[3] In October 2010, the Irish Naval Service ordered a number of new offshore patrol vessels from Babcock Marine, a UK-based shipbuilder operating out of Appledore, North Devon.
[16][failed verification] Although similar to the Róisín-class OPV, Samuel Beckett is over 10 metres (33 ft) longer, intended to increase its capabilities in the rough waters of the North Atlantic.
[17] Although the ship was built using modern modular construction techniques, the keel was deemed to have been "laid down" during a keel-laying ceremony held at the Appledore Shipbuilding Yard on 19 May 2012 after the first two major components were connected together.
[18] The ship is powered by a pair of 16-cylinder W16V26F Wärtsilä diesel motors driving twin shafts that can propel the vessel to a top speed of 23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph).
[25] In March 2020 the Naval Service provided the vessel to the HSE as a testing centre to be docked at Sir John Rogerson's Quay as part of Irish response to the coronavirus pandemic.