www.military.ie the defence forces magazine
| 15
By cPo/era ruairí de Barra
I
n the days of sail the ship's bell would
ring out the passing of time and signal
to the crew that it was time to change
the watch. that bell has now pealed
for commodore hugh tully, flag officer
commanding the naval service (focns)
who handed over his watch to newly
promoted commodore Michael Malone
at the end of 2017. and what a watch it
has been, comdre tully has given 42 years
of exemplary service to the state with a
career spanning some of the most chal-
lenging periods for the navy.
Joining the NS in 1975, he was in a class
of three cadets dispatched for training
to Dartmouth in England. They returned
from the UK and were sent to sea on LÉ
Deirdre, which at the time was the Naval
Service's only offshore patrol vessel (OPV).
Commissioned in 1973, she joined the
three venerable minesweepers Gráinne,
Fola, and Banba to comprise the entirety
of Ireland's naval assets.
After qualifying as a naval watchkeeper,
the future FOCNS joined LÉ Fola as the
Navigation and Gunnery officer. Rotating
ashore, he spent some time on Spike Island
with the Cadet College and was the cadet
class officer for Comdre Malone.
Returning to sea in 1984 as XO onboard
LÉ Aisling, he was onboard for the Air
India disaster in 1985. Air India Flight 182
was a Boeing 747-237B operating on the
Montreal–London–Delhi route, when on
the 23rd of June 1985 it was blown up by
a bomb at an altitude of 9,400m, while in
Irish airspace, and crashed into the Atlantic
Ocean. The death toll of 329 included 280
Canadians, 27 British, and 22 Indians.
Commodore Michael Malone
Commodore Hugh Tully
