LÉ Aisling (; meaning " dream, vision"), now known as Al-Karama, was a patrol vessel in the Irish Naval Service from 1980 to 2016. She was built in Verolme Dockyard, Cork, Ireland in 1979 and originally named after Patrick Pearse's poem, "Aisling" to commemorate the centenary of his birth. During her career, Aisling participated in the Sonia and Marita Ann incidents, and was one of the first ships to arrive on the scene of the Air India Flight 182 disaster, and subsequently participated in recovery operations. She was the adopted ship of Galway, She was reportedly commissioned as the Libyan National Army's flagship and named Al-Karama (dignity). Her secondary weapons system included two Rheinmetall 20mm Cannons capable of firing 1000 shells per minute at the range of 2 km.

When Aisling returned to its base in Haulbowline, Cobh that evening, news was fed back that Sonia sank due to sea conditions and both a German freighter and a Sea King helicopter flying out of RAF Brawdy had rescued the 13 crewmen. The Spaniards denied that any attempt had been made to ram Aisling and accused the Naval Service of causing their ship to sink by riddling it with gunfire. The Irish Government denied this, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Peter Barry, TD, reiterated this to the Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs, who happened to be in Luxembourg negotiating Spain's entry to the European Economic Community.

Decommissioning from Irish service

thumb|Aisling at [[Dublin, July 2009]]

Lieutenant Commander Roberta O'Brien, the state's first female commander of a Naval Service ship, took command of LÉ Aisling in 2008.

The vessel was officially decommissioned in its adopted city of Galway in June 2016. However, while representatives of the Department of Defence advised that the proposal was "under consideration" as of December 2016, it was noted that the vessels of the type may be "unsuitable for conversion to use as museums or visitor attractions". and was purchased by a Dutch broker for his clients for a reported price of €110,000, there being no other higher bids. As of 10 May 2017, the vessel was listed on a brokerage website with an asking price of $750,000 (€685,000), with the difference between sale price and asking price attracting attention from representative groups.

In 2018 LÉ Aisling was commissioned, under the name Al Karama (), as the flagship of the Libyan National Army's Navy.

See also

References

Sources

  • MacGinty, Tom. (1995) The Irish Navy - A story of courage and tenacity, 1st Irish Ed., Tralee: Kerryman; , Chapter 18.