I wish I had kept the drawing of what the P30 class was proposed to look like.
The P20 came in 3 versions.
Deirdre was the prototype, that could only be improved on.
Emer took on most of the changes that 5 years of experience with Deirdre had given.
Aoife and Aisling are almost identical to each other(or were when they were built) being built side by side in Verolme. Both had the new Gravity davits, Both had antennae in the same places, their layouts below were similar.
If they had got another 2,improved further on the P22, they may have developed the perfect OPV, and could have sold it on to the foreign navies now developing their own versions of what we have been using for 30 years.
I think one of the RN Island class is now seen on "Whale Wars"....painted in "seductive black".
But instead the price of 5 ships was thrown into the design and construction of one ship, which was ultimately too small to be what she was intended for, and without a similar sister ship, of no practical use. When Eithne was tied up, and the option of a helideck was required, we had no backup. Air India springs to mind.
But Aoife has served us well, for what cost at the time about IR£5m. Equivalent to €19m today. There is a good chance too that the majority of her current crew (ofigi included) were not born when she was doing early patrols, sending her crews into open seas in a Gemini, or if they were lucky, a Liberty boat.
When they stood watches they didn't have a seat, unless they were the Captain. Seamen were still men(more or less). They didn't have RTE Television, never mind Sky..
I wonder what the next 30 years will bring?
The P20 came in 3 versions.
Deirdre was the prototype, that could only be improved on.
Emer took on most of the changes that 5 years of experience with Deirdre had given.
Aoife and Aisling are almost identical to each other(or were when they were built) being built side by side in Verolme. Both had the new Gravity davits, Both had antennae in the same places, their layouts below were similar.
If they had got another 2,improved further on the P22, they may have developed the perfect OPV, and could have sold it on to the foreign navies now developing their own versions of what we have been using for 30 years.
I think one of the RN Island class is now seen on "Whale Wars"....painted in "seductive black".
But instead the price of 5 ships was thrown into the design and construction of one ship, which was ultimately too small to be what she was intended for, and without a similar sister ship, of no practical use. When Eithne was tied up, and the option of a helideck was required, we had no backup. Air India springs to mind.
But Aoife has served us well, for what cost at the time about IR£5m. Equivalent to €19m today. There is a good chance too that the majority of her current crew (ofigi included) were not born when she was doing early patrols, sending her crews into open seas in a Gemini, or if they were lucky, a Liberty boat.
When they stood watches they didn't have a seat, unless they were the Captain. Seamen were still men(more or less). They didn't have RTE Television, never mind Sky..
I wonder what the next 30 years will bring?
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