MGB 330

Motor Gunboats (MGB) & Steam Gunboats (SGB)
ScottishManx
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MGB 330

Postby ScottishManx » Tue Jun 07, 2011 2:12 pm

Trying to find any information on MGB 330 which my father-in-law served during WW2 (transferred to ML155 after a colision with a Canadian vessel?).
I've found one photo on a German model site - any more photos or information is appreciated.

My father-in-law is called John (Jack) Wright.

Pioneer
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Re: MGB 330

Postby Pioneer » Tue Jun 07, 2011 3:53 pm

Welcome Aboard 'ScottishManx'
Our Data Base shows that MGB 33O was a 'C' class Fairmile MGB built by Tough Bros of Teddington. She survived the war to be eventually destroyed, as a target vessel, in 1946. I'll try and dig out some more info on her.

ScottishManx
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Re: MGB 330

Postby ScottishManx » Tue Jun 07, 2011 4:41 pm

Cheers Pioneer

Brian Holmes
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Re: MGB 330

Postby Brian Holmes » Sun Jun 19, 2011 3:01 pm

MGB_330 Tough Bros Ltd, Teddington Wharf, Manor Road, Teddington 25/7/41

For an attack on an enemy convoy in the Dover Straits 6/8/42
MID TLt Derek Chappe Sidebottom RNVR
MID AB Trevor Goodricke Strachey-Hawdon C/JX283257

For an action with E Boats in the Channel16/8/42
DSC TLt Derek Chappe Sidebottom RNVR
MID AB Trevor Goodricke Strachey-Hawdon C/JX283257
MID AB Victor Charles Willingall C/JX209656
MID MtrMch Frank Burras Robinson C/MX67402

Known Crew
TLt Alasdair Macdonald Watson RNVR joined the RNVR at Rosyth 2/8/40. HMS King Alfred 7-8/41, HMS St Christopher, HMS Midge 2/42. First Lieutenant MGB 326 1/42 Served in MGB 505 in 1943 First Lieutenant MGB 317 31/5/43 First Lieutenant MGB 312 11/10/43 Commanding Officer MGB 330 10/4/44 Commanding Officer MTB 5001 1945 when the boat was sunk Commanding Officer MTB 764 21/5/45 Senior Officer German E Boats at HMS Hornet Commanding Officer MTB 2012 1945 Commanding Officer MTB 2017 1946 Transferred to permanent RNVR 1951 Commanding Officer HMS Scotia (RNR Headquarters at Rosyth) 1958-66 RNR ADC to the Queen 1967-68 Commanding Officer HMS Claverhouse (RNR Clyde) 1968-69. Retired 27/12/70 as a Capt. Teacher math and science and coach of rugby and athletics at Dalhousie Castle, Melville House, Ladybank and Clifton Hall schools from 1946 on. President of the Combined Operations Association based near Furnace. MID 1943, DSC 1945 and VRD 1960 and 1970. Born 24/2/20 at Edinburgh and died at Muthill, Perthshire 25/3/2007
TLt Derek Chappe Sidebottom RNVR Commanding Officer MGB 330 1942 - Wounded in action 16/8/42 Commanding Officer MGB 112. Born 23/2/12 and died 9/96 in Bath, Somerset MID 1940 MID 1942 DSC 1942 DSC 1943
TLt G D A Price RNVR Commanding Officer 21/10/42
TSLt G S Franklin RNVR First Lieutenant 31/5/43
TSLt N W C Maynard RNVR First Lieutenant 13/6/44
AB Trevor Goodricke Strachey-Hawdon C/JX283257
AB Paul Bruce Mountford D/JX 178681 Died 23/8/42 of wounds received in a sueface action Age 22 Son of James E. L. Mountford and Winifred Cecelia Mountford, of Oldland, Glouctershire. Buried in Oldland (St. Anne) Churchyard,N.W. corner of new portion. Grave 155
AB Victor Charles Willingall C/JX209656
AB Edward Herbert Raynor P/JX 261717 Killed in a surface action 16/8/42 aged 22 Son of Edward Herbert and Mary Ann Raynor, of Bobbers Mill, Nottingham. Buried in Dover (St. James's) Cemetery Row C. Joint grave 17
AB Raymond South D/JX 184176 Died of wounds received in a surface action 7/8/42. Buried in Boston Cemetery, Lincolnshire Sec. 2. Grave 566 Check CWGC on name
MtrMch Frank Burras Robinson C/MX67402
Sig Sidney Burridge P/JX 298204 Killed in a surface action 16/8/42 aged 20 Son of Harry and Jane Cocks, of Battersea. Buried in Wandsworth (Earlsfield) Cemetery Screen Wall. Block 30. Grave 560

