 Aisling atHaulbowline, September 2007 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Ireland | |
| Name | LÉAisling |
| Namesake | Aisling, a vision poem |
| Builder | Verolme Dockyard, Cork |
| Laid down | 31 January 1979 |
| Launched | 3 October 1979 |
| Commissioned | 21 May 1980 |
| Decommissioned | 22 June 2016[1] |
| Homeport | Haulbowline Naval Base |
| Identification | |
| Fate | Decommissioned |
 Libya | |
| Name | Al-Karama |
| Commissioned | May 2018 |
| Homeport | Benghazi |
| Identification | |
| Status | in active service |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Emer-classoffshore patrol vessel |
| Displacement | 1019.5 tonnes standard |
| Length | 65.2 m (214 ft) overall |
| Beam | 10.5 m (34 ft) |
| Draught | 4.4 m (14 ft) |
| Speed | 31.5 km/h (17.0 kn) maximum |
| Complement | 46 (5 officers and 41 ratings) |
| Armament |
|
LÉAisling (Irish pronunciation:[ˈaʃl̠ʲəɲ]; meaning "[poetic] dream, vision"), now known asAl-Karama, was apatrol vessel in theIrish Naval Service from 1980 to 2016. She was built in Verolme Dockyard, Cork, Ireland in 1979 and originally named afterPatrick Pearse's poem, "Aisling" to commemorate the centenary of his birth.[2] During her career,Aisling participated in theSonia andMarita Ann incidents, and was one of the first ships to arrive on the scene of theAir India Flight 182 disaster, and subsequently participated in recovery operations.[3] She was the adopted ship ofGalway,[1] and officially decommissioned in her adopted city in June 2016.[1]
In March 2017, stripped of arms and armaments, she was sold to a Dutch broker, and in May 2018 a United Arab Emirates company sold her toKhalifa Haftar's internationally unrecognisedLibyan National Army, in violation of a UNarms embargo.[4] She was reportedly commissioned as the Libyan National Army'sflagship and namedAl-Karama (dignity).[5]
There were three Emer Class offshore patrol vessels (Modified version of Deirdre Class) built for the Irish Naval Service;Aisling was the last, built at Verolme 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.[6] Her secondary weapons system included two Rheinmetall 20mm Cannons capable of firing 1000 shells per minute at the range of 2 km.[6]
During September 1984, the vessel was involved in the arrest of theMarita Ann off the southwest coast of Ireland, which carried a cargo of arms and ammunition consigned to the IRA.LÉEmer, LÉAisling andLÉDeirdre maintained some distance until the arms entered Irish territorial waters. The contraband had come from the United States, and crossed the Atlantic on a fishing trawler, theValhalla. She did not approach the Irish coast, but transferred her illicit cargo to theMarita Ann outside Irish waters. The intelligence services were aware of the plot, andValhalla's voyage had been monitored by international agencies, and the naval service had begun to lay a trap once theMarita Ann leftDingle.Aisling (Lt Cdr J.Robinson) andEmer leftHaulbowline, withGardaí onboard both vessels.[citation needed]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. Such signals were ignored, and the vessel, which when illuminated byEmer's searchlights was revealed asMarita Ann, altered course. TheMarita Ann could not outrun either vessel, andAisling 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.[citation needed]
Two men,Martin Ferris and Gavin Mortimer were taken on board theEmer, John P. Crawley (a United States citizen) and John McCarthy were transferred to theAisling, and Michael "Mike" Browne (aged 42) remained on theMarita Ann, which was towed byAisling. The convoy, escorted by LEDeirdre, made its way toHaulbowline,Cobh, where a gathering of international media awaited its arrival.[citation needed]
In 1984 LÉAisling was involved an international incident with a 330-ton Spanish fishing trawler calledSonia, based in theBasque port ofOndarroa.Aisling came acrossSonia illegally fishing in Irish waters south of theSaltee Islands nearCounty Wexford.Sonia quickly retrieved its gear beforeAisling could send a boarding party. WhenSonia got underway, she would have hitAisling amidships had the patrol vessel's engines not been put full astern. As it was,Sonia missedAisling by 10 feet (3 m), a small margin given the weather conditions. According to the captain, the heavy trawler's hull would have slicedAisling's thin plating.[citation needed]
The episode continued withAisling giving chase and firing 600 warning shots.Sonia turned towardsAisling numerous times causing the latter to take evasive action. After five hours pursuing theSonia the captain of theAisling was ordered to break off as she approachedBritish waters.[7]
WhenAisling returned to its base inHaulbowline,Cobh that evening, news was fed back thatSonia sank due to sea conditions and both a German freighter and aSea King helicopter flying out ofRAF Brawdy had rescued the 13 crewmen. The Spaniards denied that any attempt had been made to ramAisling 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, MrPeter Barry, TD, reiterated this to the Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs, who happened to be inLuxembourg negotiating Spain's entry to theEuropean Economic Community.[citation needed]
Lieutenant CommanderRoberta O'Brien, the state's first female commander of a Naval Service ship, took command of LÉAisling in 2008.[8]
The vessel was officially decommissioned in its adopted city of Galway in June 2016.[1]
At the time of decommissioning, a proposal was made to potentially convertAisling into a museum ship in Galway as a tourist attraction.[9] However, while representatives of the Department of Defence advised that the proposal was "under consideration" as of December 2016, it was noted that the vessels of the type may be "unsuitable for conversion to use as museums or visitor attractions".[9]
Aisling was put up for a public auction on 23 March 2017 at the Carrigaline Hotel in County Cork,[10] and was purchased by a Dutch broker for his clients for a reported price of €110,000, there being no other higher bids.[11] As of 10 May 2017, the vessel was listed on a brokerage website with an asking price of $750,000 (€685,000),[12][13] with the difference between sale price and asking price attracting attention from representative groups.[14][15]
In 2018 LÉAisling was commissioned, under the nameAl Karama (Arabic:الكرامة,romanized: al-karāma,lit. 'dignity'), as the flagship of the Libyan National Army's Navy.[16][5]
 Irish Naval Service | |
|---|---|
 Libyan Navy |
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 Maritime Squadron of the Armed Forces of Malta |
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 Nigerian Navy |
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