Fairmile D motor torpedo boat

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Class overview

Name:	Fairmile D motor gun boat
Preceded by:	Fairmile C motor gun boat
Completed:	229
General characteristics
Displacement:	Standard; 102 tons as MTB, 90 tons as MGB Deep Load; 118 and 107 tons.
Length:	115 ft (35 m)
Beam:	20 ft 10 in (6.4 m)
Draught:	4 ft 9 in (1.4 m) to 4 ft 11 in (1.5 m) Mean deep load.
Propulsion:	4 x Packard 4M 2500 petrol engines for a total of 5000 hp
Speed:	29 knots at full load
Range:	506 NM at max revolutions; 2,000 miles at 11 knots
Complement:	21
Notes:	Specifications from Conway's all the World's Fighting Ships 1922-1946.

The Fairmile D motor torpedo boat was a type of British Motor Torpedo Boat (MTB) designed by Bill Holt and conceived by Fairmile Marine for the Royal Navy.

Nicknamed "Dog Boats", they were designed to combat the known advantages of the German E-boats over previous British coastal craft designs. They were bigger than earlier MTB or Motor Gun Boat (MGB) designs (typically around 70 feet) in use but slower at 30 knots compared to 40 knots.

Unlike the Fairmile B designs the Dog Boats were only produced in components form in Britain. Some were taken over by the RAF and used for long range Air Sea Rescue for downed airmen. 229 boats were built between 1942 and 1945.

Many versions were produced or converted from existing boats (MGB, MTB, MA/SB, LRRC and post-war FPB.

Since the Fairmile D could be fitted out with a mix of armament that gave it the capabilities of both a Motor Gun Boat and a Motor Torpedo boat, the MGB designation was dropped.

Today the D-type is a popular choice among boat modelers.^{[citation needed]}

There are unfortunately no known survivors, other than two abandoned wrecks, one in Chatham England and the other in Elingsoy Norway.

[edit] Notes and references

Lambert, John. Fairmile D Motor Torpedo Boat. (Anatomy of the Ship series) 1985 ISBN 978-1844860067
Lambert, John and Ross, Al. Allied Coastal Forces of World War Two, Volume I : Fairmile designs and US Submarine Chasers. 1990. ISBN 978-0851775197
Konstam, Angus. British Motor Torpedo Boat 1939-45. 2003. ISBN 978-1841765006
Chesneau, Roger (editor).Conway's all the World's Fighting Ships 1922-1946. London, UK: Comway Maritime Press, 1980. ISBN 0-85177-146-7
Reynolds, Leonard C. Dog Boats at War: Royal Navy D Class MTBs and MGBs, 1939-1945. 2000. ISBN 978-0750914437