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LÉ Aisling (P23)
Encyclopedia
LÉ Aisling (P23) is an Offshore Patrol Vessel in the Irish Naval Service
Irish Naval Service
The Naval Service is the navy of Ireland and is one of the three standing branches of the Irish Defence Forces. Its main base is in Haulbowline, County Cork....
. The ship was named after the poem, Aisling
Aisling
The aisling , or vision poem, is a poetic genre that developed during the late 17th and 18th centuries in Irish language poetry...
to commemorate the centenary of the birth of the poet and nationalist Patrick Pearse
Patrick Pearse
Patrick Henry Pearse was an Irish teacher, barrister, poet, writer, nationalist and political activist who was one of the leaders of the Easter Rising in 1916...
.
During her career, Aisling has 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
Air India Flight 182
Air India Flight 182 was an Air India flight operating on the Montreal–London–Delhi route. On 23 June 1985, the airplane operating on the route a Boeing 747-237B named after Emperor Kanishka was blown up by a bomb at an altitude of , and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean while in Irish airspace.A...
disaster, and subsequently participated in recovery operations.
It is the adopted ship of the city of Galway
Galway
Galway or City of Galway is a city in County Galway, Republic of Ireland. It is the sixth largest and the fastest-growing city in Ireland. It is also the third largest city within the Republic and the only city in the Province of Connacht. Located on the west coast of Ireland, it sits on the...
.
Construction
There were three Offshore Patrol Vessels built for the Irish Naval Service; Aisling was the last. She was built at Verlome 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 comprises two Rheinmetall 20mm Cannons capable of firing 1000 shells per minute at the range of 2 km.Sonia incident
In 1984 LÉ Aisling was involved an international incident with a 330 ton Spanish fishing trawler called Sonia, based in the BasqueBasque Country (autonomous community)
The Basque Country is an autonomous community of northern Spain. It includes the Basque provinces of Álava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa, also called Historical Territories....
port of Ondarroa
Ondarroa
Ondarroa is a town and municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of Basque Country, northern Spain.-Main sights:*Church of St. Mary, in late Gothic style *Likona Tower, a typical Basque tower-house....
. Aisling came across Sonia illegally fishing in Irish waters south of the Saltee Islands
Saltee Islands
The Saltee Islands are a pair of small islands lying 5 kilometres off the southern coast of County Wexford in Ireland. The two islands are Great Saltee and Little Saltee . They have been uninhabited since the early 20th century...
near Wexford
Wexford
Wexford is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. It is situated near the southeastern corner of Ireland, close to Rosslare Europort. The town is connected to Dublin via the M11/N11 National Primary Route, and the national rail network...
. 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 Vessels engines not been put full astern. As it was, Sonia missed the PV by 10 feet, 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 was entering British waters.
When Aisling returned to its base in Haulbowline
Haulbowline
Haulbowline is the name of an island in Cork Harbour off the coast of Ireland. It is the main naval base and headquarters for the Irish Naval Service.-Etymology:...
, Cobh
Cobh
Cobh is a seaport town on the south coast of County Cork, Ireland. Cobh is on the south side of Great Island in Cork Harbour. Facing the town are Spike Island and Haulbowline Island...
that evening, news was fed back that Sonia sank due to sea conditions and both a German Freighter and RAF Brawdy
RAF Brawdy
RAF Brawdy was a Royal Air Force station in South West Wales near to St David's.The Pembrokeshire base was officially opened on 2 February 1944 as a satellite station for the nearby RAF St. David's. On 1 January 1946 the station was handed over to the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy and was...
a sea king helicopter 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 his Spanish opposite number who happened to be in Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
negotiating Spain’s entry to the EEC
EEC
EEC is an abbreviation that usually refers to the European Economic Community, the forerunner to the European Union.It may also refer to;* The East Erie Commercial Railroad, a shortline in Pennsylvania...
.
Marita Ann
During September 1984, the naval service was involved in the arrest of the Marita Ann off the South west coast of Ireland. It involved a large cargo of arms and ammunition consigned to the IRA. LE EmerLÉ Emer (P21)
LÉ Emer is a ship in the Irish Naval Service. The ship is named after Emer the principal wife of Cúchulainn and the daughter of a chieftain from Rush, County Dublin....
, LE Aisling and LE Deirdre
LÉ Deirdre (P20)
LÉ Deirdre was a ship in the Irish Naval Service. She was named after Deirdre, a tragic heroine from Irish mythology who committed suicide after her lover's murder....
had to maintain a discreet distance until the arms entered Irish territorial waters. On this occasion, however the contraband came from the United States of America and was ferried across the Atlantic by a fishing trawler, the Valhalla. She did not approach the Irish coast, but transferred her illicit cargo to the Marita Ann well outside Irish waters.
The perpetrators did not know that the intelligence services had got wind of the plot, that the Valhalla’s voyage had been monitored by international agencies or that the naval service had begun to lay a trap as soon as the Marita Ann had sailed from Dingle
Dingle
Dingle is a town in County Kerry, Ireland. The only town on the Dingle Peninsula, it sits on the Atlantic coast, about 49 kilometres southwest of Tralee and 71 kilometres northwest of Killarney....
to keep her appointment. Aisling (Lt Cdr J.Robinson) and Emer left Haulbowline
Haulbowline
Haulbowline is the name of an island in Cork Harbour off the coast of Ireland. It is the main naval base and headquarters for the Irish Naval Service.-Etymology:...
in the company, with Gardaí on board both vessels.
The 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. All the usual signals were ignored, and the vessel, which when illuminated by Emer’s searchlights was revealed as Marita Ann, altered course. She had, however no hope of outrunning Emer, or indeed Aisling which had 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
Martin Ferris
Martin Ferris is an Irish Sinn Féin politician and a former Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteer. He has been a Teachta Dála for the Kerry North–West Limerick constituency since 2002 and is one of fourteen Sinn Féin representatives in the current Dáil.-Early life:Ferris was born in...
and Gavin Mortimer were taken on board the Emer, John P. Crawley and John Mc Carthy were transferred to the Aisling and Michael Browne, at 42 the eldest of the party, remained on the Marita Ann, which was towed by Aisling as the convoy, escorted by LE Deirdre made its way to Haulbowline
Haulbowline
Haulbowline is the name of an island in Cork Harbour off the coast of Ireland. It is the main naval base and headquarters for the Irish Naval Service.-Etymology:...
, Cobh
Cobh
Cobh is a seaport town on the south coast of County Cork, Ireland. Cobh is on the south side of Great Island in Cork Harbour. Facing the town are Spike Island and Haulbowline Island...
where a large gathering of the international media awaited its arrival.