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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

Coastal Motor Boat 64BD


Robin Garrett

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The attached shows the coastal motor boat (CMB) in which my uncle (Harold Garrett) served in WW1. My cousin said "Here she is at the Dover base in 1918 or 1919.  She was built by Wills & Packham in Sittingbourne in 1917 and decommissioned in 1921.  Father said he painted her number on the bow, and told the story of how their 'stoker', ERA, who had been on a London river boat where speed meant success, bought shoe black in Dover and polished her underside to get a few more knots out of her". 

 

My cousin also said "Father's dream was to become a Master Mariner.  As soon as he was out of school, he was born in December 1898, he was indentured at 16 (December 8th, 1914) with the P&O, the SS Ballarat, and went to Japan, Australia & South Africa amongst other places on at least two sailings to the Orient, until May 4th 1916.  He had applied to join the RNR on November 15th, 1915, and was appointed Temporary Midshipman on May 15th,1916, with his seniority backdated to April 28th.   He joined at HMS Excellent, the gunnery school in Portsmouth, and was posted to the Armed Merchant Cruiser Andes and spent that winter patrolling the Denmark Straight - cold and icy - looking for German blockade runners,  Then in 1917 to HMS Renown in Scapa and soon after was transferred to Coastal Motor Boats due to his small boat prowess gained before the war at Lowestoft.  He spent the rest of the war as part of the Dover Patrol, stationed in Dover & Dunkirk, on CMB64BD, a gorgeous 55 ft Thorneycroft boat built in 1917".

 

I wonder about how many crew a CMB had and what armament they carried. In addition, any information on Harold Garrett's service in the RNR would be welcome (as an ex-soldier, I am not up with naval records!).

HM_CMB64BD - HF Garrett's Motor Boat in WW1.jpg

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A superb image!

Naval-history.net has this on this class of CMBs:-

 

CMB.62BD-CMB.99ED, coastal motor boats, 55ft-class, ordered mid-1916. Built by various boat-builders, completed in different years. 11 tons, 60(oa), 55(pp)x11x3ft. Hull: Double or 3 skin mahogany. Petrol engines: various, twin-screw 750 to 900bhp, 34 to 42kts (based on suffix). Armament: 1 or 2-18in torpedoes (in troughs; the number of torpedoes was based on the engine suffix), 4 Lewis MG, 4 depth charges. Crew: 3 to 5 men. 55 footers were designed for anti-submarine duties as well as surface ship attack. At least 21 of them were used as minelayers in 1917.

 

His RNR Officer records :-  https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14617782   and  https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8290402

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Thanks Horatio

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According to Dittmar & Colledge (British Warships 1914-1919) CMB64BD was actually built by by Wills and Packham of Sittingbourne though I suspect Thornycroft designed. For those who don't know, torpedoes were launched tail first via troughs on the stern, the CMB then swerving out of the path of the torpedo. (Does any film of this exist, I wonder.)

 

RM

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Thanks Fovant - fascinating

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