LE Niamh

Niamh (P52)  is a Roisin Class Offshore Patrol Vessel in the Irish Naval Service.  She is the youngest ship in service in the Irish fleet, and is named after Niamh, queen of Tir no nOg, from Irish mythology.

 

The second of class Roisin Class Offshore Patrol Vessel, Niamh was built by Appledore Shipbuilders in Devon, UK, she entered service with the Irish Naval Service in July 2001, and is based at the Haulbowline Island, Cork Harbour Headquarters and Dockyard.

The ship was designed by STX Canada Marine (formerly Kvaerner Masa Marine) and has an all-steel hull based on the Mauritian Vigialnt patrol vessel launched in 1995, but without the helicopter deck and hangar facilities. The high level of automation incorporated into the ship's systems allows the ship to be operated with just 44 crew including six officers. The crew is provided with comfortable accommodation. The vessel is designed for winter North Atlantic operations.

Niamh was involved in the rescue of the Canadian navy submarine Chicoutimi off the north west coast of Ireland on October 5th 2004.

 

The Niamh played an important role in the seizure of €750 million of cocaine off the Irish coast in November 2008, as part of Operation Seabight.  It was used by authorities to approach and board the yacht Dances with Waves, which contained 75 bales of the controlled substance.

She is seen here departing Leith and heading for Iceland.

KV Leikvin

The Norwegian Coast Guard, or Kystvakten in Norwegian, is a part of the Royal Norwegian Navy, but has separate vessels, many of which are purpose-built. All Coast Guard vessels have the prefix KV. Four of these vessels are capable of embarking one or more helicopters. Norway's exclusive economic zone (EEZ), the Coast Guard's area of responsibility, is about 2.2 million square kilometers, the largest in Western Europe.

The flag of the Coast Guard is the International Inspection Pennant as ratified by the North Sea Fisheries Convention of 1882.

The Coast Guard was established 1 April 1977. Before that, the functions of a coast guard had been carried out by different organisations within the Royal Norwegian Navy. One of the oldest of these organisations were groups of navy ships organised to prevent foreign ships from fishing in Norwegian territorial waters. A Coast Guard division named  Det Regionale Sjømilitære Fiskerioppsyn has now taken on that responsibility. Even earlier, no specialized guard system existed - guarding the home territorial waters was carried out by regular ships from the Navy itself, and it was not until after WWI that purpose-built vessels was constructed and commissioned.

After the Second World War, no dedicated guard and surveilaice ships were built until 1957, when three whaling boats bought from South-Georgia came into service as the Andenes-class; Andenes, Nordkapp and Senja. These ship names were later handed over to those of the Nordkapp-class in 1980. The new Nordkapp-class is still in commission today.

The Coast Guard Squadron South is made up from the following vessels:

Leikvin, Alesund, Nornen and Njord.

KV Leikvin is seen here in Leith following a patrol in the North Sea.

HrMs Dolfijn

The Walrus Class Submarine is the only submarine class currently in operation in the Royal Netherlands Navy.  They have been in use since 1990 and are all named after sea mammals.

The Walrus class submarines are unusual in that instead of a cross-shaped assembly of stern diving planes and rudders, they mount four combined rudders and diving planes in an "X" configuration. This tail configuration was first tested in 1960 on the United States Navy's Uss Albacore (AGSS 569), but has since been used only by the Walrus class, all Swedish Navy submarines since the Sjöormen class, the Royal Austrialian Navy's Collins class nad the German Type 212A.  

The submarines were in high demand by NATO during the Cold War since they combined a highly skilled crew with a very silent boat. At that time the majority of NATO submarines were either Nuclear or Brown water subs. After the cold war, the subs have been tasked for many intelligence gathering operations (still classified) in the Yugoslavian region, Iraq and Caribbean.

In 2007, the cabinet approved an upgrade of the four operational subs and recruitment of additional crew to improve overall operational availability. The upgrades are focussed on near-shore operations and integration with new weapons. These include the US migration from the current MK 48 mod-4 torpedo to the mod-7 version.

In June 2010, Netherlands agreed to deploy one submarine to help combat piracy in the waters off Somalia. Possible missions could include, signals intelligence; going close to shore and intercepting pirates' radio signals, and the tracking of Pirate Vessels.

She is seen here departing Faslane

She is seen here arriving in the Port of Leith (Edinburgh) after a major NATO excercise in the North Sea.

A close up of her conning tower

A close up of her hull sonar

Hmy Britannia

Some more images of the former Royal Yacht Britannia...

