MGB 81
Vessels Details: Type:
Service: Builders: Year Built:
Number Built: Displacement: Length: Beam:
Draught: Hull:
Engines: Max Speed:
71’/2ft Motor Gun Boat Mk V Royal Navy
British Power Boat Co. 1942 112
46.6 Tons 71½ ft 20½ ft 5¾ ft
Mahogany
3 x 1250hp Packard petrol engine 40 knots
The 71½ ft design was prepared in late 1940 by George Selman, Chief Designer of The British Power Boat Co, Hythe, in conjunction with Bill Holt, RCNC, Head of the Boat Section in the Department of the
Director of Naval Construction. The requirement was for a “short”, fast, well-armed Motor Anti-Submarine Boat (MASB), to operate in a gunboat role, to counter German E- and R-boats which, following the German occupation of Holland, Belgium and France, had attacked Allied shipping in the English Channel and North Sea. The 71 ½ ft hull form was similar to the original 70ft BPB boat, but the hollow back profile of the deck was eliminated, and the deck was given a hogged sheer from stem to stern. In addition, the structure was very much stronger than the 70ft BPB and as a result none of them suffered from hull defects. The first boats were ordered in November 1940. These included 24 MASBs. In January 1941, the new designation “Motor Gun Boat” had come into use and the 24 boats originally ordered as MASBs were designated MGB 74-97, MGB 81 being BPB Yard No. 1807. Of the ninety-six built, thirty-nine were Mark V with the MGB streamlined canopy; the other fifty-seven were Mark VI with the MTB bridge eight of which were manned by the royal Canadian Navy.
At speed on the Solent August 2003 photograph by Mr Richard Hellyer.
The construction was on the hard chine principle with side planking of double diagonal mahogany planking and that of the bottom being triple diagonal mahogany planking. The craft were powered by three Packard 1,250bp petrol engines with the centre engine driving directly and the wing engines using a “Vee-drive”. Speed was about 40 knots maximum with 35 knots being achieved continuously and 26 knots cruising. These speeds increased about 3 knots when underwater exhausts were fitted. Fuel was carried in five tanks amidships of total capacity 2733 gallons which gave a range of 475 miles at 35 knots or 600 miles at 15 knots. The MGBs had a Type 286 radar
later replaced by a Type 291, however all were fitted with W/T (Wireless Telegraphy) The crew comprised 2 officers and up to 12 men. Armament included a single 2pdr Pom-Pom forward, a single twin 20mm Oerlikon amidships, 2 twin 0.303in Lewis machine guns on pedestals, a single Holman Projector aft and 2 Depth Charges. Armament varied however, and in MGB 81 the Holman Projector was later removed and replaced by a twin Oerlikon aft. During mid 1944 50 mark XII depth charges were carried for use against midget submarines.
MGB 81 was ordered on the 27th November 1940, laid down on the 16th December 1941 and launched on the 26th June 1942. She commenced trials on the 8th July 1942 and attained a maximum speed of 38.63 knots at 2,400rpm and a maximum continuous speed of 34.75 knots at 2,000rpm. MGB 81 was commissioned and accepted on the 11th July 1942, at HMS Bee, the Coastal Forces base at Weymouth. In August 1942 she joined the 8th MGB Flotilla at Dartmouth, where the first five boats were based, following their move from HMS Beehive at Felixstowe in July 1942.
MGB 81 was involved in 6 actions before being designated as an MTB in 1943. The first action on 13/14 August 1942 off Guernsey was a close-range gun attack on two enemy armed trawlers during which one trawler was severely damaged. The 8th MGB Flotilla returned to Felixstowe in September 1942, however the boats were occasionally based at Harwich. The second action was on the 10/11 September 1942 off the Hook of Holland. A few days later on the 14/15 September, the MGB’s were in action again off the Hook of Holland when two small enemy motor vessels were damaged by gunfire and later four armed trawlers were hit, with no damage received to the MGBs. The fourth action was overnight 2/3 October 1942, again off Holland, when four enemy armed trawlers were engaged. MGB 78 was lost during this action. During the fifth recorded action on the 27/28 February 1943, once again off the Hook of Holland, the MGBs contacted a German
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