War Activities
14th MGB Flotilla (Part)
MGB 322, MGB 324, MGB 328 and MGB 330
1/42 At Dover
17/1/42 MGBs 324, 328 and 330 intercept and attack two armed trawlers.
3/3/42 MGB 322 and MGB 330 are despatched from Dover to the assistance of MTB 31 on fire near the North-east Varne buoy. They find MTB 31 and MGB 330 is directed to recover survivors from the raft about a quarter mile to the east. MGB 322 passes hoses across to MTB 31. SLt H Teekman RCNVR (Maintenance Officer from HMS Wasp) boards MTB 31to lead the fire party. The fire is under control and the engine room and tiller flat were slowly flooding. MGB 322 takes MTB 31 in tow alongside. The two boats enter Dover with the stern of MTB 31 two feet under water. MTB 31 is beached in the entrance to Wellington Dock.
6/8/42 An attack on an enemy convoy in the Dover Straits
16/8/42 MGB 6, MGB 10, MGB 324, MGB 330, MGB 331 and MGB 609 depart Dover to intercept 10th R Boat Flotilla laying mines in mid channel. Off Calais MGB 330, MGB 331 and MGB 609 engage the German force with gunfire and are all badly damaged. MGB 330 has all guns out of action but rams R 184. Just before the collision, two shells explode on MGB330’s bridge wounding everyone present. The Commanding Officer is quoted as saying “As I was the only one on the bridge still standing, I took the wheel and put it hard to starboard. The boat swung round again, partly helped by the force of the enemy’s wash, and her bows crashed into the enemy’s port quarter some 20 feet from her stern. My First Lieutenant was thrown across the bridge and stunned by the impact, and the enemy’s fire ceased immediately. She heeled well over to starboard, and both boats, locked together, swung to port out of line. The starboard point-five gunner fired most effectively at the next ahead in the enemy’s line, who was already under heavy fire from the other two gunboats.
Our engines were still running at high speed, keeping our bows forced into the R Boat, and as we had too many casualties to make boarding a possibility the only thing to do was to pull our bows out and let the water pour into the large hole we had made, which would, we hoped, sink her. I moved the engine-room telegraphs to stop, but she continued to go ahead; evidently the line had been shot away. An unwounded member of a gun’s crew was sent with a message to the engine room to stop engines. As we slowed, the R Boat, whose engines were still running, wrenched herself clear and staggered off into the gathering darkness with smoke billowing from her”.
MGB 330, MGB 331 and MGB 609 are severely damaged and break off the action. In MGB 609, two men have been killed and two men are dying. All three officers and eight ratings have been wounded. Two R Boats are sinking. MGB 6 and MGB 10 make an attack setting an R Boat on fire, boarding it and taking either eight or fifteen prisoners. All boats return to Dover. R184 is finished off by gunfire from a coastal battery although the Germans claim this as a British boat.
MGB 609 has only one working engine, no engine controls and no charts.
MGB330 rigs a jury tiller and the crew fights fires whilst returning to base extinguishing the last one as they enter harbour.
Nine survivors of the R Boat rammed by MGB 330 are recovered from a raft, on the following night, by MTB 204.
1st Coastal Force Flotilla
MGB 312, MGB 316, MGB 317, MGB 324, MGB 326 and MGB 330
Operation Neptune Invasion of Normandy
Juno Beach for assault then ETF

