MGB 81 is a 1942-launched motor gun boat that has been restored by the Portsmouth Naval Base Property Trust’s Boathouse 4. They regularly take ‘paying punters’ out on the boat - and the other week I was among them.
It was a fantastic experience - sailing out past the former submarine base HMS Dolphin/Fort Blockhouse and up and down the Solent - waters that many COPPists would have known very well from trips out from their depot on Hayling Island - was, I admit, a bit emotional.
COPP worked extensively with motor gun boats - but MGB 81 is a very ‘different beast’ compared with the ones that they usually partnered with.
MGB 81 is a British Power Boat Company design and, at 71.5 feet in length, is considerably shorter than the MGBs that COPP worked with - and, with a top speed of 42 knots, quite a bit faster, too!
So far as I know, COPP never worked with an MGB of the same design as MGB 81.
A couple of times COPP worked with Harbour Defence Motor Launches (HDMLs) that were of a similar length to MGB 81 but considerably slower. A surviving HDML - HMS Medusa - is also often ‘out and about’ on the Solent.
COPP usually worked with Fairmile MGBs - boats that were considerably longer and slower than MGB 81 and with a much less ‘sleek’ design.
A few times, COPP worked with Type C Fairmile MGBs. These were 110 feet in length and had a top speed of 26.5 knots. It was these boats that worked with them to carry out reconnaissance of the Normandy D-Day beaches.
But usually COPP worked with Type B Fairmiles. These were a little bit longer then the Type C (112 feet) and had a comparatively low top speed of 20 knots - around half that of MGB 81.
As well as providing ‘escort duties’, these Fairmiles were used to tow landing craft that COPP would then use to make the final approach to the reconnaissance area, before either launching their canoes or swimming directly ashore.
You can see images of some of the MGBs that worked with COPP - and compare them to MGB 81! - at the following link: www.coppsurvey.uk/motor-launches (The page is still a work in progress.)
I should also apologise for the slightly grainy footage in this video where I zoomed in - I’m still attempting to master my video-editing program!
Негізгі бет MGB 81 on the Solent
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