Coastal Forces Veterans

In the mean time I have learned that the other two MTB's taking part in operation Gradient were MTB 297 (Woods) and MTB 371 (Syrett). The three pics may show the same boat but the one with the bicycles probably shows a second boat. Later Annapolis built Vospers (MTB 375-376) didn't have any porthole...

MTB 250 was also used for training exercises by the SSRF (Small Scale Raiding Force). Davits were fitted for launching a Dory. These pics are probably familiar to most of you : https://i.imgur.com/fZ1744V.jpg https://i.imgur.com/AUu1UcI.jpg https://i.imgur.com/nYWXQ1P.jpg More photos can be found he...

I think I've found two more pics of No.9 Commando during operation Gradient. According to this site the pics show an ML, I'm convinced, however, it's a Vosper and probably the "Mystery" one. http://gallery.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/v/units/9/Men+of+No+9+Commando+on+board+a+Royal+Navy...

I think MTB 295 is a strong candidate for the well-known pic of the "Mystery Vosper". At any rate, I'm convinced the Vosper in this photo was a US built one. The stacks of the cowling vents are in the forward position on their housings ,whereas British built Vospers had the stacks at the r...

I take it that a barrage balloon is meant. The Google translation into English is not too bad though, the one from Italian into Dutch is much worse.

Regards,

Arjan

There is quite a bit of info on MTB 295's operational history on this Italian site. I'm afraid you will have to use the Google translation service. I'm sure someone on this board can provide the original English source. http://www.aidmen.it/topic/133-quattro-motosiluranti-della-marina-ex-inglesi-ex-...

Some of the pics also show British Coastal Forces craft. This one shows MGB 21, the pic was probably taken at Portland Bill :



MTB 482, at least if I read the number correctly. I don't know where this pic was taken :



Arjan

Last year I became interested in the US PT squadrons (especially Ron 34 and Ron 35) stationed in Britain in 1944. Fortunately, there are many photos of these PT boats taken by both US PT Boat crewmen and US war photographers but I wonder if any photos exist made by British sailors or war photographe...

Thanks Peter for your reply. By the way, my 1/35 model of MTB 378 is finally nearing completion (no Breda guns on this model though) :




Kind regards,

Arjan

I've made a list of the Vosper MTBs that were fitted with captured Italian 20mm Breda guns at some point in their service history. No doubt there were more, these are the boats known to me : MTB 61, MTB 77, MTB 82, MTB 85, MTB 86, MTB 89, MTB 97, MTB 226, MTB 243, MTB 290 and MTB 298. MTB 61 (a 70 f...

Hi, thanks a lot for the interesting photo. I think the photo may be mirrored because the SOE radar mast is on the starboard side whereas these were always on the port side. This particular boat looks more similar to the Jacob's Vospers than to the Annapolis ones in that it seems to have twin Vicker...

Hi welcome aboard . Of course we would love to see your photos !

Regards,

Arjan

Hi Peter, you are quite right, I jumped at the wrong conclusion. MTB 290 never had an Oerlikon so the Breda gun was not an exchange but rather an addition to its fire power. I failed to read this info carefully, it just says "one 20 mm mount" and the name Oerlikon isn't mentioned. http://w...

Thanks Peter for the interesting info. On the subject of Breda guns, there's one pic in the IWM archive showing MTB 290 (if I read the number correctly) off Brindisi. It also has a Breda gun on its foredeck : http://media.iwm.org.uk/iwm/mediaLib/514/media-514085/large.jpg?action=e&cat=photograph...

Once you know what to look for, these rocket storage boxes are indeed easy to recognise. A rescue launch with 2" rocket flares at Den Helder in 1945 :



Source: Dutch Photo Museum

Arjan

Thanks a lot for your extensive reply.

Kind regards,

Arjan

I wonder how/when these flares were used. I haven't managed to find much on the internet, I assume they were used to illuminate targets but I would appreciate some further info. Apparently the flare rockets were sometimes stored in a rack on the (port?) side(s) of the wheelhouse : http://media.iwm.o...

The "large Flak lighter" mentioned in this wartime activities account turns out to be German Marinefährprahm F 345 : Wartime Activities 30/03/43 Transferred to Royal Navy under lend lease Transported from the United States to the Mediterranean in an LST arriving in Oran, Algeria. Passage t...

I think I found some colour footage of MTB 298 (that is, if I read the number correctly) : http://i655.photobucket.com/albums/uu279/ArjanWiskerke/Annapolis/65675060809_000575_3_zpsqv6i3ss7.jpg Source of the still : http://www.criticalpast.com/video/65675060809_United-States-Patrol-Torpedo-boat_shell...

Two pics of American PT boats at Leghorn, the first seems to show the jetty the British officers posed on.




Arjan

Thanks Peter, a really nice picture. Here are two Jacob's adverts from a wartime American yachting magazine. I like the strange mix of propaganda, patriotism and blatant commercialism which is so typical of these American ads. Pity the images are not clearer : http://i655.photobucket.com/albums/uu27...

Thanks a lot for your interesting contribution Peter, I love the painting of MTB 410. Needless to say, I would appreciate any further pics of or info on the Jacobs Vospers from the 28th MTB Flotilla. On the subject of radar equipment, I don't know if you know the IWM interview with Lieutenant G.P.H....

Thanks, on closer inspection the number on the right hand Elco MTB does indeed seem to be 315 and not 313 as I assumed earlier. By the way, some time ago I tried to find out which German "Flak Lighters" were actually sunk during operations MTB 378 was involved in. These two German Marinefä...

Thanks, the last pic you posted gives the best clues to identify the various vessels. From the right to the left : MTB 420 (78' Higgins), MTB 313 (77' Elco), MTB 400 (Jacobs Vosper with Radar mast on the port side), behind MTB 400 probably MTB 401 (also Jacobs Vosper with Radar mast on the port side...

Thanks Stephen, I have pored over the two pics with the posing Navy officers but I can't make heads or tails of them. The pics are a bewildering mix of Higgins and Vosper MTBs (perhaps even an Elco 77 footer among these and I'm not really familiar with the anatomy of Higgins and Elco MTBs) and many ...

I wonder if there are any pics of MTB 377 taken at Bastia or Leghorn. I know that it was present at Leghorn where it accompanied MTB 378 on several missions. I wonder if this IWM pic could possibly show MTB 377 , the Vosper in the background with a twin Oerlikon, a metal band stand and an American r...

"the deck stiffening was a mahogany plank 22' long × 12" × ¼" and the gunwale stiffening was 30' × 11" × ⅞" (he still has the sketch)." Interesting, I had wondered about the function of these planks . I know these were standard fittings on later Vospers but I didn't kno...

Thanks Stephen, you've provided some very interesting info. The lend-lease Vospers of the 16th and 17th MTB Flotilla were apparently built by at least four different American companies : Annapolis, Jacobs, Herreshoff and Harbour Boat so it's probably not correct to assume that Annapolis Vospers were...

Thanks Stephen, much obliged ! Very interesting details regarding the shortcomings of the boats' construction. Of course the climate conditions in this particular war theater were more extreme than those in the Mediterranean but it makes me wonder if the quality of the lend-lease Vospers made by Jac...

Thanks a lot for the additional information.

Kind regards,

Arjan