EPV for naval service

[EUFighter]

There is nothing to say the EPV will not be ordered. One additional P60 does not mean that there will not be further ordern to come.

[Sparky42]

There is nothing to say the EPV will not be ordered. One additional P60 does not mean that there will not be further ordern to come.

Exactly, it could very well be that this is the "ninth ship" that was floated (maybe it was already well in hand when the Program for Government was being drawn up which is why it ended up in it), and the replacement for Eithne is still waiting to be decided on?

[The Usual Suspect]

Hope you can keep the thread going for another ten years...

A man needs a hobby.

[na grohmiti]

STX France seem to have come up with their take on the 90m OPV with freight space. Interesting idea but I'd love to know where they squeeze in crew accommodation.

Key elements of the design, the helicopter hangar installed at the lower level is served by a lifting platform and is enclosed into a 500m² large storage area located aft which can be tuned to various missions. this space is able to store heavy RIB commando crafts, 20ft containers, and light army vehicles. RIB launching is ensured by the aft ramp or through two side doors. A unique overhead traveling crane can launch the RIBs as a davit and load containers directly from a harbor dock.
The superstructure is crowned by a panoramic bridge with an aviation control center, and shelters operational rooms and living quarters, as well as an unmanned aircraft.
Finally DEFENDSEAS is designed to integrate a large weapons and sensor suite which gives it the capability of a true warship.

Range	6000nm at economical speed
Displacement	2500T
Speed	25 Knots
Beam	15m
Length	90m
Armament	...
Crew	70

[Sparky42]

Yeah 70 crew plus hanger/cargo deck space on a 2500 ton ship, seems nuts to be honest, I couldn't see them fitting "Western" levels of Crew accommodation on board, also wonder what her endurance would be? To me it would look to be closer to the Corvette's sold to some Asian countries than something in Europe.

[hptmurphy]

Yeah 70 crew plus hanger/cargo deck space on a 2500 ton ship

Very possible indeed. At one point Eithne had 73 crew embarked without counting Air Corps people ..at 1900 tons and the accommodation was quite comfortable, far better than the PVs

Junior rates , four to a cabin, senior rates two, Officers cabin each and OC had his own flat, along with Flag officer Accom, plus various messes, recreation areas and Ward room.

[sofa]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xilYlZgqZl4

[Laners]

Very possible indeed. At one point Eithne had 73 crew embarked without counting Air Corps people ..at 1900 tons and the accommodation was quite comfortable, far better than the PVs

Junior rates , four to a cabin, senior rates two, Officers cabin each and OC had his own flat, along with Flag officer Accom, plus various messes, recreation areas and Ward room.

100+ or so on the first trip to the States .

[hptmurphy]

100+ or so on the first trip to the States .

Inclusive or exclusive of the 'passengers'???

[expat01]

Hope you can keep the thread going for another ten years, because thats the credible time scale now that another P60 is going on the blocks.

Ooh that sent me googling. So a fourth P60 in two years...is Eithne slated to retire by then? Because if the CPVs are getting replaced in a "like for something like" manner, this sounds promising.

[hptmurphy]

Ooh that sent me googling. So a fourth P60 in two years...is Eithne slated to retire by then? Because if the CPVs are getting replaced in a "like for something like" manner, this sounds promising.

As I've mentioned elsewhere, the maths speak for themselves.

To retain the same numbers in the foreseeable future we need to build three ships of some description, based on the fact that Eithne will be in service 36 years in five years, the peacocks a year longer based on build date.

The two P50s will be 21 and 19 years old at that point, so replacement with like for like if the P60s sort themselves out and give the same amount of service as their predecessors would mean that anything along the lines of EPVs / MRVs as extras would be a long way off.

[expat01]

Why does someone always spoil my party with math? Been that way since school.

[Sparky42]

So from Kevin Marum's Dail Questions thread here's Kenny's answer in regarding hull numbers:

The current Naval Service ship replacement programme will have replaced three Naval Service vessels by July 2016. Last week, agreement was reached with Babcock International for the provision of an additional ship for the Naval Service to be built in their facility in Appledore, Devon. This ship will be the same class as the three newest vessels, LÉ Samuel Beckett, LÉ James Joyce and LÉ William Butler Yeats. The agreed contract value for the further ship is €54.3 million (€66.78 million inclusive of VAT) and delivery is expected within two years, which ties in with the project planning process in place under the White Paper on Defence which will determine the Defence Organisation’s maritime capability requirements.

The White Paper also provides for the replacement of the current flagship, LÉ Eithne, by a multi-roled vessel (MRV). LÉ Eithne was built in 1984. In addition, the two existing Coastal Patrol Vessels, LÉ Ciara and LÉ Orla are due for replacement in the coming years (also built in 1984). It is outlined in the White Paper that these ships will be replaced with similar type vessels with countermine and counter IED capabilities.

To me that suggests that P64 is a ninth ship and the replacement of Eithne and the Peacocks remains "tbd" rather than P64 replacing Eithne.

[Toolbox]

P64 is the ninth ship.

Orla/Ciara & Eithne are not going anywhere for a good while yet.

As another thread is already saying, expand the ships and you need to expand establishment.

We have an establishment for 7 ships crewing 8.

We don't have the bodies to crew 9 without expansion.

And pay restoration to keep the youngest staff longer than 6-12 months.

[Sparky42]

P64 is the ninth ship.

Orla/Ciara & Eithne are not going anywhere for a good while yet.

As another thread is already saying, expand the ships and you need to expand establishment.

We have an establishment for 7 ships crewing 8.

We don't have the bodies to crew 9 without expansion.

And pay restoration to keep the youngest staff longer than 6-12 months.

Well we have 2 years before P 64 comes online so we have time to build up, from memory when FG floated it in the Election platform they did talk about increased funding/ manning for the navy to take the increase into account.