RFA Fort Victoria bombing

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Coordinates: 54°37′07.38″N 5°53′42.24″W / 54.6187167°N 5.8950667°W / 54.6187167; -5.8950667
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

RFA Fort Victoria bombing
Part of
RFA Fort Victoria (A387)
Weapons2 explosive charges
DeathsNone
InjuredNone
PerpetratorProvisional Irish Republican Army

The bombing of

Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Northern Ireland
, where the vessel had been launched four months before. One of them exploded in the engine room, causing flooding and serious damage. The second device didn't explode and was defused several days later. The attack resulted in a two-year delay before Fort Victoria became fully operational.

Early IRA actions against shipping

See also: Attacks on shipping in Lough Foyle (1981–82)

One of the first

Baltimore, also in the Republic.[2]

In Northern Ireland itself, two civilian coal ships, Nellie M and St Bedan, were boarded, bombed and sunk by the Provisional IRA between 1981 and 1982 in Lough Foyle.

Provisional IRA attack

Fort Victoria is a 31,565 ton fleet stores ship and tanker of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary which had been ordered from

Harland and Wolff on 24 April 1986, and eventually launched on 4 May 1990. The name of Fort Victoria was officially bestowed by The Duchess of York, on 19 June.[3]

On 6 September 1990, while at dock and less than three months after being christened, a Provisional IRA unit planted two explosive devices on board. After a telephone warning from the IRA,[4] one of the bombs exploded, causing extensive damage inside the engine room, which was holed and subsequently flooded. The ship listed 45 degrees, and the chances of sinking were high. The situation was under control after hours of work by emergency teams, which pumped the water out of the engine room. John Parker, Chairman and Chief Executive of Harland and Wolff, praised the courage of the engineers for saving the ship. It was not learned that a second device had failed to explode until a second IRA phone call 24 hours later. It took two weeks to find and disable the second bomb, which stalled the works further.[5][6]

Aftermath

Fort Victoria eventually sailed from Belfast for sea trials on 29 June 1992, two years later than initially scheduled.

MP Peter Robinson called for vetting of shipyard employees.[8]

The attack and other problems with the construction of the vessel meant it was not delivered until 1993, three years after originally planned.[9][10][11] The final cost of the ship, according to parliamentary sources, was £190 million, £63 million higher than the 1986 estimates.[12]

References

  1. ISBN 0-253-34708-4
  2. ^ The Sydney Morning Herald – 22 Abr 1971
  3. ^ Historical RFA – RFA Fort Victoria
  4. ^ Explosion Rips British Navy Ship in Belfast Reuters, 7 September 1990
  5. Sunday Times
    , 13 March 2006: :The contract for Fort Victoria was won, but the ship became a target for the IRA. "She was afloat in the dock when we got the call from the IRA. Later that day the bomb went off and blew a hole in the engine room of the ship. The ship heeled over to about 45 degrees and we thought we were going to lose her. Fortunately some very courageous engineers went on board and lowered pumps in to clear the engine room so we could save the ship." The next day there was a call about a second bomb. It took two weeks to find it and make it safe – valuable time lost. Such incidents moulded Sir John and taught him patience and resolve, the like of which is rare in many boardrooms.
  6. ^ a b IRA bombs British Navy ship An Phoblacht, 13 September 1990
  7. ^ RFA Fort Victoria Archived 27 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ CAIN – Listing of Programmes for the Year: 1990 – BBC NI news, 6 September 1990
  9. ^ "History of RFA Fort Victoria". Royal Navy. Archived from the original on 10 September 2010. Retrieved 16 February 2011.
  10. ^ A387 RFA Fort Victoria Helicopter History Site
  11. ^ Asian Defence Journal, September 2010, p. 16
  12. ^ Commons debate, 17 June 1993
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