Ireland’s Naval Service welcomes LÉ Samuel Beckett into the fleet
The Irish Naval Service has taken official command of its latest vessel, LE Samuel Beckett, following an ceremony in Dublin lead by Mrs Caroline Murphy (niece of Samuel Beckett) and Enda Kenny, An Taoiseach and Minister of Defence.
“The naming and commissioning carried with it a great sense of pride and anticipation for all Naval Service personnel. I know that the ship’s first captain, Commander Ken Minehane and his crew are eagerly looking forward to working up the new ship to its full potential,” remarked An Taoiseach.
An Taoiseach and Minister for Defence, Enda Kenny T.D. receives Military Honours at the naming and Commissioning Ceremonies for the naval ship LÉ Samuel Beckett, on 17th May 2014
He added that the role of the INS presented a range of challenging roles now more than ever before, asserting the integrity of Ireland’s territorial waters and protecting the waters around Ireland.
“The continuing success of the INS in fulfilling the roles of fishery protection, marine search and rescue and it many other tasks have resulted in a much more widespread public appreciation of the importance of the INS to the entire community.
Work on the second ship, LÉ James Joyce at the boatyard in Appeldore, is well advanced and should be completed in early 2015.
The news ships, replacing LÉ Emer and LÉ Aoife respectively are larger at 89.5m (length) x 14m (beam) x 3.8m (draft) and cost €108m to build. Both vessels carry 1 x 76mm Oto Melara Compact Naval guns; 2 x 20mm RH 202 Rheinmetall cannons; 2 x 12.7mm heavy machine guns and 4 x 7.62mm general purpose machine guns and have a maximum speed of 23 knots.
A main crew of 44 will be supported by 10 trainees.