Post War Fate
1946 Ship Target Trials and destroyed by 1948

Brian Holmes
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Re: MGB 330

Postby Brian Holmes » Sun Jun 19, 2011 3:03 pm

ML_155 Woodnut & Co Ltd, Bembridge, Isle of Wight 11/12/40

Known Crew
TLt J F C Wheeler RNVR Commanding Officer
TLt A I F Kindell RNVR Commanding Officer 1944 - 45
TLt John Malcolm Hirst RNVR HMS Lauderdale TSLt ML 557, Commanding Officer HDML 1246 Winter 1944 – 45 Commanding Officer ML 480 1945 Commanding Officer ML 155 1945
Tel Eric Greenall P/SSX 28810 (Died 9/4/42) Age 21 Son of Francis and Elizabeth Greenall, of Wigan. Buried in Wigan Cemetery Sec. E. Nonconformist. Grave 863

Wartime Activities
7th ML Flotilla
ML 153, ML 155, ML 156, ML 157, ML 158, ML 159, ML 160 and ML 161
1/7/41 7th ML Flotilla Based at Dartmouth
ML 153, ML 155, ML 156, ML 157, ML 158, ML 159, ML 160 and ML 177. ML 270 to join on completion
Operation Neptune Invasion of Normandy
14th ML Flotilla
ML 155, ML 190, ML 191, ML 490, ML 591 and ML 905
Navigation Leaders at Utah Beach

Post War Fate
1945 Based at Flekkeford, Norway supervising German minesweepers clearing mines in the Skaggerrak.
ML2155
1961 Sold

ScottishManx
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Re: MGB 330

Postby ScottishManx » Thu Oct 31, 2013 11:44 am

Thanks for the Information Brian.

I'm saddened to inform everyone of the passing earlier this week of John 'Jack' Wright (aged 88). He's survived by his 3 children, 2 grandchildren, 1 great grandchild & 1 great, great grandchild.

Admin
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Re: MGB 330

Postby Admin » Thu Nov 28, 2013 11:42 am

This entry on the Scottish Government's Cranmore site for MGB 330 cites the boat as having been scuttled in experiments in Loch Striven, c. 1947, and even gives the location for the sunken vessel. The boat is wrongly identified as an MTB within the records, but this is noted and corrected further down the page.

A photo of MGB 330 can be seen on the Warships web site

gwbarker
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Re: MGB 330

Postby gwbarker » Tue Feb 23, 2016 11:45 pm

My uncle AB. Dimmock Barker D/JX.175659 is recorded as having served on HMMGB 330. He died of his wounds 7.8.42. However, his grave records HMMGB 5. Can anyone help with this?

Glenn Barker

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Re: MGB 330

Postby Admin » Wed Feb 24, 2016 3:08 am

Hello Glenn

Thank you for your enquiry concerning your Uncle, AB Dimmock Barker.

I have checked our own casualty records and note that it reads ML 5, which never existed. Checking back with the Commonwealth War Graves, I note that the Grave Registration Report available with his record shows his unit as MLD 5 initially, with the ‘D’ crossed out and replaced with ‘B’ to read MLB 5. Again there is no such boat and this presumably is an error. Our casualty records for 7 August give one death for MGB 330, and another for MTB 45, which may be what MLB 5 was intended to record.

Our casualty records further show MGB 330 with four casualties in total for the month of August 1942, on three different days, the 7th, 16th and 23rd. It’s unusual for a single boat to suffer casualties in three separate incidents in such close proximity, and I suspect the deaths of the 16th and 23rd may have been casualties succumbing to wounds that took place from an action on the 7th August 1942.

That action involved both MGB 330 and MTB 45 working together, so it’s possible your Uncle was killed on either MTB 45 or MGB 330 since both boats were working out of Dover at the time. As it happens an account of the action is given in the December 2015 London Branch newsletter.

I hope this helps

Regards
Admin

gwbarker
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Re: MGB 330

Postby gwbarker » Wed Feb 24, 2016 8:10 pm

Thank you for your insights into my Uncle and MGB 330. I really appreciate your efforts.
Curiously my father, who was eight years old at the time, remembers his parents travelling from their home in Grimsby to Dover to see their badly injured son (Dimmock). Before they arrived back home a telegram arrived to say that he had died. If accurate, this would suggest he had been wounded earlier than the 7th.
If you could point me in any direction to get a clearer picture I would be very grateful.
Glenn

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Re: MGB 330

Postby Admin » Thu Feb 25, 2016 1:43 am

Hello Glenn
I believe there's definitely something amiss here. I have managed to track down a photograph of the headstone which displays the same H.M.M.L.B. 5 recorded in the grave report, and which is definitely incorrect, as there was no such ML, so the CWGC will need informing at some point, so that they might correct the headstone in the fullness of time.

