MTB 102

MTB 102 was a motor torpedo boat that served with the Royal Navy in the Second World War. She was built as the Vosper Private Venture Boat as an example, but taken into service.

Construction

Designed by Commander Peter Du Cane CBE, the Managing Director of Vosper Ltd, in 1936. She was completed and launched in 1937, she was bought by the Admiralty and taken into service with the Royal Navy as "MTB 102".

She had an all-wood hull, described as "double diagonal Honduras mahogany on Canadian rock elm".

Besides the torpedoes she was built with, depth charges, machine guns and the Swiss Oerlikon 20 mm anti-aircraft cannon were all trialled on her.

"MTB 102" was the fastest wartime British naval vessel in service at 48 knots.

Wartime service

From 1939 to 1940 she was stationed in the English Channel. During Operation Dynamo (the evacuation from Dunkirk, May–June 1940) she crossed the channel eight times and acted as flagship for Rear Admiral Wake-Walker when his ship was disabled.

In 1943 she was part of 615 Water Transport Company RASC and was renamed "Vimy".

In 1944 she carried Winston Churchill and General Eisenhower to review the fleet for Operation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy.

Postwar service

"MTB 102" was sold off after the war, and converted to a private motor cruiser on the North Sea. Around 1965 she was sold on and partially converted to a houseboat.

In 1973 she was acquired by a Norfolk Scout Group.

In 1976 she was refurbished by a film company for use in the film "The Eagle Has Landed", and in the Dutch film "Soldier of Orange" the following year. [http://www.adls.org.uk/shipinfo.cfm?id=113&RestTrust=0]

In 1977 she appeared for Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee pageant on the River Thames.

Since 1979 she has made several appearances at Navy Days.

As of 2005 she is owned by a trust dedicated to her upkeep.

External links

* [http://www.mtb102.com/ MTB 102 Trust website]
* [http://nationalhistoricships.org.uk/index.cfm/event/getVessel/vref/486 National Register of Historic Vessels]