Eithne class, LÉ Eithne (P31): The last warship built in Ireland

[Botharman]

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LÉ Eithne was the flagship of the Irish Naval Service (An tSeirbhís Chabhlaigh) from 1984 until 2022, when she was decommissioned. She was the only ship in her class. She was named after Ethniu (spelled Eithne in modern Irish), a heroine in an old Irish mythological tale.

History

Eithne was laid down in 1982 at Verolme Dockyard in Rushbrooke, County Cork. She was completed and commissioned in 1984. The dockyard went into receivership the same year. She was to be the last warship of the Irish Naval Service built in Ireland, as the Samuel Beckett class which were the next class of vessels built specifically for the Irish Naval Service after Eithne were built by Appledore Shipbuilders in Devon, England. In 2006, she became the first Naval Service vessel to travel to the southern hemisphere, to participate in the commemoration of Admiral William Brown in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She participated in multiple rescue missions for migrants in the Mediterranean throughout her service life. In 2019 she was withdrawn from operations due to a still-ongoing lack of manpower in the Naval Service. She returned to service in March 2020 and was deployed to Cork as part of Ireland’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. She was decommissioned in 2022 along with LÉ Ciara and LÉ Orla. Pleas were made to convert her into a museum ship, however these failed and she left Ireland for the last time on June 1st 2024. She sailed to Ghent, Belgium, where she was scrapped.

Specifications
Crew: 86
Armament: 1x Bofors 57mm Naval Automatic Gun L/70, 2x Rh202 20mm cannons, 2x 7.62mm FN MAG machine gun
Displacement: 1,920t
Top speed: 37km/h (2 engines, 7,200HP each)
Length: 84.8m
Beam: 12m
Draught: 4.3m

Images

Sources

Eugenio´s Warships - P-31 Eithne
Eithne-class Patrol vessel: Full Specs & Armament
‘Last Irish warship built in Ireland’ leaves Cork Harbour for final time
Irish Naval Service says ‘sad goodbye’ to LÉ Eithne
Irish Naval Service help in the Fight against COVID-19 – Coast Monkey
Plea to convert LÉ Eithne into Cork naval museum, rather than selling it for scrap

[CharAznable3]

+1 a excellent simple but modern ship to bad no missiles

[ScimitarsCurse]

didnt even realise the republic or ireland had ever built a warship, would be cool to have more than one Irish vehicle in the game.

@Botharman

she became the first Naval Service vessel to travel to the southern hemisphere, to participate in the commemoration of Admiral William Brown in Buenos Aires, Argentina

Admiral Brown certainly had an intresting life, was certainly in the wrong place at the wrong time a couple times considering he got Impressed into the Royal Navy and then treated as a POW by the french when he deserted. Very cool that the irish sent a ship to argentina honour him one year.

Gentleman lived long enough for there to be a photgraph of him too! amazing stuff