HMC ML Q057
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HMC ''ML'' ''Q057'' was a wooden Canadian-built Fairmile B motor launch (ML) upgunned submarine chaser delivered to the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) on 28 October 1941. Originally designed for the Royal Navy by W.J. Holt of the
British Admiralty The Admiralty was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy until 1964, historically under its titular head, the Lord High Admiral – one of the Great Officers of State. For much of it ...
and built by British boatbuilder
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 ...
, during the Second World War eighty Fairmile B motor launches were built in Canada for service with the Coastal Forces of the RCN.


Design

Built of double mahogany (diagonally) with an eight-inch oak keel and based on a line of destroyer hulls, the Fairmiles arrived in prefabricated kits to be assembled for the RCN by thirteen different boatyards. In contrast to the British built boats, the Canadian Fairmiles were narrower, had a greater draught, and were slightly more powerful giving the Canadian boats a two knot speed advantage over the British boats. With a fuel capacity of 2,320 gallons of 87 octane gasoline, the early Fairmiles (''Q050'' to ''Q111'') were powered by two 650 hp engines, could reach a top speed of 20 knots (max), 16.5 knots sea speed and a range of 1925 miles at 7.5 knots. Later versions (''Q112'' to ''Q129'') were fitted with larger 700 hp engines able to achieve a top speed to 22 knots (max), with a range of 1925 miles at 7.5 knots. Crewed by two or three officers and fourteen sailors, accommodation on the Fairmiles was thought to be "cramped but comfortable". Another unique design feature of the Fairmile B was that with forty-eight hours notice each boat could be reconfigured to serve in a different role. Fitted with steel strips and tapped holes to ease equipment swaps, weapons and specialist gear such as torpedo tubes, mines, depth charges, and guns could be quickly stripped and attached to the boat. In two days, a Fairmile could have its weapons and equipment reconfigured to serve as an escort, minesweeper, minelayer, navigation leader, coastal raider, patrol boat, ambulance or rescue launch. "Armament consisted of three
20mm Oerlikon The Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons, based on an original German Becker Type M2 20 mm cannon design that appeared very early in World War I. It was widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others, with various models emplo ...
guns, mounted forward, aft and amidships; two .303 machine-guns; one 9mm
Sten gun The STEN (or Sten gun) is a family of British submachine guns chambered in 9×19mm which were used extensively by British and Commonwealth forces throughout World War II and the Korean War. They had a simple design and very low production cost ...
; two .303 rifles; three .45 revolvers; and 20 depth-charges of 300 Ibs each, including eight fitted for the "Y" gun. Each boat was equipped with sonar, radar and WIT." The first thirty-six Canadian Fairmile B type were designated and painted up as CML 01-36 (coastal motor launch). Although listed as being built by Greavette Boats Ltd. of Gravenhurst, Ontario, ''Q057'' along with '' Q055'' which were subcontracted and commissioned at Sachau Marine Construction Limited at
Humber Bay Humber Bay is a bay of Lake Ontario south of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located between Ontario Place on the east and Mimico Creek to the west. The bay gives its name to Etobicoke's Humber Bay neighbourhood. History Prior to 1809 the bay ...
, Mimico.


Fairmile flotillas

Affectionately known as ''the little ships, little fighting ships,'' or ''Q-boats'' by their crews, during the Second World War the Fairmile B motor launches of the RCN played a vital role escorting shipping along the St. Lawrence River, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and between Newfoundland and the mainland of Canada. Regularly deployed in flotillas of six ''The Little Ships'' relieved larger escort craft urgently needed elsewhere by carrying out anti-submarine patrols, port defence and rescue duties. Based out of shore establishments on the St. Lawrence River, Halifax, Saint John, Shelburne, Sydney and on the West Coast; at sea the RCN Fairmile Fleets were accompanied by two " mother ships" HMCS ''Preserver'' (F94) and HMCS ''Provider'' (F100) providing fresh water, fuel and medical services.


Operational history

While she flew the White Ensign, ML ''Q057'' was not a commissioned ship of the RCN, but was rather listed as a tender to escort depot ship HMCS ''Sambro''. In December 1944, ''Q057'' was listed as part of the RCN North-West Atlantic Command Gaspé Force (Administered by N.O. i/c., Gaspé), 71st Motor Launch Flotilla. She was sold in 1946 to Marine Industries Ltd. Sorel (MIL) and later sold to
Consolidated Shipbuilding Corporation Consolidated Yachts is a former shipbuilder and () present-day marine service company located on City Island in The Bronx, New York City. History The company was founded as the Gas Engine and Power Company & Charles L. Seabury Company in 1896 ...
, of Morris Heights, New York.     


Gallery

File:HMC ML Q057-2.jpg File:HMC ML Q057.jpg File:HMC_ML_Q057-3.jpg


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:057 (ML Q057) Royal Canadian Navy Fairmile B motor launch boats of World War II 1941 ships