun; two 20 mm Rh202

Rheinmetall Rheinmetall AG is a German automotive and arms manufacturer, headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of ...

weapons and four 12.7mm heavy machine-guns.

History

In November 2008, LÉ ''Orla'' assisted in

Operation Seabight Operation Seabight, or Sea Bight, is the codename used to describe the tracking and eventual seizure of up to €750 million of cocaine off the Irish coast in November 2008, originally thought to have been the largest such haul in the history o ...

which resulted in the largest seizure of

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly used recreationally for its euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from the leaves of two Coca species native to South Am ...

in the history of the state. In mid-2014, LÉ ''Orla'' was temporarily kept out of commission to facilitate the removal of asbestos which had been discovered on the ship. On 8 July 2022, LÉ ''Orla'' was decommissioned together with and .

References

External links

IDF LÉ ''Orla'' webpage
1985 ships 1997 in Hong Kong Ships built by Hall, Russell & Company Naval ships of the Republic of Ireland Peacock-class corvettes of the Irish Naval Service Peacock-class corvettes {{Ireland-maritime-stub