The Macha during its time in Royal Navy service, when it was known as HMS Borage (K120)
History
United Kingdom
NameHMS Borage
NamesakeBorage (herb)
BuilderGeorge Brown of Greenock
Laid down21 November 1940
Launched6 November 1941
Completed29 April 1942
Decommissioned15 November 1946
Maiden voyage1942
IdentificationPennant number: K120
FateSold to Ireland
Ireland
NameLÉ Macha
NamesakeMacha, an ancient Irish goddess of war
Acquired15 November 1946
Decommissioned2 November 1970
IdentificationPennant number: 01
FateSold for scrap 22 November 1970
General characteristics
Class and typeFlower-class corvette
Displacement1020 tons standard (1280 full load)
Length205 ft (62 m)
Beam33 ft (10 m)
Depth14 ft (4.3 m)
Installed powerSingle reciprocating vertical 4-cylinder triple expansion by John Kincaid, Greenock.
Propulsion2,759 ihp (2,057 kW) 2 cylindrical Scotch single-ended boilers. Single shaft
Speed
  • 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph) max
  • 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) cruise
Complement5 officers, 74 ratings
Sensors and
processing systems
Electronic warfare
& decoys		Degaussing
Armament

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.

HMS Borage

She served as escort for the Arctic convoys from 1942-1945 before being sold to Ireland.

LÉ Macha

Ship's crest of the Macha, depicting the Tara Brooch and Red Hand of Ulster.

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.

References

  1. ↑ 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.
  2. ↑ MacGinty, Tom (1995). The Irish Navy. Tralee: The Kerryman. p. 155. ISBN 0-946277-22-2.
  3. ↑ "WB Yeats laid to rest in Drumcliffe", The Irish Times, 18 Sept. 2009, republishing article from 18 September 1948.


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