Could you tell me please, what is the basis for giving MGB 330 as his boat in the first instance? Do you have his service record or is there some other piece of documentary evidence to the effect?

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Re: MGB 330

Postby gwbarker » Thu Feb 25, 2016 7:25 pm

Hello
I visited his grave back in 2001 in St. James Cemetery, Dover and saw HMMLB 5 ad you have described from the photo, together with a personal message inscribed at the bottom from 'Mam, Dad, Gran and Brothers' - which would match his family circumstances.

I also visited the Public Record Office, Kew and got a copy of the relevant page of the Registers of Reports of Deaths: Naval Ratings 1939 AM 104 / 127.

Dimmock's 'Ship or Unit' is recorded as H.M. M.G.B 330 and his date of death 7.8.42. The place of death is recorded as E.M.S Hospital, Union Road, Dover. The cause of death is recorded as 1.

Again, thank you for your help.
Glenn

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Re: MGB 330

Postby Admin » Fri Feb 26, 2016 1:54 am

Thank you Glenn, that's proved really helpful. I managed to find the relevant document which is available to download for free from The National Archive:

REGISTERS OF REPORTS OF DEATHS: NAVAL RATINGS ADM 104/127 - ADM 104. A - Blyth

This is all the proof needed really to show that his boat was MGB 330, so if the family wished, they could contact the CWGC about the matter to get the details amended in their online database, and presumably the headstone too. I have already updated our own record in line with this confirmation. We have one or two other discrepancies in our casualty list involving non-existent boats, so hopefully the availability of these documents will enable us to clear those up now.

I will look back through the standard text book Home Waters MTBs & MGBs for earlier incidents involving MGB 330 in early August and late July of 1942, and check my other sources to see if I can ascertain any specific details about the events surrounding his death.

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Re: MGB 330

Postby Admin » Wed Mar 02, 2016 3:46 pm

MGB ACTIONS SUMMER 1942

MGB 330 was one of twenty-four Fairmile C-Class motor gun boats, which were somewhat longer than the ‘short’ British Power Boat MGBs then in service with the existing MGB Flotillas. A larger variant still, the Fairmile D-Class, known as Dog Boats, were just starting to complete at yards around the country at this time, and the very first, MGB 601 had already entered service and so was paired with the ‘longer’ C-Class boats at Dover.

MGB 601 along with C-Class 322 and 328 had fought an engagement in the Channel on 20th July 1942. 601 subsequently blew up in Dover Harbour three days later in what was later determined to be damage sustained to its fuel tanks during this action. The next action involving a Dog Boat with C-Class MGBs, which included MGB 330, was the one recorded for the night of the 16th/17th August 1942, as documented by Brian Holmes early in this thread.

The only other documented episode involving MGB 330 was for the earlier action on 6/7th August in which MTBs 44, 45 and 48 were joined by MGBs 330, 324 and 331 in an attack on a German coastal convoy passing through the Dover Straits, comprising the German ship Schwabenland, and fifteen assorted escorts.

It’s possible there may have been some earlier event which isn’t recorded in either of the two volumes compiled by Len Reynolds, Home Waters MTBs & MGBs, and Dog Boats at War, but the action of the 6th/7th August remains the most likely cause for the death of Dimmock Barker, especially since his death is recorded for that date.
Curiously my father, who was eight years old at the time, remembers his parents travelling from their home in Grimsby to Dover to see their badly injured son (Dimmock). Before they arrived back home a telegram arrived to say that he had died.
That leaves the issue of the telegram. However one possible interpretation of that may be that, given the action took place in the Dover Straits, then if the firefight occurred early in the morning of the 7th, it would not have taken MGB 330 long to return to Dover with her casualties. So it’s possible he was conveyed to hospital early that morning, and that his parents had been informed and had set out for Dover, but before they managed to get there, a telegram announcing his death overtook them, arriving at their home address. So the story about a telegram containing the news, and possibly read by grandparents or neighbours before they got home, would still be true. Even if they managed to reach Dover before he died of his wounds that day, an official telegram would still presumably have been sent by the Navy to the address of the next of kin recorded on his service record.


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