MTB-71

MTB-71 shows its 18" torpedo tube in the upper right of this view. You can also see the wooden construction of the hull. It's amazing that people rode these ships into combat when they looked so fragile. Very fast though, since their bow would raise out of the water, giving them very high speed - 45 knots in some Allied PT boats.

The MTBs played an important role. Many transports and warships were sunk by mines during the Normandy operation, and without the MTBs finding the gaps in the minefields in the dark of night in 1942-1944, the invasion could have been disasterous for the Allies

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One of only two of her class, MTB 71 was built by Vospers, at first intended for the Royal Norwegian Navy, but was commissioned into the Royal Navy in June 1940. She was powered by two 1100hp Isotta Fraschini motors with two auxiliary Ford V8 automobile engines. A crew of 2 officers and 8 men carried. Her service initially was taken up with the 11th MTB Flotilla in Dover Command and in which the vessels were employed in aggressive patrol duties against German E-Boats operating in coastal waters as far as the Dutch coast. Offensive equipment carried was two 18 inch torpedoes and four depth charges and after discharge of the weapons the MTB would escape from the scene of action relying on its powerful motors to achieve 38 knots. She attacked Kriegsmarine German cruisers Gneisnau, Sharnhorst and Prinz Eugen unsuccessfully during their run of the Dover Striat in February 1942. Reported sunk in 1943, fifty years later she was found serving as a houseboat in West Sussex on the Chichester Canal. She was returned to her wartime configuration and is on display at Duxford. Right-click and choose "view image" to enlarge.

While the British MTBs were always armed with torpedoes if they had tubes and could expect surface targets, they were not employed to sink large numbers of German vessels, unlike the American PT boats in the Pacific against the Japanese, when the American PTs were the only surface vessels available in 1942. Throughout the war the British MTBs were used for commando and anti-mine operations.

German E-boats and submarines, in the days befoer GPS tracking, were unsure of where they had laid their mines the night before. So, they gave their own minefields a wide berth, creating gaps in the fields opposite possible landing beaches in France. During Operation Overlord, the MTBs were used to guide the transports through these gaps to the beaches.

They also performed air/sea rescue missions, delivered agents along the occupied coasts, and fought their E-boat counterparts.

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