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For many years now naval vessels have been seen displaying unofficial crests or mascots on the funnels. I remember Deirdre being a wooly mammoth"tho original of the species" and emer was pepe le pew for some reason.One of the Peacocks was Yosemite Sam, Eithne used to be the Pink Panther,but changed recently I believe,while Roisin is Taz.
This practice started on Orla when they were bringing her home from Scotland. One of the crew was a bit of an artist and he noticed the blank funnel badges where an earlier logo/crest had been painted out. The crew were well impressed with their newly aquired firepower in the form of the Oto Melara 76mm and they fancied themselves as gun-slingers. This is how Sam made an appearance. Next time you look at him take note of the DSM he's wearing since Orla intercepted the "Brime".
Ciara was next and chose roadrunner because of the peacocks' speed. The decision is made by the crew in a pretty democratic manner but of course the great dictator in the captain's chair gets the final say. They don't usually rush to pick one for a new ship,and wait until the ship's "personality" shows through.
The reason behind Pepe and the Emer is a good example. Emer was the first ship to be fitted with a (pretty basic) sewage treatment plant. The result was a constant smell of shit below decks. The ship's motto was "Rattle and Hum"! Anyone confused about the rattle part should try and hold a conversation or watch TV in the senior rates' mess when the ship is under way.
the original unofficial crests on the peacocks were inhereted from the RN.....the other ones are subject to debate.Eithnes original nick name was the harbour hotel...given the amount of time she gave alomgside during her first year in comission.
Deirdre was LE submarine due to her tendecies to take a nose dive when her 'bath' filled with water....it took awhile to recover from the nose down perspective
Covid 19 is not over ....it's still very real..Hand Hygiene, Social Distancing and Masks.. keep safe
Here is the current funnel Mascot on Eithne. I wonder what caused the loss of "the Pink Panther"? Was it something to do with the stereotype image of sailors perhaps?
Aoife's is of a witch, as far as I can recall. This was decided on a Leb cruise at the starts of the 90's when a competition was held on board. The witch stems from the fact that Aoife was the mother of the children of Lir, and being a nasty type witch, turned the children into swans. He unofficial motto (well, back then anyway) was "Wicked Witch of the West".
I took part in this competition, and in fact, drew the crest which is now on her funnel, on an old 286 machine, using the old MS Paint program. Way too much time on my hands!
Actually, I was quite lucky...had an EGA display...though yes...I had the turbo button as well!!! This was a fairly rugged machine...it even survived a dunking in the bath in the sick berth on Aoife (DON'T ASK!!!!!!)...only problem was, the GO (who is now a Lt Cdr I believe) was addicted to one of the games I had...an old naval simulator called Harpoon...I woke on more than one occasion in the wee small hours to find said GO playing the game, and taking it VERY seriously indeed!.
I notice the Mascot has changed again. I'm sure I'll be corrected but It looks like a Black panther or something. Not unlike the old Air Corps Fighter squadron badge.
Catch-22 says they have a right to do anything we can't stop them from doing.
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