IrishNavalService         bbermingham@corkcity.ie    www.bbermingham.com

Naval Service History

 I am delighted to represent the City of Cork as Deputy Lord Mayor this evening.

It is indeed a honour to be amongst those who have given the finest of service to the Irish Nation down the years to the present day.

The British Royal Navy withdrew from Cork Harbour on 1 1 July 1938

It’s hard to believe that the waters of Ireland are the full responsibility of the Irish Government for only 63 years.

1939 -1945

The outbreak of war in September 1939 spurred the Government to set up the Marine and Coast watching Service.

Ireland's neutral stance further highlighted the necessity for Ireland to have its own Navy to uphold its neutrality.

By 1941 the Service consisted of a force of 6 MTBs and 4 assorted craft and manned by about 300 all ranks.

The task during the war years focused on

1.  Port control duties such as mine laying (Cork and Waterford),

2.  Regulation of merchant shipping,

3.  Upkeep of navigational aids and fishery protection.

At the end of the war in 1945, the Coast watching Service was disbanded and the Marine side was wound down.

1946 - 1971

In Sept 1946 the Marine Service became a component of the Defence Forces.

Thus was born the modern day Irish Naval Service.

From numbers, which had slipped from about 1,300 to 160 all ranks, strength increased rapidly.

Three Flower Class Corvettes were purchased from Great Britain in 1946/47.

With the disposal in 1952 of the last craft which had served during the war, these three corvettes became the backbone of the Naval Service during the 1950's and 60's.

During these years the numbers of personnel (400 ratings and 40 officers) remained constant.

The first Naval Service Cadet intake was trained at Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, UK in 1947.

Between 1968 and 1970, the corvettes had reached the end of their working lives all were withdrawn from service. In 1970 a decision was taken to buy 3 coastal minesweepers from the U.K. These were taken over and commissioned in 1971.

1972 - 1995

In 1971 a contract was signed with Verlome Cork Dockyard (VCD) to build an offshore patrol vessel for the Naval Service.

This ship, L.E. DEIRDRE, was commissioned in 1972. The building of L.E. DEIRDRE marked a milestone in the development of the N.S., being the first ship purpose-built in Ireland to patrol in Irish waters.

In 1976 our Exclusive Economic Zone was extended from 12 to 200 miles. This placed a huge additional burden on the Naval Service.

This was recognized by the European Community who part funded the building / purchase of subsequent ships.

Three new patrol vessels were built (L.E. EMER, L.E. AOIFE & L.E. AISLING) between 1978 and 1980 - all improved on L.E. Deirdre, which was the prototype of the class.

The auxiliary ships L.E. FERDIA chartered for one year in 1977 briefly strengthened the fleet and L.E. SETANTA purchased from Irish Lights in 1976 and sold in 1980.

The last ship built at VCD was the Naval Service flagship - HELICOPTER PATROL VESSEL (HPV) L.E. EITHNE in 1984.

The three minesweepers were sold between 1984 - 1986. Much of their work had been coastal patrol duty and they were replaced by two coastal patrol vessels (CPVS) L.E. CIARA and L.E. ORLA in 1988.

These CPVs were built in the UK for service in Hong Kong and were subsequently purchased by the Irish Government.

The Irish Navy goes from strength to strength, its role is increasing from fishery protection

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