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Concept
Motor gunboat
Summary
The motor gun boat (MGB) was a small, high-speed British military vessel of the Second World War, which was armed with a mix of guns, in contrast to the physically similar motor torpedo boat (MTB), whose main offensive weapon were torpedoes. The small size of the MGBs, and their high speed, made them difficult targets for German E-boats, though, like their opponents, they were limited by heavy weather, because they did not provide a stable-enough platform to aim the guns. The large number of guns meant the crew was relatively large, numbering as high as thirty men on the largest boats.
MGBs were extremely heavily armed for vessels of their size. Early MGBs were, nevertheless, small boats, being based on Motor Anti-Submarine Boats of 63-70 feet in length; these would later be considered 'short' boats by Coastal Forces. These were mostly equipped with one heavy weapon and numerous lighter guns. The later 71.5-feet short MGBs would sport two heavy weapon locations (a pom-pom forward and twin Oerlikon aft), outmatching contemporary enemy boats of larger size. The outstanding feature of most short MGBs was their very high speed of 36-40 knots, enabling them to work with, or in place of, MTBs on offensive sweeps.
From June 1941, the Fairmile Type 'C' MGB began to join Coastal Forces; this boat was based on the earlier Type 'A' Motor launch and was the first of the 'long boats', being 110 feet long. A major feature of the long MGBs was that they carried two heavy guns as well as numerous lighter weapons; the 27-knot Type 'C' began to introduce the versatile & hard-hitting Vickers pom-pom to Coastal Forces' inventory, as well as carrying one of the ubiquitous 2-pdr Rolls guns on the aft bandstand.
In March 1942, the first of the Fairmile 'D's joined the MGB force, this type becoming the main long MGB for the remainder of the conflict. These had room for an even heavier armament than the Type 'C' and the weight of armament was incrementally improved as the war went on.
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