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Similar Admiralty, Royal Naval Patrol Ser, Women's Royal Naval Ser, Royal Navy, RAF Coastal Command | ||
Coastal Forces was a division of the Royal Navy established during World War II under the command of Rear Admiral Coastal Forces.
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Predecessor
The Royal Navy had previously operated flotillas of small torpedo- and depth-charge-armed craft (Coastal Motor Boats) during World War I (1914-1918). They operated as often in action against the enemy coast as in defence of British coastal areas.
Establishment
During World War II (1939-1945), the first Coastal Forces headquarters was set up at HMS Vernon in 1940 under Rear Admiral Piers Kekewich, Flag Officer Coastal Forces. The Chief Staff Officer to the Rear Admiral was Augustus Agar, VC, who had commanded coastal motor boats during World War I and in British operations in the Baltic Sea in 1918 and 1919 in support of White Russian forces during the Russian Civil War.
World War II operations
Royal Navy Coastal Forces craft operated mainly in the English Channel and North Sea waters, especially in the build up to the Normandy invasion of 1944. They were also used in the Mediterranean and off Norwegian coastline." They raided St. Nazaire and Dieppe. They were used to attack German convoys and their S-boat (known to the Allies as "E-Boat") escorts, carry out clandestine raids and landings, and pick up secret agents in Norway and Brittany. The coastal craft were manned by various Allied nationalities including Dutch, Norwegian, Canadian, Australian, and New Zealanders."
A number of Captain-class frigates were configured to operate as "Coastal Forces Control Frigates" (CFCF). Operating with Coastal Forces officers embarked and responsible for controlling and providing radar support to groups of Coastal Forces motor torpedo boats intercepting German motor torpedo boats in the North Sea, these frigates were involved in the destruction of at least 26 E-Boats.
By 1944 Coastal Forces numbered 3,000 officers and 22,000 ratings. Altogether there were 2,000 British Coastal Forces craft. Affectionately known as the Royal Navy's "Little Ships", they fought over 900 actions and sank around 400 enemy vessels, including 48 E-boats and 32 midget submarines. They fired 1,169 torpedoes, shot down 32 enemy aircraft and carried out many mine laying operations. 170 of the "Little Ships" were sunk or otherwise destroyed.
Post-World War II
After World War II, the Royal Navy redesignated all its motor torpedo boats (MTBs) and motor gun boats (MGBs) as "fast patrol boats." The Brave-class fast patrol boats were the last craft to be built for the Coastal Forces, and the Coastal Forces were disbanded as a separate unit and their last base, (HMS Hornet), decommissioned in 1956.
The last sailors to wear the "HM Coastal Forces" cap tally were the ship's companies of the inshore minesweepers HMS Dittisham (M2621) and HMS Flintham (M2628) on being taken out of reserve in 1968, before individual cap tallies for the minesweepers had been manufactured and issued.
Craft types used
Coastal Forces included the following types of coastal defence craft:
At the outbreak of World War II in September 1939 there were three flotillas of Motor Torpedo "short boats" between 60 ft (18 m) and 72 feet (22 m) long. These could typically maintain 40 knots and were armed with two torpedo tubes. They were built mainly by the British Power Boat Company, Vospers, and Thornycroft.
In 1940 a modified craft, the Motor Gun Boat, was introduced. These were armed with weapons such as the 0.5 in Vickers machine gun, 2 pounder "pom pom", a single or twin 20 mm Oerlikon and ultimately the autoloader fitted 6-pounder gun.
It was also apparent that larger craft were needed as the operational capability of the short boats was too restricted by sea conditions. Fairmile designed a series of larger coastal craft, up to 120 feet (37 m) long. The Fairmile A Type and B Type were motor launches and the C Type was a motor gun boat.
In 1943 the Fairmile D Type appeared. It was a motor torpedo boat – nicknamed the "Dog Boat" – and was designed as a counter to the German S-boat (known to the Allies as the "E-boat"). It could be fitted as either a gun or a torpedo boat, so the designation "MGB" disappeared and all the craft were labelled MTBs. It was a good sea boat and could maintain 30 knots (56 km/h) at full load. The later D types carried four 18-inch (460 mm) torpedo tubes.
The Vosper Type I MTB appeared in 1943. This was a 73-foot (22 m) craft with four 18-inch (460 mm) torpedo tubes and was capable of a maximum speed of 40 knots (74 km/h).
Bases
Coastal Forces bases were located around the British coast and at major locations overseas.
Commonwealth coastal forces
Although British Commonwealth coastal forces operated independently from British ones, they used similar vessels:
Surviving craft
Some surviving motor launches in British waters were taken on as pleasure boats and a number of them are on the National Register of Historic Vessels.