PHOTO GALLERY #22: William Butler Yeats, offshore patrol vessel of the Irish Naval Service

William Butler Yeats, offshore patrol vessel of the Irish Naval Service

This is the fifth photo gallery (see previous posts) from my visit to Kiel, on the first weekend of the 136th Kiel Week. The Kiel Week (German: Kieler Woche) or Kiel Regatta is an annual sailing event in Kiel, the capital of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The first weekend of the Kiel Week, the famous Naval Base of Kiel, opens its gates for just four hours per day, for thousands of tourists who are eager to visit the German Navy warships and dozens of foreign warships which visit the city of Kiel, to honor the Kiel Week. Τhe Irish Naval Service was represented by the P63 William Butler Yeats, the third Samuel Beckett class offshore patrol vessel (OPV) which was commissioned in October 2016. The Samuel Beckett class OPVs are the largest and most modern Irish warships today and are named after literary figures. The ships have 90 meters length and over 2,200 tons displacement at full load. As all Irish warships, the Samuel Beckett class OPVs are armed with an OTO Melara 3in (76mm) automatic gun installed forward of the bridge, two Rheinmetall 20mm Rh-202 guns, and several M2HB 12.7mm heavy machine guns or FN MAG 7.62mm light machine guns. Enjoy photos from my visit aboard LÉ William Butler Yeats, a very modern patrol vessel!

FLEETS #17: Spanish Navy, Polish Navy and Irish Naval Service today

Written by D-Mitch

This is the fifth article about various countries' navies today. In these articles, I briefly describe a country's naval fleet by reporting the ships in each type/category of warships and by providing a nice image where all the types of warships are illustrated and the units of its class are reported. I include the vessels that will enter in service this year and I have excluded those that are about to be decommissioned. I deliberately excluded many classes of auxiliary ships; those that they have "0" defence capacity and those that have secondary roles such as hydrographic survey ships, tugs, depollution vessels and training ships.

The Irish Naval Service fleet today

Written by D-Mitch

The Force is strong with the Irish Naval Service!
Samuel Beckett crest, a photo by Salvador de la Rubia

The Naval Service (Irish: an tSeirbhís Chabhlaigh) is the maritime component of the Defence Forces of Ireland and is one of the three branches of the Irish Defence Forces. The Naval Service provides the maritime component of the State's Defence capabilities and is the State's principal seagoing agency. The Naval Service operates jointly with the Army and Air Corps. Its base is in Haulbowline, County Cork. The Naval Service is tasked with a variety of roles including defending territorial seas, deterring intrusive or aggressive acts, conducting maritime surveillance, maintaining an armed naval presence, ensuring right of passage, protecting marine assets, countering port blockades; people or arms smuggling, illegal drugs interdiction, and providing the primary diving team in the State. The Service supports Army operations in the littoral and by sea lift, has undertaken supply and reconnaissance missions to overseas peace support operations and participates in foreign visits all over the world in support of Irish Trade and Diplomacy.