A NAVY IS BORN

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 2, Issue 154, 1 May 1940, Page 2

A NAVY IS BORN

IRELAND'S FIRST WARSHIP BUILT BY BRITAIN A navy was born oil the 'river Thames when a pennant was hoisted in a coastal motor torpedo boat alongside a pier at Chelsea, two miles above London Bridge. It was the first warship ever " r to belong to Eire (the Irish Free State) and Mr J. Dulanty, the High Com.-! missioner, took delivery of it on behalf of the Eire Government by send ing the pennant fluttering to the masthead. The historic little ceremony tool? place in the presence of Commander Dunphy, 11. N., naval adviser to the Eire Defence Minister, and Sir John Thornycroft, head of the w-orld-fam-ous firm of warship constructors which built the craft at their Hamp-ton-on-Thames shipyard, a few miles further up the river. The vessel, to be known as M.l, is the first of six which have been ordered by the Eire Government to make their neutrality effective by patrolling their coasts, The torpedo boats will have a speed of 50 miles an hour, and will carry depth charges as well as torpedoes. There is no record that the Irish, although islanders, ever possessed any sort of national ileet, though it is possible that some of the ancient warships known as "curraghs" which carried raiders to Britain thirteen centuries ago, were owned by the kings of that turbulent period.