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linebacker55 · 27-03-2008

Back in 1981 my family decided to try living on the river, and our search for a suitable craft took us to Conyer , which is in Kent England, upon the River Swale...a tributary of The River Medway, not far from The Isle of Sheppey.

The craft in Question was a Motor Torpedo Boat, and as it was a long time ago, I'm not sure what her pennant number was but 210 comes to mind...
Anyway, this boat was 72 feet in length, was built from money raised by War Bonds, (in this case by the good people of East Anglia) and she had been equipped with three Rolls-Royce Merlin 10 engines, of a similar type found in Tanks, Spitfres, etc., although many MTB's had Packard Merlins (built under License in The States), or often what ever could be stuffed into them.

Tagged as 'expendable', these boats and the heroic crews which served in them sadly often came to grief rather abruptly, and to see this fine, once super-fast attack boat in such a sorry state brought a lump to my throat.

Anyway... Construction was "Double-Diagonal", which was two diagonally opposed thin layers of Marine Plywood, with a canvas and pitch (tar soaked) skin between the layers of ply. Air-Sea Rescue Launches were made the same way, as were MGB's, but the latter were larger. Colour would have been Battleship Grey as a rule. Armed usually with twin Oerlikons in a motorised aircraft turret above and behind the windshield/conning position.

I assumed this particular Boat was made in England, but I'm not certain.
Sadly the boat had daylight visible down by the water line when we looked into the forward cable locker, also someone had cut wood windows into her hull, but as was usual with MTB's there wasn't any superstructure to speak of, but she was at least recognisable. Below decks was a plaque made of brass with her number, and her builder's plaque from somewhere on our east coast up near Great Yarmouth I think, but I'm not sure now. We knew she would probably sink if moved, so we bought a 64 foot twin-screw Naval Pinnace instead, built in 1945 at Chatham Royal Naval Dockyard.

27-03-2008	#17 (permalink)
linebacker55 Scale Model Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Hampshire England Real Name: Jules My Models: OO Gauge Trains Visit linebacker55's Gallery Posts: 37 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Back in 1981 my family decided to try living on the river, and our search for a suitable craft took us to Conyer , which is in Kent England, upon the River Swale...a tributary of The River Medway, not far from The Isle of Sheppey. The craft in Question was a Motor Torpedo Boat, and as it was a long time ago, I'm not sure what her pennant number was but 210 comes to mind... Anyway, this boat was 72 feet in length, was built from money raised by War Bonds, (in this case by the good people of East Anglia) and she had been equipped with three Rolls-Royce Merlin 10 engines, of a similar type found in Tanks, Spitfres, etc., although many MTB's had Packard Merlins (built under License in The States), or often what ever could be stuffed into them. Tagged as 'expendable', these boats and the heroic crews which served in them sadly often came to grief rather abruptly, and to see this fine, once super-fast attack boat in such a sorry state brought a lump to my throat. Anyway... Construction was "Double-Diagonal", which was two diagonally opposed thin layers of Marine Plywood, with a canvas and pitch (tar soaked) skin between the layers of ply. Air-Sea Rescue Launches were made the same way, as were MGB's, but the latter were larger. Colour would have been Battleship Grey as a rule. Armed usually with twin Oerlikons in a motorised aircraft turret above and behind the windshield/conning position. I assumed this particular Boat was made in England, but I'm not certain. Sadly the boat had daylight visible down by the water line when we looked into the forward cable locker, also someone had cut wood windows into her hull, but as was usual with MTB's there wasn't any superstructure to speak of, but she was at least recognisable. Below decks was a plaque made of brass with her number, and her builder's plaque from somewhere on our east coast up near Great Yarmouth I think, but I'm not sure now. We knew she would probably sink if moved, so we bought a 64 foot twin-screw Naval Pinnace instead, built in 1945 at Chatham Royal Naval Dockyard.