Wylam - Fog on the Tyne

 

Fog on the Tyne Wylam

LÉ William Butler Yeats Tyne Visit

Long Éireannach William Butler Yeats (P63) is a Samuel Beckett-class offshore patrol vessel of the Irish Naval Service. It's role is to provide border protection, immigration law-enforcement, fisheries protection, as well as search and rescue duties.

LÉ William Butler Yeats (P63)
Samuel Beckett-class offshore patrol vessel

It is one of four Irish ships (Long Éireannach - LÉ) in the class, all named after Irish Poets. The LÉ William Butler Yeats was built by Babcock Marine Appledore and commissioned 17 October 2016. It has ships complement of 44 (plus 10 trainees). It carries three x 8 m (RHIB) rigid-hulled inflatable boats. It uses Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAV) to provide aviation capability.  The ship can carry three 6.1 m sea containers and has a 5-ton 9.56 m crane aft. 

LÉ William Butler Yeats (P63)
Samuel Beckett-class offshore patrol vessel

It is armed with a 76 mm Oto Melara cannon and two 20 mm Rheinmetall cannons. There are mountings for 7.62 mm & 12.7 mm machine guns.

LÉ William Butler Yeats (P63)
76 mm Oto Melara cannon

The LÉ William Butler Yeats arrived on the River Tyne on 23rd October 2022.  It was tied up at Spillers Wharf.

LÉ William Butler Yeats (P63)
Arriving at Spillers Wharf

LÉ William Butler Yeats (P63)

The ship was on a two-day tour to take part in the Tyneside Irish Festival.

LÉ William Butler Yeats (P63)
River Tyne Spillers Wharf

LÉ William Butler Yeats (P63)
River Tyne Spillers Wharf

A reception was held on the evening of 25th October for the Tyneside Irish community hosted by the Officer Commanding and the Consul General of Ireland for Northern England. 

LÉ William Butler Yeats (P63)
Tyneside Irish Reception IJ

LÉ William Butler Yeats (P63)
Tyneside Irish Reception Irish Band

LÉ William Butler Yeats (P63)
Officer Commanding

LÉ William Butler Yeats (P63)
Tyneside Irish Reception 

**

Function held last night onboard LÉ WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS as part of the @Tyneside_Irish Festival 🍀🎶 @IrlNorthEngland @IrelandEmbGB

Great night had by all 🇮🇪⚓#navy #diplomaticmission #irishabroad #seayourfuture pic.twitter.com/p1leIOJAtC

— Irish Naval Service (@naval_service) October 26, 2022

**

The Long Éireannach William Butler Yeats (P63) left the River Tyne on 26th October.

River Tyne - HNLMS Karel Doorman

 Visiting the Tyne and docking at the Tyne Commissioners Quay, North Shields was the HNLMS Karel Doorman. 

HNLMS Karel Doorman Tyne Commission Quay

HNLMS Karel Doorman Tyne Commission Quay

HNLMS Karel Doorman

It is multi-function support ship for amphibious operations of the Royal Netherlands Navy, which is also used by the German Navy

HNLMS Karel Doorman

The keel of the ship was laid down on, 7 June 2011 and the vessel launched on, 17 October 2012, being commissioned 24 April 2015. The Karel Doorman can reach a speed of 18 knots (21 mph; 33 km/h), and has a range of 9,800 nautical mikes (18,100 km).

HNLMS Karel Doorman

The  ship is designed to act as a Sea Based Operations Platform. It can supporting amphibious land forces with logistic support providing supplies and is ship is equipped with two LCVP's landing craft. It has 2,000 lane metres for transport of material for tracked & wheeled vehicles or containers. A roll on/roll off facility for vehicles, and a steel beach stern construction for accommodating cargo transfer via landing craft. 

HNLMS Karel Doorman Stern for Landing Craft

It has the capability to provide helicopter support, transport and attack. It has the capability to  operate  two Chinooks simultaneously, and has  storage capacity of up to 6 medium-sized helicopters, including AH-64D Apache.

HNLMS Karel Doorman Helicopter Landing

The ships compliment numbers 159 personnel, and can carry an additional 141 support personnel.  She also command rooms for war staffs and a large hospital facility with 20 treatment areas, and two surgery rooms. Modular flexibility allows configuration of temporary areas for evacuees or prisoners.

The ships armament consists of ; 

2 × Goalkeeper Close in Weapon System

2 × 30mm Marlin WS rapid fire gun

4 × 12.7mm Hitrole NT machine gun

6–8 x 7.62mm FN GPMG machine gun

HNLMS Karel Doorman Weapon Systems

HNLMS Karel Doorman has seen service on the coast of West Africa in 2015 to deliver aid to Ebola-struck countries and in  the autumn of 2017 she was sent to the Caribbean for humanitarian aid after the region was struck by Hurricane Irma.

 

HMS Ark Royal farewell to the Tyne

HMS Ark Royal made a final visit to the River Tyne before being decommissioned after 25 years in service. Work began on the fleet flagship of the Royal Navy at the Swan Hunter shipyard in 1978. The vessel was launched three years later. The carrier is being retired early as part of cost-cutting measures announced by the UK government.

HMS Ark Royal's final visit to the Tyne - News - Videos & Photos - ChronicleLive

It is the fifth vessel to bear the proud name. Ark Royal was built by Swan Hunters Ship Builders' yard at Wallsend in December 1978 and launched by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. HMS Ark Royal was accepted into service on 1 July 1985 and finally Commissioned, again by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother on 1 November 1985.
HMS Ark Royal is.4 metres (693 feet) long, has a maximum beam of 35 metres (114.7 feet) and a displacement of 20,235 tonnes. She is powered by 4 Olympus gas turbine engines (like Concorde's), which give a maximum speed in excess of 30 knots. A steeper ski jump than in the other ships of this class is fitted at the forward end of the flight deck.

HMS Ark Royal

The Royal Navy's last aircraft on a carrier until 2020 !