Fairmile D motor torpedo boat

The Fairmile D motor torpedo boat MGB 606
Class overview
Name:	Fairmile D motor gun boat
Preceded by:	Fairmile C motor gun boat
Completed:	229
General characteristics
Displacement:	As MTB 102 long tons (104 t) standard 118 long tons (120 t) full load As MGB 90 long tons (91 t) standard 107 long tons (109 t) full load
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 × Packard 4M 2500 petrol engines, total 5,000 hp (3,728 kW)
Speed:	29 knots (54 km/h; 33 mph) at full load
Range:	506 nmi (937 km; 582 mi) at max revolutions 2,000 nmi (3,700 km; 2,300 mi) at 11 kn (20 km/h; 13 mph)
Complement:	21
Armament:	(Sample armament for gunboat configuration as fitted to Dog 658 by the end of the war): 2 × single 6 pounder guns 4 × 20mm Oerlikon (2 × single, 1 × twin) 2 × twin .303 Vickers K guns 4 × light boat depth charges 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 (which were typically around 70 feet) 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 built for the RAF's Marine Branch for use in the 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 no known survivors, other than two abandoned wrecks, one in Chatham, England and the other in Ellingsøy, Norway.

• 
  Molins 57-mm gun mounted on a Fairmile D
• 
  Back view of the same gun

See also

• Fairmile A motor launch
• Fairmile B motor launch
• Fairmile C motor gun boat
• Fairmile H landing craft
• Steam Gun Boat
• Coastal Forces of the Royal Navy

References

• Lambert, John. Fairmile D Motor Torpedo Boat. (Anatomy of the Ship series) 1985 ISBN 978-1-84486-006-7
• Lambert, John and Ross, Al. Allied Coastal Forces of World War Two, Volume I : Fairmile designs and US Submarine Chasers. 1990. ISBN 978-0-85177-519-7
• Konstam, Angus. British Motor Torpedo Boat 1939-45. 2003. ISBN 978-1-84176-500-6
• 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 978-0-7509-1443-7
• Reynolds, Leonard C. Motor Gunboat 658: The Small Boat War in the Mediterranean 1955/2002. ISBN 0-304-36183-6

External links

• Coastal Forces And Communications with France Before D Day 1944
• The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II - by Chris Bishop at google books
• Watercolour painting of a Fairmile D Type Motor Torpedo Boat at speed
• Book Review of Dog Boats at War: Royal Navy D Class MTBs and MGBs, 1939-1945
• List of Motor Torpedo Boats at unithistories.com