Displaying items by tag: US Navy Destroyer

23rd October 2016

US Naval Destroyer Surrounded By Ring of Steel Visits Cobh

#USdestroyer - A high-security cordon will be put in place around a US Naval Destroyer during a three-day visit to Cobh, Cork Harbour.

In yesterday's Evening Echo it was reported that USS Porter was due to dock at the Cobh Deepwater Cruise Berth at 9am for the courtesy visit. Afloat.ie can confirm the Arleigh Burke class destroyer arrived this morning.

However, a strict exclusion zone will be in place around the Destroyer with other vessels banned from coming within 50 metres of her.

The cordon will be monitored by the Irish Navy and the gardaí.

The Port of Cork’s Harbour Master Paul O’Regan issued a notice to all mariners in Cork Harbour warning them of the exclusion zone.

For more on the visit of the destroyer (click here) that entered the Black Sea in June as part of NATO’s ongoing efforts in response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine.

Published in Naval Visits

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About Conor O'Brien, Irish Circumnavigator

In 1923-25, Conor O'Brien became the first amateur skipper to circle the world south of the Great Capes. O'Brien's boat Saoirse was reputedly the first small boat (42-foot, 13 metres long) to sail around the world since Joshua Slocum completed his voyage in the 'Spray' during 1895 to 1898. It is a journey that O' Brien documented in his book Across Three Oceans. O'Brien's voyage began and ended at the Port of Foynes, County Limerick, Ireland, where he lived.

Saoirse, under O'Brien's command and with three crew, was the first yacht to circumnavigate the world by way of the three great capes: Cape Horn, Cape of Good Hope and Cape Leeuwin; and was the first boat flying the Irish tri-colour to enter many of the world's ports and harbours. He ran down his easting in the Roaring Forties and Furious Fifties between the years 1923 to 1925.

Up until O'Brien's circumnavigation, this route was the preserve of square-rigged grain ships taking part in the grain race from Australia to England via Cape Horn (also known as the clipper route).

At a Glance - Conor O'Brien's Circumnavigation

In June 1923, Limerick man Conor O’Brien set off on his yacht, the Saoirse — named after the then newly created Irish Free State — on the two-year voyage from Dun Laoghaire Harbour that was to make him the first Irish amateur to sail around the world.

June 1923 - Saoirse’s arrival in Madeira after her maiden passage out from Dublin Bay

2nd December 1924 - Saoirse crossed the longitude of Cape Horn

June 20th 1925 - O’Brien’s return to Dun Laoghaire Harbour