3 New Navy Vessels for Irish Naval Service

A good read below about undersea cable with an irish link

Crews would need time for working them up I would have to imagine.

I'm sure they'll be re-certified in Ireland, with the transit under their belt.

The worst place she could be installed as a museum ship, is Dublin.

Put her on the quays between Jeannie Johnson and Cill Airne. It's the only place that would get the footfall. She could become a detachment from the Collins Barracks museum, displaying the Naval Service artefacts that were not lost in the fire of 2008. ONE could use her as a meeting place. Better still, Missions to Seamen.

Either way she must be upstream of the East Link, or its a waste of time.

I hope who ever will be in charge of it will have factored in a good maintaince budget do it wont rust a way.

The peacocks 76mm will they keep them for spare parts?

She's a Cork built ship, the NS is a Cork based institution, Eithne should be permanently berthed in either Cobh or the City's South Docks; Custom House Quay or Kennedy Quay. She would be an asset and an attraction at some of these sites that are up for redevelopment and due to be taken out of commercial port use.

Good points you've made there Dohville. There was a guy called Ancient Mariner who used to post here and he suggested refitting the Eithne as a training vessel, with a projected 7/8 year life extension.

I wouldn't claim to be a expert on these matters, but why not go the whole hog and refit the ship properly to reinstate the Ops Room, Helideck and ASW capabilities, and add some beefier armaments as well ( partly cannabilized from the Peacocks) ?

I reckon that once the department have forked out on the Lakes and a gutless car ferry with a 20mm cannon on the front that they won't want to splash any more cash on a frigate or two, leaving the Navy with nowt to pit against Jonny Russian.

A comprehensive refit of the Eithne would provide a reasonable interim solution over the medium term.

The question of maintenance is a tricky one. It does the NS no credit that they allowed their flagship to deteriorate as it has done. Maybe this could be made good?

There are plenty of navy's that operate ships well past 30 or even 40 years, and now H&W have apparently lost that big contract they thought they had, they might be well up for the job. They could even do the work in the yard in Devon where the Beckets were built.

Just putting the idea out there.....

Ah Jonny while we are at it we could get Uncle Joe to lend us an Aegis system to fit on eithne as well

1. I Know A.M outside of this forum. He may have left because I disagree's with some of his opinions in that regard. The days of training ships are over. The NMCI simulator experience is as good as anything you would learn on a 40 year old converted PV. I appreciate however that A.M. has a lot of love for the vessel due to his involvement in her design and entry into service.
2. You can do what you like above the waterline, but it won't solve what happens below the waterline. Unless you are willing to replace all the hull plating, it's a waste of money. OTO Melara will not fit into the space the Bofors 57mm used to fill. There is little difference between either gun, ballistic-ally. It would require a major redesign of the bow area. Again, not practical in a 40 year old hull. The Helideck was designed around the Dauphin, you could expand it a little, but that would change the aerodynamic profile of the stern, and change its stability. Again, not practical on a 40 year old ship, and we have not discussed the large hydraulic crane that now sits on the Port side of the helideck, used to launch a 3rd Rhib. At launch she had 2 Boarding/Liberty boats and 2 sea riders. Now there are 2 Large sea riders where the boarding/liberty boat was, and no room for any more high up.
3. Rubbish statement does not justify a response
4. A false economy. Too small, too old, too heavily manned for what it could carry.
5. It was not the fault of the NS that the ship had no crew.
6. Show me a MODERN navy operating a 40 year old OPV planning to upgrade it. The Yard in Devon where the Becketts were built could not fit P31 in the door without removing her funnels, Mast and most if not all of the bridge. A non starter.
7. Take the idea back, leave it where you found it.

The NS kept a 2nd hand steamship L.E. Setanta operational for 10 years beyond when CIL thought she was obsolete. A radio cabin was added to her deck at the states expense, such was her obsolescence. It took up valuable space in the Dockyard and was a drain on resources as engineers went from crisis to crisis.

This is not something we should repeat.

Thats exactly what it should be. A veteran's mission and a venue for former servicemen and women to gather and maybe get support.

The Government could pay the overheads and ONE could volunteer staff it.

