LÉ_Macha
LÉ Macha was a ship in the Irish Naval Service. Built as a Flower-class corvette of the Royal Navy named HMS Borage, she was transferred on 15 November 1946 to the Irish Naval Service and renamed LÉ Macha after Macha, an ancient Irish goddess of war.
The Macha during its time in Royal Navy service, when it was known as HMS Borage (K120) | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMS Borage |
| Namesake | Borage (herb) |
| Builder | George Brown of Greenock |
| Laid down | 21 November 1940 |
| Launched | 6 November 1941 |
| Completed | 29 April 1942 |
| Decommissioned | 15 November 1946 |
| Maiden voyage | 1942 |
| Identification | Pennant number: K120 |
| Fate | Sold to Ireland |
 Ireland | |
| Name | LÉ Macha |
| Namesake | Macha, an ancient Irish goddess of war |
| Acquired | 15 November 1946 |
| Decommissioned | 2 November 1970 |
| Identification | Pennant number: 01 |
| Fate | Sold for scrap 22 November 1970 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Flower-class corvette |
| Displacement | 1020 tons standard (1280 full load) |
| Length | 205 ft (62 m) |
| Beam | 33 ft (10 m) |
| Depth | 14 ft (4.3 m) |
| Installed power | Single reciprocating vertical 4-cylinder triple expansion by John Kincaid, Greenock. |
| Propulsion | 2,759 ihp (2,057 kW) 2 cylindrical Scotch single-ended boilers. Single shaft |
| Speed |
|
| Complement | 5 officers, 74 ratings |
| Sensors and processing systems | |
| Electronic warfare & decoys | Degaussing |
| Armament |
|
She served as escort for the Arctic convoys from 1942-1945 before being sold to Ireland.
In September 1948, she had the honour of carrying the remains of William Butler Yeats from France to Drumcliffe, County Sligo, for reburial.[1] There was a funeral march from Nice to the ship with band, trumpeters and military honours from a company of French alpine troops. It was the first time that France rendered military honours to a civilian.[2] The remains were received at Rocquebrune near Nice by Sean Murphy, the Irish Ambassador to France.
The voyage home took 17 days. LÉ Macha stopped en route at Gibraltar and in France. The ship returned to Galway, whence the remains were carried by hearse to their final resting place in County Sligo.[3]
LÉ Macha was sold for scrap on 22 November 1970.
- Foster, R. F. (2003). W. B. Yeats: A Life, Vol. II: The Arch-Poet 1915–1939, p. 656. New York: Oxford UP. ISBN 0-19-818465-4.
- MacGinty, Tom (1995). The Irish Navy. Tralee: The Kerryman. p. 155. ISBN 0-946277-22-2.
- "WB Yeats laid to rest in Drumcliffe", The Irish Times, 18 Sept. 2009, republishing article from 18 September 1948.
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