The Naval Service () is the maritime component of the Defence Forces of Ireland and is one of the three branches of the Irish Defence Forces. Its base is in Haulbowline, County Cork. Though preceded by earlier maritime defence organisations, the Naval Service was formed in 1946. Since the 1970s a major role of the Naval Service has been the provision of fisheries protection in Ireland's exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Other roles include sea patrol, surveillance, and smuggling prevention. Occasionally the service undertakes longer missions in support of other elements of the Defence Forces, Irish peacekeepers serving with the United Nations, or humanitarian and trade missions. Since July 2017 the Naval Service has participated in the European External Action Service mission which focuses a number of EU navies on humanitarian and training roles in the Mediterranean. This mission entitled "EU Navfor Med" is the first time Ireland has taken part in a multi-role and multi-national naval operation. Ships in the Irish Naval Service are designated with the ship prefix of Long Éireannach (Irish Ship), which is abbreviated to LÉ. History Coastal and Marine Service The Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 stipulated that the Irish Free State, which in the event came into being in December 1922, was to be given the responsibility to police its customs and fishing, while Britain and its Royal Navy would remain in control of Irish waters. In 1923, the Coastal and Marine Service (CMS) was created, and one year later it was disbanded. During the Irish Civil War, in August 1922, a ship belonging to the British & Irish Steam Packet Company, Lady Wicklow, led by Captain Patrick Ryan, was used to bring Irish National Army troops around the coast to Fenit, the port of Tralee, in County Kerry. This naval involvement technically preceded the foundation of the Irish state, as at the time Ireland was still part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Built-in 1890 in Dublin Dockyard, the ship measured . In all, 450 troops, including officers, were landed. Tralee was later captured from local republican forces. , formerly the British armed steam yacht Helga, which had been used by the Royal Navy to shell Dublin during the 1916 rising, was the only CMS ship during this period. The CMS ship Muirchu continued to patrol Irish fisheries. Muirchu was re-armed in 1936 and purchased by the Irish government on advice of