Introduction to Coastal Forces Bases

Coastal Forces Worldwide

Coastal Forces bases were a truly global affair, reflecting a need in many different theatres of allied operations, for fast, manoeuvrable craft able to perform roles embodying a variety of tasks, including:

  1. defence of vital sea routes around the British Isles from attack by German E-boats
  2. delivery of agents or escaped prisoners of war to or from occupied Europe
  3. participation in Combined Operations actions including the famous St Nazaire raid
  4. attacks on German supply lines in the Mediterranean and Adriatic
  5. defence of outposts such as Malta and support for landings in North Africa and Sicily
  6. protection of shipping along the coast of West Africa from attack by submarines
  7. formation of defensive flanks for the D-Day landings in Normandy

Home Waters

Home Waters — the area of Admiralty responsibility that encircled the British Isles — had by far the greatest number of bases and flotillas, with a particular concentration of forces in the south and south-east of England to guard the southern part of the North Sea and English Channel — the areas most at risk from Nazi occupied Europe.

Famous Coastal Forces bases such as HMS Beehive at Felixstowe, home to the 6th MGB Flotilla, HMS Mantis at Lowestoft, home to the 55th MTB Flotilla, and HMS Hornet at Gosport, the operational headquarters of Coastal Forces, were all to be found here.

Mediterranean

The Mediterranean saw the second largest concentration of Coastal Forces during the Second World War, reflecting the strategic significance of the region as a whole. It proved a more mobile theatre of operations, reflecting the changing fortunes of the allies in the region as the front-line gradually shifted from the southern Mediterranean to the Aegean and Adriatic Seas, where Coastal Forces gunboats and motor torpedo boats were called upon to participate in some particularly fierce fighting.

West Africa

Coastal Forces activity in West Africa was confined to anti-submarine patrol and convoy protection duties, carried out by motor launches from ports on the West and Gold coasts. The principal base of operations was at Freetown in Sierra Leone, which acted as an important assembly point for the north–south convoy system.

India & Far East

The far east saw one of the earliest deployments of motor torpedo boats in the shape of the 2nd MTB Flotilla based at Hong Kong. Bases in India provided support for motor launches used in defence against Japanese submarine attacks in the Bay of Bengal and in support of allied troop operations in Burma.

During the period of the Second World War, many small naval bases were hastily assembled around the shores of the British Isles, to assist in providing protection for coastal shipping, from attack by German naval forces based in occupied Europe. More were to follow in the wake of those set up to defend the North Sea and English Channel, including many overseas, in theatres such as the Mediterranean and Adriatic, where coastal forces were to harry German coastal supply routes.

The locations for bases

The bases themselves were seldom part of established naval dockyards or shore establishments, being sited instead within the basins of commercial docks or fishing ports. Quite often premises such as hotels within the confines of these ports would be commandeered for use as operational headquarters, whilst other dockside facilities were requisitioned for use by maintenance crews.

Such well known east coast locations as Felixstowe, Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft all played host to flotillas of motor torpedo boats, motor gunboats, and motor launches, whilst in the south and southwest holiday destinations of Ramsgate, Dartmouth and Falmouth, high-speed craft would embark of an evening to patrol waters off the Channel Islands, or ferry secret agents to and from occupied France or the Netherlands.

The ports transformed

As the war progressed, more boats that formed part of a crash building program, came off stocks at yards around the country, to be commissioned as part of new flotillas.

These brand new boats with their freshly recruited crews, once trained, helped swell the numbers already engaged in fighting the German E-boats that preyed on the coastal convoy routes. Ports soon bristled with ranks of these sleek, well-armed craft, placed on standby throughout the day, awaiting evening and the cover of darkness in which to put to sea.

The numbers of shore-based personnel likewise expanded, to include many women who, as part of the Women's Royal Naval Service, were trained in all aspects of keeping these high-maintenance craft at sea; from servicing engines, through to loading torpedoes and ammunition—each woman additionally releasing a man for fighting duty.

The remains of the day

A number of wartime Coastal Forces bases, such as HMS Wasp in the former Lord Warden Hotel at Dover, have now been commemorated by the Coastal Forces Heritage Trust through the installation of a blue plaque.

site of hms wasp at doverThe former Lord Warden Hotel at Dover, wartime location of HMS Wasp

However unlike the wartime airfields of the Battle of Britain, little exists in the way of any built heritage to recall the sites of these former naval bases, or to testify to the role these highly decorated units played in the defence of the realm.

The rapid decommissioning and disposal of boats once the war in Europe had come to an end in 1945, has over time seen to the disappearance of nearly all of these craft, and with them, any widespread awareness of their achievements.

In an effort to redress this situation, we have produced these maps of the locations of former Coastal Forces bases worldwide. Each map contains an introduction to the particular theatre the bases operated in along with a note on each, which it is hoped may prove of assistance in the interpretation of service records.

Photo: Imperial War Museum (A20516) Felixstowe Coastal Forces Base, March 1943