Would the price of scrap metal recovered from Ciara and Orla cover the cost of the consultants?

Any idea who's taking responsibility for eithne once she heads out of hawlbowline?

I assume the naval service want no responsibility once she's gone , but If she's not maintained and sinks at the quay wall in Dublin ,it'd look fairly awful if it was there rotting for a few years ,

And could be very pricey to re-move and scrap

^ In summer weather.

I still say Dublin would not be the right venue at all though. And its certainly puzzling that the Port Authority complaining about the lack of capacity in Dublin is seeking to place another large vessel on a permanent berth.

Ireland interested in small version Karel Doorman

By: Jaime Karremann

Post posted: 23-01-2023 | Last modified: 23-01-2023

The Irish Navy wants to purchase a multi-role vessel, with helicopter and transport capacity. According to Irish media, Ireland has been made a proposal from the Netherlands for such a ship, which is derived from Zr.Ms. Karel Doorman. Damen confirms that it is in talks.

Zr.Ms. Karel Doorman. The Doorman is a logistics support ship that can transport large equipment, supply other naval vessels and be a (helicopter) base at sea for operations on land. (Photo: Jaime Karremann/ Marineschepen.nl)

Last summer, the Irish flagship LÉ Eithne was decommissioned. The old patrol ship from 1984 must be replaced by a multi-role vessel, as stated in the White Paper for the Irish Defence in 2015. In April 2021, the project was made public by the Irish government. Initially, budgets of 200 million euros were mentioned. A year ago, it was foreseen that the tender would start in 2023.

But even before 2021, a civil-military project team was working on the new capacity for the Irish Navy. Initially, according to the Irish newspaper Irish Examiner, the main focus was on HMNZS Canterbury, a multi-role vessel of New Zealand. Given the role of the ship and the budget of Ireland, the interest is understandable, but the interest is striking because the Canterbury (built in 2007 in the Netherlands by Merwede Shipyards, now IHC) has not yet been followed.

HMNZS Canterbury was still deployed in 2022 after the volcanic eruption and tsunami near Tonga. However, the Canterbury was in the news in the early years mainly because of the many technical problems that the ship had to contend with. This ship is 131 meters long and has a displacement of 9,000 tons. (Photo: New Zealand Defence)

It is unknown whether Ireland is still interested in the concept of Canterbury. IHC says in a response that it is familiar with the Irish plans for a new ship. Whether IHC will participate is, a spokesman now says too early to make a statement about it.

Another option is Babcock. The great shipbuilder from the United Kingdom built naval ships for the Irish Navy in the past. And Babcock said in 2021 that he believes the Arrowhead 140 (which forms the basis of the British Type 31 frigate) can meet Irish wishes.

Doorman

In Ireland, however, people are also looking with interest at the idea behind the Karel Doorman. It is not about all capabilities and certainly not about the size, because the Naval Service is looking for a much smaller ship, but from the Dutch navy the Irish interest is confirmed by an insider. In particular, the diversity and flexibility of the concept would appeal to the Irish.

The Dutch shipbuilder Damen is also in contact with Ireland, the company confirms in a statement after questions from Marineschepen.nl last Friday: "we have a good relationship with Ireland and do various smaller projects with them, which is mainly group-wide (civil). In addition, there is also talk about a possible construction of a multi-role vessel, just like about other (civil) projects."

The company does not want to give further details.

At the end of last year, representatives of the Irish Defence were able to take a look aboard the Dutch Joint Support Ship, Karel Doorman, when the ship moored in Cobh. It was striking that an Irish helicopter landed on the helideck, something that the Irish pilot corps cannot do on ships of their own navy, in the absence of ships with a helicopter deck.

Afterwards, the Dutch ambassador told The Journal that "shipbuilders in the Netherlands are likely to compete for the construction of the Irish Navy's proposed multi-role vessel (MRV) when it is put out to tender."

According to sources from The Journal, since brexit shipbuilders of the continent are more likely to win the tender.

​Ireland interested in small version Karel Doorman

*from the original Dutch

https://marineschepen.nl/nieuws/Ierland-geintereseerd-in-concept-Karel-Doorman-230123.html