LÉ ''Orla'' (P41) was a in 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 ...

. Like the rest of her class, she was originally designed for use by the

British 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 ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

waters, and was delivered in 1985 by

Hall, Russell & Company Hall, Russell & Company, Limited was a shipbuilder based in Aberdeen, Scotland. History Brothers James and William Hall, Thomas Russell, a Glasgow engineer, and James Cardno Couper founded the company in 1864 to build steam engines and boile ...

as HMS ''Swift'' (P243). "Long Éireannach" (LÉ), Irish for "Irish ship", is the designation given to ships in the

's fleet. The ship was named after Orla, a grand niece (great niece) of

Brian Boru Brian Boru (; modern ; 23 April 1014) was the High King of Ireland from 1002 to 1014. He ended the domination of the High King of Ireland, High Kingship of Ireland by the Uí Néill, and is likely responsible for ending Vikings, Viking invasio ...

who was murdered by her husband around 1090. The crest shows the arms of Clare on the top segment and a sword and royal collar on the base. She was decommissioned, together with her

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 ...

, in 2022.

Specifications

''Orla'' has a

displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and physics *Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

of 712 tons fully loaded. The ship was launched in 1984 and purchased by the Irish government in 1988. She is powered by two Crossley

Pielstick SEMT Pielstick was a French company that designed and built large diesel engines. Its full name was (Company of Thermal Machines Studies). Founded in 1948, SEMT was bought by MAN Diesel in 2006 During its existence as an independent compa ...

18 PA6V 280 diesels rated at , providing a top speed of and a range of at . She carries a crew of 39, including six officers. She is armed with one 76 mm/62

OTO Melara OTO Melara was a subsidiary of the Italian company Finmeccanica, today Leonardo, active in the defence sector, with factories in Brescia and La Spezia. From 1 January 2016, the activities of OTO Melara merged into Leonardo's Defence Systems ...

compact gun; two 20 mm Rh202

Rheinmetall Rheinmetall AG () is a German automotive and arms manufacturer, headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany. The group was promoted to the DAX, Germany's leading stock market index, in March 2023. It is the largest German and fifth largest Europe ...

weapons and four 12.7mm heavy machine-guns.

History

In November 2008, LÉ ''Orla'' assisted in Operation Seabight which resulted in the largest seizure of

cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...

in the history of the state. In mid-2014, LÉ ''Orla'' was temporarily kept out of commission to facilitate the removal of asbestos which had been discovered on the ship. On 8 July 2022, LÉ ''Orla'' was decommissioned together with and .

References

External links

IDF LÉ ''Orla'' webpage
1985 ships 1997 in Hong Kong Ships built by Hall, Russell & Company Naval ships of the Republic of Ireland Former naval ships of the Republic of Ireland Peacock-class corvettes of the Irish Naval Service Peacock-class corvettes {{Ireland-maritime-stub