An eyebrow-raising question was posed in the Irish Dáil Éireann on May 21, 2024, by Deputy Catherine Murphy.
The query, addressed to the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence, Micheál Martin, concerned the capability of Haulbowline Naval Base to dock an extraordinarily large military naval ship of 609 metres in length.
Deputy Murphy’s question, as recorded in the Dáil debates, was succinct: “If Haulbowline Naval Base has the capability to dock a military naval ship of 609 m in length; and, if not, the funding required in order to be able to securely dock a military naval ship of that size.”
Minister Micheál Martin’s response highlighted the oddity of the inquiry. He clarified that the Irish Naval Service does not have the capacity to dock such an enormous vessel:
“The largest vessels in the current fleet of Naval Service ships are the P60 class of vessels, which measure 90 metres in length. My officials are not aware of a vessel of the length referenced by the Deputy. To illustrate, the largest naval ship in the world at the moment is understood to be the USS Gerald Ford, which is 333 metres in length.”
To provide further context, the largest ship ever built, the Seawise Giant (also known as the Knock Nevis), measured 458 metres long and 70 metres wide. This leviathan served as an oil tanker from 1979 to 2010, yet it is still significantly shorter than the hypothetical 609-meter ship in Murphy’s question.
The query has prompted speculation online. No military naval ship of such proportions exists today. Such a vessel would be nearly double the size of the largest current aircraft carriers. This question underscores the importance of precision in parliamentary inquiries and the unpredictable nature of political discourse.
Decimal Points are so underrated 😂
Shouldn’t this start with an Englishman, Irishman and Scotsmen walk into a bar??
I know there’s a punchline here somewhere….
…. The Welshman was waiting for them inside…Lol 😁
Ouch…
They should have ducked…
Lack of basic technical knowledge. I still remeber a discussion with person that did not want to put a butane gas bottle of 25kg in her car becasue it was too heavy . I asked her what was the weight of an adult that goes in the car with her.
The question shows the ignorance of people about the world they live in due to the fact that journalism is mostly politics.
Perhaps a conversion error (or just error in general really). Perhaps meant to say 609ft not 609m?
Good point as could be more likely.
Why she said so precise number 609ft or 609m? What is the reason for the 9?
Harpers Ferry class? US are replacing them with a low-capability San Antonio (although bigger and with more capability than the Harpers Ferry). At 30 years old, they seem a bit long in the tooth for an Irish purchase. Can’t find anything else military at that length. There are really only LPDs and support ships. Far too long for an escort, far too small for most carriers. The Garibaldi and Chakri Naruebet both come close, and Garibaldi will soon be available if anyone wants a well used pocket Harrier carrier for conversion to drone carrier. Neither ship quite hits the 609ft… Read more »
This seems most likely, just due to the size being bang on. But the real question is why ask this in the first place?
I can’t see what use the Irish naval service would have for a second hand amphibious vessel, unless they are just wanting to know if the USN would be able to dock one in Ireland for any reason?
It’s within the margin for the MRV if she meant circa 600 ft.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whidbey_Island-class_dock_landing_ship 609ft in length exactly!
Whether its feet or metres its an odd number (no pun intended). A quick trip to Google suggests its 666 yards so no help there.
Remember kids, don’t do craic ! (I’ll get me coat).
Still bigger at 185m (609ft) than anything in the RoI Navy.
The MRV if it’s ever to get through DOD and Finance would be between 120m and 150m, and given she asked the previous month about docking a 200m ship I’m guessing someone in her constituency might be annoying her.
Seeking a docking area for the alien mothership.
Your standard heavy frigate in Star Wars is around 500-650m in length. Maybe she wanted to acquire one of those?
Or is it a Sovereign class starship from star trek. They measure 600m in length but the extra 9m gives some space for reverse parking. 🤣😂🤣😂
I imagine some local idiot has been annoying her so she put in the question. She’s one of our splitter Left TDs so pretty much any defence spending is an issue for her.
The only thing I can sort of reach for is that the Navy is currently trying to get funding for a new wharf for the base, other than that she’s talking the usual shite. Either that or someone has some fantasy’s about the Deep Water Quay upgrades.
Or she was trying to factor in the MRV that is planned and start something out of nothing on that. She is not my politics to be sure but she is not Clare Daly. lol
You’re right she isn’t but from memory she has been one of those “neutrality means defenceless” ones. But yeah it’s likely she was trying to somehow make a point about the MRV project and the planned new Jetty and just got her numbers wrong
Interesting. The main contenders for the MRV project seem to be something based on HNLMS Karel Doorman (672 ft) or the ‘Arrowhead 140’ (i.e. Type 31, 455 ft). Still a bit of a puzzle where ‘609’ came from.
The Arrowhead suggestion came from its contractors, there is zero noise about it being a contender in Ireland, it’s either something Dutch or the Vard design that the Argentineans have gone for.
The Vard 7 313 looks quite capable.
It checks a lot of boxes for the DF.
It should do Vard pretty much made it for us, but Finance/Public Expenditure and Defence have been sitting on the order for the MRV since the Crash.
The notice to buy has the price tag at €300 million for the MRV.
This price increase hopefully will reflect more capability.
Many Ports have quays of significant length, able to accommodate multiple vessels rather than one extremely long one. Is this just an idiotic question?.
Given she’s also asked about a C17 Hercules landing in Baldonnel and then about an A380 doing it, clearly someone is giving her stupid questions.
The argument could be made that a new quay is needed for the MRV but that’s about it.
Jaysus dats a feckin big boat!