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British Powerboat Company
The British Power Boat Company was a British manufacturer of motor boats, particularly racing boats and later military patrol boats. History The company was formed on 30 September 1927 when Hubert Scott-Paine bought and renamed the Hythe, Hampshire, Hythe Shipyard with the intention of transforming it into one of the most modern mass production boat building yards in the country. Together with his chief designer, Fred Cooper, the company produced the 26-foot single step hydroplane racing boat Miss England I. Later after Fred Cooper had left, Hubert Scott-Paine designed Miss Britain III. From 1930 the British Power Boat Company supplied seaplane tenders to the Air Ministry, commencing with RAF200, a 37-footer. The trials of this and other boats was carried out by T. E. Lawrence, T. E. Shaw (T. E. Lawrence) on behalf of the Royal Air Force, and he and Scott-Paine worked together over the next few years. These tenders were powered by twin 100bhp Henry Meadows, Meadows petrol engine ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Motor Gunboat At HMS St Christopher
An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power generation), heat energy (e.g. geothermal), chemical energy, electric potential and nuclear energy (from nuclear fission or nuclear fusion). Many of these processes generate heat as an intermediate energy form, so heat engines have special importance. Some natural processes, such as atmospheric convection cells convert environmental heat into motion (e.g. in the form of rising air currents). Mechanical energy is of particular importance in transportation, but also plays a role in many industrial processes such as cutting, grinding, crushing, and mixing. Mechanical heat engines convert heat into work via various thermodynamic processes. The internal combustion engine is perhaps the most common example of a mechanical heat engine, in which hea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flying Boat
A flying boat is a type of fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in that a flying boat's fuselage is purpose-designed for floatation and contains a hull, while floatplanes rely on fuselage-mounted floats for buoyancy. Though the fuselage provides buoyancy, flying boats may also utilize under-wing floats or wing-like projections (called sponsons) extending from the fuselage for additional stability. Flying boats often lack landing gear which would allow them to land on the ground, though many modern designs are convertible amphibious aircraft which may switch between landing gear and flotation mode for water or ground takeoff and landing. Ascending into common use during the First World War, flying boats rapidly grew in both scale and capability during the interwar period, during which time numerous operators found commercial success with the type. Flying boats were some of the largest aircraft of the first half of the 2 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Coastal Forces Of World War II
Coastal Forces was a division of the Royal Navy initially established during World War I, and then again in World War II under the command of Rear-Admiral, Coastal Forces. It remained active until the last minesweepers to wear the "HM Coastal Forces" cap tally were taken out of reserve in 1968. On 21 May 2020, Ministerial approval for the change in name from 1st Patrol Boat Squadron to Coastal Forces Squadron was given. It encompasses the Archer-class patrol vessels and the Batch 1 River-class offshore patrol vessels and are responsible for UK EEZ Protection and Patrol. History 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 The first post WWI motor torpedo boats built for the Royal Navy were built by the British Powerboat Company at Hythe, Southampton. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vosper & Company
Vosper & Company, often referred to simply as Vospers, was a British shipbuilding company based in Portsmouth, England. History The Company was established in 1871 by Herbert Edward Vosper, concentrating on ship repair and refitting work. By the turn of the century, Vosper was prospering as a general-purpose builder of small craft, boilers and marine engines, for which they had made a name for themselves as a producer of reliable designs. In the lean times after World War I, they concentrated mainly on ship repair to survive. By the early 1930s, the company began to concentrate on high speed naval craft, yachts and power boats, for which they would become renowned. In 1936 they became listed as a public company, known as Vosper, Limited, at which time they moved to a new yard at Portchester. They built Sir Malcolm Campbell's Water speed record, water speed record breaking ''Bluebird K4'', reaching 141.74 mph in 1939. Vosper would become famous as the builder of small (60 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fairmile Marine
Fairmile Marine was a British boat building company founded in 1939 by the car manufacturer Noel Macklin. Macklin used the garage at his home at Cobham Fairmile in Surrey for manufacturing assembly which is why the boats he designed came to be called Fairmiles. As a former Royal Horse Artillery and Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve officer, he was inspired to turn his talents and his technical staff to producing boats after reading an article by Vice-Admiral Cecil Vivian Usborne. After his first designs were accepted and ordered by the Admiralty, Macklin found he had insufficient capital. To solve the problem the Fairmile company became an agency of the Admiralty with Usborne as one of the directors. As a result, the company carried out business without turning a profit, the staff being in effect part of the civil service. Many Fairmile Bs were built in Commonwealth countries: 80 in Canada, 12 in New Zealand, and six in South Africa. Boats designed References * Lambert, John ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Motor Gun Boat
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. Description 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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
