LÉ ''Aoife'' (P22) of the

Irish Naval Service The Naval Service () is the maritime component of the Defence Forces (Ireland), Defence Forces of Republic of Ireland, Ireland and is one of the three branches of the Irish Defence Forces. Its base is in Haulbowline, County Cork. Though prece ...

, now known as ''P62'' of the

Maritime Squadron of the Armed Forces of Malta The Maritime Squadron of the Armed Forces of Malta () is the naval component of the Armed Forces of Malta, Maltese military. The Maritime Squadron has responsibility for the security of Malta, Maltese territorial waters, maritime surveillance a ...

, was built as an

offshore patrol vessel A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defence, border security, or law enforcement. There are many designs for patrol boats, and th ...

in 1978. Serving the Irish Naval Service since 1979, ''Aoife'' was decommissioned by Ireland in 2015, and donated to the

Armed Forces of Malta The Armed Forces of Malta () is the name given to the combined armed services of Malta. The AFM is a brigade sized organisation consisting of a headquarters and three separate regiments, with minimal air and naval forces. Since Malta is the ...

. It was commissioned as the patrol boat ''P62'' on 28 June 2015.

Operational history

Irish service

''Aoife'' was first commissioned when

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

(then

EEC The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organisation created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...

) funding became available in response to the extension of the Irish Exclusive Fisheries Zone from to in 1976. Together with

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same Ship class, class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They o ...

s (decommissioned in 2001), (decommissioned in 2013) and (decommissioned in 2016), ''Aoife'' was built at Verolme Cork Dockyard. Irish Naval jack

Originally named after

Aoife Aoife ( , ) is an Irish and Gaelic feminine given name. The name is derived from the Irish Gaelic ''aoibh'', which means "beauty" or "radiance". It has been compared to the Gaulish name ''Esvios'' (Latinized ''Esuvius'', feminine '' Esuvia'') ...

step-mother A stepmother, stepmum or stepmom is a female non-biological parent married to one's preexisting parent. Children from her spouse's previous unions are known as her stepchildren. A stepmother-in-law is a stepmother of one's spouse. Culture Step ...

to the children of Lir, ''Aoife'' operated primarily as a fisheries protection vessel. ''Aoife'' also assisted however in emergency rescue operations and other naval support roles. In 1986

Richard Branson Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is an English business magnate who co-founded the Virgin Group in 1970, and controlled 5 companies remaining of once more than 400. Branson expressed his desire to become an entrepreneu ...

's ''Virgin Challenger II'' was attempting to break the transatlantic speed record set by in 1952. ''Challenger'' left New York Harbour on 26 June 1986 and refueled, as prearranged, at an oil rig on the

Grand Banks of Newfoundland The Grand Banks of Newfoundland are a series of underwater plateaus south-east of the island of Newfoundland on the North American continental shelf. The Grand Banks are one of the world's richest fishing grounds, supporting Atlantic cod, swordf ...

. However, four tons of water also entered her tanks and soon, ''Challenger'' needed more

fuel filter A fuel filter is a filter used to screen out foreign particles or liquids from the fuel. Most internal combustion engine An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an o ...

s. Branson's London control centre requested help from the RAF but the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

did not have a ship in the area. ''Aoife'', 160 miles distant, was informed and an RAF

Nimrod Nimrod is a Hebrew Bible, biblical figure mentioned in the Book of Genesis and Books of Chronicles, the Books of Chronicles. The son of Cush (Bible), Cush and therefore the great-grandson of Noah, Nimrod was described as a king in the land of Sh ...

dropped a canister of filters to ''Challenger''. ''Aoife'' reached ''Challenger'' at 00:43 on 29 June. Her crew refueled ''Challenger'', which went on to complete the voyage, taking two hours and nine minutes off the previous record. Branson invited representatives of the ships company to the celebrations in London, saying "We could not have succeeded without their help". In October 2004, ''Aoife'' assisted in the rescue of the

Canadian Forces The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; , FAC) are the unified Military, military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air commands referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Under the ''National Defenc ...

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

off the north-western coast of

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. In July 2007, ''Aoife'' assisted in the rescue of over 100 children taking part in a sailing regatta off Dun Laoghaire Harbour. Despite the ship's home port being Haulbowline Island in Cork Harbour, it had a close relationship with the city of

Waterford Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...

and its crew were involved in fund-raising for the children's ward of the University Hospital Waterford. LÉ ''Aoife'' was decommissioned in Waterford on 31 January 2015 and later donated to

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

Maltese service

''Aoife'' was commissioned into the

on 28 June 2015, and given the pennant number ''P62''. It is the largest vessel in the Maritime Squadron, being larger than the flagship, the offshore patrol boat . It arrived in Malta in November 2015, intended initially for use in humanitarian operations in the Mediterranean. On 24 May 2019, ''P62'' was involved in the recovery of a

WWII World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

aircraft engine off the

Grand Harbour The Grand Harbour (; ), also known as the Port of Marsa, is a natural harbour on the island of Malta. It has been substantially modified over the years with extensive docks ( Malta Dockyard), wharves, and fortifications. Description The h ...

. The engine, most probably that of a

Short Sunderland The Short S.25 Sunderland is a British flying boat Maritime patrol aircraft, patrol bomber, developed and constructed by Short Brothers for the Royal Air Force (RAF). The aircraft took its service name from the town (latterly, city) and port of ...

flying boat, was retrieved after a 14-hour operation. During 2020, the ship participated in joint training operations with the

Royal Netherlands Navy The Royal Netherlands Navy (, ) is the Navy, maritime service branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. It traces its history to 8 January 1488, making it the List of navies, third-oldest navy in the world. During the 17th and early 18th centurie ...

and

Hellenic Navy The Hellenic Navy (HN; , abbreviated ΠΝ) is the Navy, naval force of Greece, part of the Hellenic Armed Forces. The modern Greek navy historically hails from the naval forces of various Aegean Islands, which fought in the Greek War of Independ ...

Footnotes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aoife (P22) 1979 ships Former naval ships of the Republic of Ireland Naval ships of the Republic of Ireland Deirdre-class offshore patrol vessels Patrol vessels of Malta Ships built in Ireland