Note the new cafe situated on what was her viewing deck.

Hms Severn

The ninth and current Hms Severn (P282) is a River Class Offshore Patrol Vessel of the Royal Navy.Named after the River Severn, the ship is the first to bear the name in 56-years.

She was built by Vosper Thornycroft in Southampton to serve as fishery protection units within the United Kingdom's waters along with her two sister ships Tyne (P281) and Mersey (P283). All three were commissioned into service in 2003 to replace the five older Island Class Patrol Vessels.

Hms Severn was affiliated with the city of Newport in September 2003 and awarded the freedom of the city in June 2006.

Hms Severn and her sisters Hms Tyne and Hms Mersey are all owned by shipbuilders the VT Group and leased to the RN for the next five years – with the option to continue to lease, buy them outright or hand them back to the Hampshire-based defence firm.

See is seen heading here to the Port of Leith (Edinburgh) for some R & R after a patrol in the North Sea.

Seen here on the quayside

Niels Juel Class Frigates

The Niels Juel Class were made up from a three ship class of corvettes, They were in service with the Royal Danish Navy from 1978 until 2009. They were built in Aalborg Shipyard in Denmark and were launched in the period 1978-1980. In 1998-2000 the three vessels had a mid-life update, as well as a large update on the electrical systems.

The three ships were named HDMS Niels Juel (F354) (nicknamed NIJU), HDMS Olfert Fischer (F355) (nicknamed OLFI) and HDMS Peter Tordenskiold (F356) (nicknamed PETO). All three vessels were named after famous Danish Admirals, with the debatabale exception of Peter Tordenskjold, a Norwegian-born officer who served during the personal union of Norway and Denmark from 1415 to 1814.

The ships were scheduled for replacement by the Ivar Huitfeldt class frigates.

HDMS Peter Tordenskjold is seen here making her last foreign port visit (Leith, Edinburgh) before heading back home to pay off.

Hdms Olfert Fischer seen here arriving in Leith

On the berth

Fgs Bayern

The Type 123 Brandenburg Class frigates were ordered in June 1989 to replace the Hamburg Class. The frigates are primarily tasked with anti-submarine operations, but they also contribute to anti-air defence, the tactical command of group forces and surface operations. The ships form part of the Wilhelmshaven-based 6th frigate squadron.  Drawing on the experience of the aborted 'Nato frigate for the nineties' project and the construction of the German Type 122 multi-mission frigate, as well as German modularisation techniques, Hamburg shipbuilders Blohm + Voss developed a combined Meko and improved serviceability Type 122 design.

The all-steel ship has stealth features, extra space for task group personnel and fin stabilisers. It is designed to carry two AgustaWestland Sea Lynx mk88 helicopters and a rigid inflatable boat for boarding operations.

The first ship, Brandenburg (F215), was built by Blohm + Voss and commissioned in October 1994; the second, Schleswig-Holstein (F216), was built by Kiel-based shipbuilder Howaldtswerke and commissioned in November 1995; the third, Bayern (F217), was built by Emden-based Thyssen Nordseewerke and commissioned in May 1996; and the fourth, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (F218), by the Bremen-based builder, Bremer Vulkan, commissioned in November 1996.

The Brandenburg has a displacement of 4,700t fully loaded and an overall length of 138.9m. The ship has a maximum speed of 29kt using the gas turbines and 18kt using the diesel engines, with a range of 4,000nm at 18kt. The ship can accommodate 118 crew (including 19 air crew).

She is seen here alongside the Port of Leith (Edinburgh) in February 2009

Hdms Esbern Snare

HDMS Esbern Snare (L17) and her sister ship HDMS Absalon (L16) are the biggest ships ever in the Royal Danish Navy are the two members of the Absalon Class command and support ships.

The ships are the first signs of the changes taking place in the Royal Danish Navy. The primary objective for the Royal Danish Navy will in the future be international operations, and these two ships will be the backbone of these operations. The ships are primarily designed for command and support roles, with a large ro-ro deck, while the planned three new Ivar Huitfeldt Class Frigate will be equipped for a fighting role, and the possibility to use Tomahawk cruise missiles, a first for the Danish Navy. The new frigates will be very similar to the Absalon-class vessels, but without the large ro/ro deck. The frigates reached operational status in 2010 and 2011, and have replacing the Niels Juel class corvettes.

The two ships in the Absalon-class received full operational status in 2007.

She is seen here unloading her cargo in Leith on the 10th May 2009.  I counted 34 trucks off loaded.