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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Fairmile A motor launch |
| Succeeded by: | Fairmile B motor launch |
| Completed: | 12, numbered from ML100 to ML111 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 57 tons, not including armament and equipment |
| Length: | 110 ft (34 m) |
| Beam: | 17 ft 5 in (5.31 m) |
| Draught: |
4 ft 6 in (1.37 m) forward, 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) aft |
| Propulsion: | 3 Hall-Scott Defender V12 petrol engines 600 hp |
| Speed: | 25 knots at 2,200 rpm |
| Range: | 600 miles at 12 knots |
| Complement: | 16, including 2 officers |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
ASDIC |
| Armament: |
one 3-pounder Hotchkiss gun one pair of 0.303 in. Lewis machine guns 12 depth charges |
The Fairmile A motor launch was a type of Motor Launch designed by Fairmile Marine for the Royal Navy.
Shortly before the Second World War the British industrialist Noel Macklin submitted to the Admiralty an innovative plan for the series production of a motor launch. The design used prefabricated parts, which allowed various small concerns, such as furniture and piano manufacturers,[1], to produce the individual components. These components could then be assembled in separate shipyards. The hull was to be made of double diagonal mahogany planking with plywood frames divided into nine watertight compartments.
In July 1939, two months before the outbreak of war, the Admiralty awarded Macklin a contract to build twelve Type A Fairmiles.