WesWorld

January 9
A heavy nor'wester from the Arctic regions has battered the Irish coast for two days. The Irish Naval Service vessel Aoife came to the rescue of an Irish-flagged trawler midway between Ireland and Rockall, and rescued the seven crewmen moments before the vessel sank. Several other boats were driven ashore, all fortunately without loss of life. The Irish submarine Sheevra, returning following a training cruise, reported being overtaken by a massive "110 foot rogue wave" which broke crockery and caused serious injuries among the sub's crew.

February 7
The city of Dublin proudly announces that it will be the first host city for the Tall Ships Race 1938. The race participants will meet for the beginning of the race, scheduled to begin May 31st in Dublin Harbour, and end in the port of Oslo. Serving as honorary flagship of the Tall Ships Race is the Irish-flagged sailing clipper High Adventure, a five-masted vessel designed to serve as a luxury cruise liner in the Mediterranean, Tauran, and Caribbean Seas. The Tall Ships Race committee is currently headquartered in Dublin, being headed by an international committee of sailing ship enthusiasts who seek to use the race to promote international goodwill by fostering the preservation of historical tall ships and sailing skills.

February 24
The fleet tender Meath and the boom defense vessel Carrauntoohil are running trials together in the Irish Sea. Both vessels are the first of their class and type to enter the Irish Naval Service.

February 28
Irishman Kaye Don has announced his hope for a racing comeback over the summer of 1938. Don's racing career has been stymied since 1934 due to an accident and manslaughter case on the Isle of Man, for which Don served four months in prison.

March 4
The Irish Army has announced the order for a number of modified Czech manufactured ZB vz. 26 light machine guns in .303 caliber.

March 18
Irish prosecutors have announced that the trials of the crew of the motorship Karaboudjan will finally begin in May of 1938. The crew are charged with a variety of criminal acts, including abandoning the Danish submarine Bellona after ramming her in the fog; the ship was also fingered in an alleged plot to start a war in the Far East.

March 23
Irish pilots have taken possession of the first Irish-purchased Boulton-Paul Resistant fighters. The Resistant, also knwon as the P.94, has been developed from the Boulton-Paul Defiant turret fighter; however, the Resistant drops the turret and gunner and places four 20mm cannon (or twelve .30cal MGs) in the wings, like a regular fighter. Performance is reportedly comparable to many of the latest fighters emerging around the world. The Resistant has also been selected for service by the Royal Greek Air Force, and the Peruvian Air Force has also shown interest.

The delivery of the thirty-six fighters, when completed in July, will bring the IAC's fighter strength up to sixty fighters; the Resistant will replace the Hawker Hurricane as the most numerous aircraft in IAC service.

April 18
The Irish government has noted that actions by the IRA have dropped considerably since the ratification of the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1937. Although the government was stung by ceding all claims to a United Ireland, it seems the mutual concessions in Northern Ireland have provided a basis for at least a temporary peace.

May 2
The trial of the Karaboudjan crew starts. The Irish government has promised a "fair, impartial trial run by the rule of law".

May 30
Dublin hosts the start of the first Tall Ships Race.

June 10
Leifteanant-Cheannasaí Ian McGinnes sweated in the hot conn of the submarine Bradán Feasa. The twenty-year old H-boat crept through the depths at three knots, running with the current while the British submarine officer watched McGinnes carefully. Though the Irish Naval Service had acquired submarines some months earlier, they had generally been captained by British officers on temporarily-detached duty, while training the Irish officers in their use. McGinnes felt the British captain's eyes boring through him; the old Englishman had commanded subs during the Great War, and knew what he was doing... and that made McGinnes even more nervous than hearing the entirely-too-close propellers of their surface ship opponent.

The Irishman checked his watch again. "Time. Up scope." McGinnes took only a brief look through the scope and found himself staring straight at the prow of the LE Morrigan, rushing down on the Bradán Feasa with a bone in her teeth. A thousand thoughts and emotions flung themselves through McGinnes's head in the space of a few horrible moments - fear, uncertainty, need for self-preservation...

"Down scope," McGinnes commanded. "Target is bearing zero-five-five, range six hundred yards. No adjustment. Match bearings and shoot."

"Fire one." The Bradán Feasa shivered slightly as her practice torpedo left the tubes. It would run at fifteen feet depth, and pass below the Morrigan's keel, where lookouts would report its passage, either as a hit or a miss. "Fire two."

"Down planes fifteen, right emergency rudder, engines flank speed ahead. Take us down," McGinnes ordered.

The submarine angled for the bottom as the noise of the screws overhead grew louder and louder. The British submariner moved uncomfortably in his chair in the corner of the conn, while McGinnes prayed he'd guessed the timing and distances right, and moreover, not to show his quiet panic at how close submarine and sloop would likely pass. But Morrigan's sharp prow did not slice through the H-boat, even though the propellers overhead beat a steady whump-whump-whump fit to wake the dead. After a few moments, it began to fade.

"Attack run's over," announced the British submariner.

"Aye sir," McGinnes replied. "Blow ballast, surface the boat."

A few minutes later, Bradán Feasa rode lightly on the surface of Lough Swilly. McGinnes followed the British officer up into the sail, and noted the hired trawler steaming off to recover the practice torpedoes, while Morrigan whipped around at twenty-four knots, semaphore working madly. The British officer read the message without even calling for the signalman's help. "Well, nicely done, Lieutenant-Commander. Two hits scored."

"Thank you, sir," McGinnes replied, knowing that hits alone wouldn't be enough to win him the right to command a submarine.

"Also one of the most reckless and bloody nervy approaches I've ever seen." McGinnes felt his stomach lurch, but the British officer continued. "You'd be a brilliant wartime skipper, Mr. McGinnes. It takes a steady sort of officer to hold his nerve and make a down-the-throat shot like that. I'm impressed."

"Thank you sir," McGinnes replied. So does that mean I...

"Really, you boys need something more modern than these old H-boats - maybe one of our U-class would suit you well. Much more modern. Still, these H-boats will do you boys well for training. I'm recommending that your Commodore give you command of a boat," the Englishman finished. "Congratulations, Lieutenant-Commander."

July 1
The trial of the Karaboudjan crew, after two months, has finally wrapped up in Dublin with a fairly unsurprising round of "Guilty" verdicts.

July 21
Lieutenant-Commander Ian McGinnes has become the first Irish naval officer to pass the Lough Swilly Submarine School. Lt. Com. McGinnes will take command of the H-class submarine Selkie. The "Swilly School" is run by the Irish Naval Service as part of a training program for submarine and antisubmarine warfare, and prospective commanding officers for the Irish Naval Service must pass the Command Course prior to becoming CO of an Irish warship.

August 8
The fourth destroyer of the Provinces-class, LE Leinster, was launched today in Galway.

[SIZE=1]Sorry, no humorous Irish news this time[/SIZE]