Fairmile C motor gun boat
 The Fairmile C motor gun boat MGB 314 | |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Fairmile C motor gun boat |
| Preceded by: | Fairmile B motor launch |
| Succeeded by: | Fairmile D motor torpedo boat |
| Completed: | 24 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 72 tons |
| Length: | 110 ft (34 m) |
| Beam: | 17 ft 5 in (5.31 m) |
| Draught: | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) |
| Propulsion: | Three 850 hp (630 kW) supercharged Hall-Scott petrol engines |
| Speed: | 26.5 knots (49.1 km/h; 30.5 mph) |
| Range: | 500 nmi (930 km; 580 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) (Bunkerage: 1,800 gal + extra 2,600 gal) |
| Complement: | 2 officers + 14 crew |
| Armament: | (As designed)
2 × 2-pounder (40mm) gun (2 × 1) (Later) 2 × 2-pounder (2 × 1) 2-4 × 20 mm Oerlikon cannon (2 × 1/2 × 2) 1-2 × 20mm Oerlikon (1 × 1/1 × 2) (4 depth charges) |
The Fairmile C motor gun boat was a type of Motor Gun Boat designed by Norman Hart of Fairmile Marine for the Royal Navy. An intermediate design, twenty-four boats were built in 1941 receiving the designations MGB 312 - 335.
Design
The Fairmile Type C was a reuse of the hull form of the Type A but with the lessons learned from the Type A incorporated in terms of steering and deck layout.
Service
Five boats of the twenty-four built were lost to enemy action.
The class was mainly involved in close escort work with east coast convoys, and some boats were engaged in clandestine operations. MGB 314 took part in Operation Chariot, the daring raid on the St Nazaire docks (the only facility on the axis-held Atlantic coast suitable to refit Bismarck-class battleships).
Only two survive to this day, one at Hayling Island and the other at Bembridge (UK). A third survived in Shoreham until 2002.
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MGB 316 at speed
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MGB 316 at rest
See also
- Fairmile A motor launch
- Fairmile B motor launch
- Fairmile D motor torpedo boat
- Fairmile H landing craft
- Steam Gun Boat
- Coastal Forces of the Royal Navy
References
- Allied Coastal Forces of World War Two, Volume I : Fairmile designs and US Submarine Chasers - by John Lambert and Al Ross - 1990, ISBN 978-0-85177-519-7
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fairmile C Motor Gun Boats. |