Thanks for getting in touch Geoff. I'll email back. I knew your dad when I was an apprentice. I believe there were a few Dark class models made for customers to get a feel for what they were getting. I'm pleased your son now has it in restored condition. I gave a talk in Moelfre last Saturday on the...

A diver explored MTB P1602 this summer and found she was in a little rougher condition than I had hoped for. The engine room deck area showed many small raged holes that appear to possibly due to electrolytic corrosion. I suspect this occurred due to the large amount of 'yellow metals' (brass, coppe...

I found this website on WW1 ML's and titled, "The Movies". The Ships and Men of the Royal Navy Motor Launch Patrol 1914 - 1919.

http://www.motorlaunchpatrol.net/history/

Dave Mills

I found another photo of P1602 dated 1951 from France and bought it. It shows the pennant number on the bridge like the photo I bought of her in Liege harbour. I therefore assume the two photos were taken during the same visit abroad.

Thanks Ted for posting this image. I have just returned home after celebrating a friend's diamond wedding anniversary in Beaumaris, just one mile from where this photo was taken in the mid 1950's. I spoke to one of the guests who worked on the Dark Class when he was an apprentice as I was trying to ...

SEARCH FOR MTB 539 On the 13th July 2013 I was invited to join a dive team to go in search of MTB539 (P1602). We set off from the east coast of Anglesey initially for the team to dive a fishing boat wreck. If there was time they were to head out about 12 miles into the Irish Sea to search for the M...

During a local vintage steam rally I was shown this photo of a Saunders-Roe Dark Class FPB model that was seen in Crete. It shows a basic model that I believe was made to demontrate the various armament options that could be readily interchanged. The photo was titled: "In the Maritime Museum in Chan...

FILM CLIPS OF P1602 IN ACTION While reading through CFA Green's memoirs aboard P1602 he refered to a film made in 1951 that shows a 'brief' glimps of P1602 in action. She appears for only 2 or 3 second at a time, but does show her charging through the sea and even shows up small impact damage near ...

While at the new model engineering exhibion at Manchester I saw a lovely model of a Russian G5 MTB. It was a fascinating craft loosely based on the old British CMB but with a very heavily cambered deck. On enquiry it was based on a hull mouding from "Models by Design". Their website is http://www.mo...

Surprising to hear that these beautiful craft had no Heads ? (toilets). I found yet more old drawings in my mother's loft a couple of days ago. This time there were just a few German Schnelboot drawings of S38. Sadly only the front 2/3 length of plans and elevations were found. When I read that the...

Maritime Books have just published their Diamond Jubilee Commemorative Edition of British Warships & Auxilliaries 1952 by Steve Bush. To quote their website: To celebrate Her Majesty the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in 2012 we have produced a 1952 edition of our hugely successful annual publication Briti...

The five Burmese Navy Dark Class (T201-T205) were constructed of riveted aluminium alloy sheet on Aluminium hull frames. These two photos show the round-head rivets clearly visible above the chine. Below the chine the hulls were flush riveted with countersunk rivets to reduce drag and the heads bein...

Ian Roberts constructed this lovely 1/24 scale ‘Nautical Marine Models’ kit of Dark Biter. Note that she is in the final all black hull colour after the half black, half grey experiment to disguise the dirty exhaust from the Deltic Diesel engines. Ian says he simply followed the information supplied...

Since writing about the 92 year old lady welder on 539, I have just made contact with a fitter who worked with her on the construction of the aluminium hull from its start. He lent me a photo of her launching after my recent talk to the Gwynedd Engineering Society in Bangor. It was the same photo as...

While going through my 1000's of photos I found these very badly damaged negatives of the ellusive Japanese Dark. I compared the waterline with other Darks and they all seem very similar. Either the Japanese one had its engines installed, or was simply balasted to depth. There is no dirt around the ...