Motor Launch
- For other types of "launch" see Launch (boat)
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A motor launch (ML) is a small military vessel in British navy service. It was designed for harbour defence and submarine chasing or for armed high speed air-sea rescue.
World War I service
Although small by naval standards, it was larger than the preceding Coastal Motor Boats of 40 and 55 ft length. The first motor launches entered service in the First World War. These were 580 80-foot-long (24 m) vessels built by the US Elco company for the Admiralty, receiving the designations ML-1 to ML-580. They served between 1916 and the end of the war with the Royal Navy defending the British coast from German submarines.[1] After the Armistice of 11 November 1918 a flotilla of 12 RN Motor Launches traveled down the Rhine performing duty as the Rhine Patrol Flotilla.[2]
World War II Types
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Builders: | Elco |
| Operators: |
 Royal Navy |
| Built: | 1915-1918 |
| In commission: | 1915-1920s |
| Completed: | 580 |
| General characteristics ML.1-50 series | |
| Type: | Motor launch |
| Displacement: | 34 t |
| Length: | 75ft |
| Propulsion: | Petrol engine |
| Speed: | 19 kn (35 km/h) |
| Complement: | 8 |
| Armament: |
|
| General characteristics ML.51-550 series | |
| Type: | Motor launch |
| Displacement: | 37 t |
| Length: | 86ft |
| Propulsion: | Petrol engine |
| Speed: | 19 kn (35 km/h) |
| Complement: | 6 |
| Armament: |
|
| General characteristics ML.551-580 | |
| Type: | Motor launch |
| Displacement: | 37 t |
| Length: | 80ft |
| Speed: | 19 kn (35 km/h) |
| Complement: | 8 |
| Armament: | |
| Type | Length | Weight | Speed | Built | Total | Lost | Designed for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairmile A motor launch | 110 ft | 57 tons | 25 knots (46 km/h) | 1939 | 12 | Submarine chasing, later minelaying | |
| Fairmile B motor launch | 112 ft (34 m) | 85 tons | 20 knots (37 km/h) | 1940-45 | 1,284 | Submarine chasing, many later roles including air-sea rescue | |
| Harbour defence motor launch | 72 ft (22 m) | 54 tons | 12 knots (22 km/h) | 1940-45 | 486 | 47 | Defending harbours; anti-submarine |
| RAF Type 2 Whaleback | 63 ft (19 m) | 21.5 tons | 36 knots (67 km/h) | 1940-42 | 70 | Rescuing downed aircrew, particularly in the English Channel |
Post-war, many motor launches were taken on as pleasure boats. A number of them are on the National Register of Historic Vessels.[3]
See also
- Motor gun boat
- Motor torpedo boat
- Coastal Forces of the Royal Navy
- R boat - German World War II equivalent
- Dark-class fast patrol boat
References
- ↑ Gardiner, p. 101
- ↑ http://www.motorlaunchpatrol.net/history/post_war/rhine_patrol_flotilla/
- ↑ Gardiner and Chesneau, p. 71
- Gardiner, Robert, Conway's all the world's fighting ships 1906–1921 Conway Maritime Press, 1985. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
- Gardiner, Robert and Chesneau, Roger, Conway's all the world's fighting ships 1922-1946, Conway Maritime Press, 1980. ISBN 0-83170-303-2.
External links
- UK National Register of Historic Vessels
- Naval Museum of Manitoba
- Juno Beach website
- A Short History of HMS St Christopher. Royal Navy Coastal Forces training base, mainly for MLs
- Stoker Harold Siddall Royal Navy, his service in ML.1030 and capture in Crete 1941