LÉ Deirdre (P20)
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| History | |
|---|---|
 Ireland
| |
| Name: | Deirdre |
| Namesake: | Deirdre |
| Builder: | Verolme Cork Dockyard, Cork |
| Yard number: | 819 |
| Laid down: | 10 August 1971 |
| Launched: | 21 January 1972 |
| Commissioned: | 19 June 1972 |
| Decommissioned: | 2001 |
| Struck: | 2003 |
| Homeport: | Cork |
| Identification: | P20 |
| Fate: | Sold for scrapping |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Offshore patrol vessel |
| Displacement: | 972 tonnes max |
| Length: | 56.1 m (184 ft) overall |
| Beam: | 10.42 m (34.2 ft) |
| Draught: | 4.38 m (14.4 ft) |
| Speed: | 33.3 km/h (18.0 kn) maximum |
| Boats & landing craft carried: | 3 |
| Complement: | 47 (6 officers and 41 ratings ) |
| Armament: |
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LÉ Deirdre (P20) was a ship in the Irish Naval Service. She was named after Deirdre, a tragic heroine from Irish mythology who committed suicide after her lover's murder.
Deirdre was built as a replacement for the Ton-class minesweepers. She was to have longer range and be a more seaworthy ship for work in the Atlantic. Deirdre became the prototype for the later Emer-type vessels.
Deirdre was one of the vessels involved in the 1979 Fastnet race rescue operations, assisting the crews of two yachts - SV Regardless of Cork and SV Silver Apple of Howth.
Deirdre was sold at public auction for IR£190,000. She was purchased by the English yacht chartering company Seastream International for conversion into luxury charter yacht Tosca IV for the company's owner, businessman Christopher Matthews. Speaking on the radio, a Seastream spokesman appeared pleased with their bargain as they had been prepared to bid up to IR£500,000. The auction starting price had been IR£60,000.
The conversion in a Polish shipyard was not completed as the English owner died. In 2007 she was towed to Brazil for further refit and completion.[1] Substantially complete, she arrived at Jacksonville, Florida in September 2012 for final outfitting as Santa Rita I. However, in August 2014, Santa Rita I was towed to Green Cove Springs, Florida, for breaking.[2]
References
- ↑ "M/Y Tosca IV". Superyacht Times. 24 September 2007. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
- ↑ http://forum.irishmilitaryonline.com/showthread.php?2067-L-E-Deirdre&p=418082&viewfull=1#post418082
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