Fairmile B motor launch
The Fairmile B motor launch ML303 during the invasion of Normandy on D-Day
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Fairmile B motor launch |
| Preceded by: | Fairmile A motor launch |
| Succeeded by: | Fairmile C motor gun boat |
| Completed: | 650 approx. |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 85 tons |
| Length: | 112 ft (34 m) |
| Beam: |
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| Draught: | 4 ft 10 in (1.47 m) |
| Propulsion: | Two 650 bhp (480 kW) Hall-Scott Defender petrol engines |
| Speed: | 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) |
| Range: | 1,500 mi (1,300 nmi; 2,400 km) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Complement: | 16 (later increased) |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
ASDIC |
| Armament: |
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| Armour: | Wheelhouse plated |
The Fairmile B motor launch was a type of motor launch built by British boatbuilder Fairmile Marine during the Second World War for the Royal Navy for coastal operations.
While the Type A had been designed entirely by Fairmile, the Type B design had come from Bill Holt of the Admiralty based on the lines of a destroyer hull and the detailed design and production was taken on by Fairmile.
Like all their designs it was based on total prefabrication so individual components could be contracted out to small factories for production and these arranged as kits that would be delivered to various boatyards for assembly and fitting out.
Altogether approximately 650 boats were built between 1940 and 1945. Like the A Type, the B Type were initially intended as submarine chasers, so the boats were fitted with ASDIC (sonar) as standard. Their main armament initially reflected their anti-submarine focus, with 12 depth charges, a single QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss gun aft, and one set of twin 0.303-in machine guns. The specifications given are for the original 1940 British version. As the war moved on, the vessels were adapted to other roles and the armament was modified and upgraded such as the replacement of the 3 pounder with one or more 20 mm Oerlikon cannon and removal of the ASDIC dome for more clearance as minesweepers. Some boats were configured as motor torpedo boats.
The first Fairmile B motor launch was completed in September 1940, with a further 38 from the first two production batches entering service before the end of the year.
All boats were essentially the same, although they could be adapted to serve in several roles by the expedient of having pre-drilled rails on their decks spaced to allow the fitting of various types of armaments. Although their armament initially reflected their main anti-submarine mission, nine of them were fitted with 21 inch torpedo tubes taken from ex-US Town-class destroyers; they formed the 2nd ML Flotilla tasked with anti-invasion duty, until the threat had passed.
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Wikipedia