Coastal Forces Veterans

Just returned to Australia after a short trip to the UK. Mainly a Clan gathering of my family in Scotland but I managed a full day in Portsmouth. My purpose was to lay a Poppy at the name of AB Bill McNemany who was killed in the Irrawaddy River at the action against Japanese craft, 16/17 May 1945.
Very pleasing contact was made with the possibility of CF museum. I was stumped on a query of such D's as MTB 774 with four torpedo tubes. Were there many such armed and did they have the opportunity of using their power in action?
Ken Joyce.

Hi Ken

From Allied Coastal Forces of WWII vol. I;

229 boats were built.
Numbers;
601-616 were ordered as MGBs (no hull scallops).
617-632 as MTBs with 2 x raised 21" tubes (no hull scallops).
633-696 mostly MTBs but not all were so rated (hulls with scallops).
Up to this point about half were MTBs and half were MGBs.
Those MGBs which were in home waters were fitted with 18" tubes when later re-classified as MTBs in 1943.
The MGBs in the Med retained MGB armament.
697-723 defined as MTBs and had 2 x 21" (hulls with scallops)
724-800 were defined as MTBs and were mostly fitted with 4 x 18" tubes (hulls with scallops).
the last units 5001-5029 were fitted with 2 x 21" tubes (not raised as hulls had scallops).

All types saw action in home and Med waters.

Regards, Christian.
www.mtbhulls.co.uk

Thank you Christian for your remarks regarding D-Boats with four torpedos, I will pass this on to the enquirer. I was on MTBs 738 and 749 and we had only the two torpedos which in fact were not used in my time, although I left the Flotilla after the accident to 749 and was on the way o Burma by early October, 1944.
Ken Joyce