| 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 (6.35 m) |
| Draught: | 4 ft 9 in (1.45 m) to 4 ft 11 in (1.50 m) Mean deep load. |
| Propulsion: | 4 x Packard 4M 2500 petrol engines for a total of 5,000 hp |
| Speed: | 29 knots at full load |
| Range: | 506 NM at max revolutions; 2,000 miles at 11 knots |
| Complement: | 21 |
| Armament: | (Sample armament for gunboat configuration as fitted to Dog 658 by the end of the war): 2 off 6_pounder (2x1), 4 off 20mm Oerlikon(2x1,1x2), 4 off .303 Vickers K gun(2x2), 4 off light boat depth charge, Searchlight, TSA Smoke Generator. |
| Notes: | Specifications from Conway's all the World's Fighting Ships 1922-1946. and Motor Gunboat 658 |
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 component 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.
There are unfortunately no known survivors, other than two abandoned wrecks, one in Chatham, England and the other in Ellingsøy, Norway.