55 Foot Coastal Motor Boats
| Career (UK) | |
|---|---|
| Name: | MTB 331 |
| Operator: | Royal Navy |
| Builder: | Thornycroft, Southampton |
| Launched: | 1941 |
| Status: | British Military Powerboat Trust, Marchwood |
| Class overview | |
| Name: | 55 foot CMBT |
| Operators: | Royal Navy |
| Completed: | 14 (1941 class) |
| Preserved: | MTB 331 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 17 tons (1917 boats, 11 tons) |
| Length: | 60 ft (18 m) |
| Beam: | 11.5 ft (3.5 m) |
| Draught: | 4 ft (1.2 m) |
| Propulsion: | twin screws & twin 650 hp (480 kW) Thornycroft RY12 petrol engines |
| Speed: | 40 knots (74 km/h) |
| Armament: | twin 18-inch (460 mm) torpedoes, depth charges or mines |
| Notes: | Mahogany plank on frame construction, single-step planing round-form hull |
In 1917 Thornycroft produced an enlarged 55-foot (17 m) version. This allowed a heavier payload, and now two torpedoes could be carried. A mixed warload of a single torpedo and four depth charges could also be carried, the depth charges released from individual cradles over the sides, rather than a stern ramp.
Speeds from 35 to 41 knots (76 km/h) were possible, depending on the various petrol engines fitted. Use of petrol in a boat is always a fire risk. At least two unexplained losses due to fires in port are thought to have been caused by a build-up of petrol vapour igniting.
It was these larger boats that entered the harbour during the Kronstadt raid and torpedoed the Soviet ships.
The design was so successful that more were built during World War II. The last survivor, MTB 331, is of this group, built in 1941.
Read more about this topic: Coastal Motor Boat
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