A Motor Launch (ML) is a small military vessel in
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
service. It was designed for
harbour defence and
submarine chasing or for armed high-speed
air-sea rescue
Air-sea rescue (ASR or A/SR, also known as sea-air rescue), and aeronautical and maritime search and rescue (AMSAR) by the ICAO and International Maritime Organization, IMO, is the coordinated search and rescue (SAR) of the survivors of emergenc ...
. Some vessels for
water police
Water police, also called harbor patrols, port police, marine/maritime police, nautical patrols, bay constables, river police, or maritime law enforcement or coastal police are police officers, usually a department of a larger police organizat ...
service are also known as motor launches.
World War I service
Although small by naval standards, it was larger than the preceding steam or diesel-engined
harbour launch
The harbour launch was a type of small launch used by the Royal Navy for general duties around Royal Naval dockyards and sea ports. The first were built in the 1850s with the advent of the steam engine and were originally designated harbour se ...
es of 56ft and
coastal motor boats of 40 and 55 ft length. The first motor launches entered service in the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. These were five hundred and eighty vessels built by the US
Elco company for the Admiralty, receiving the numbers ML-1 to ML-580. They served with the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
between 1916 and the end of the war, defending the British coast from German submarines. Some of the earliest examples, including ML 1, also served in the
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...
from June 1916. After the
Armistice of 11 November 1918
The Armistice of 11 November 1918 was the armistice signed at Le Francport near Compiègne that ended fighting on land, sea, and air in World War I between the Entente and their last remaining opponent, Germany. Previous armistices ...
a
flotilla
A flotilla (from Spanish, meaning a small ''flota'' (fleet) of ships), or naval flotilla, is a formation of small warships that may be part of a larger fleet.
Composition
A flotilla is usually composed of a homogeneous group of the same class ...
of 12 Royal Navy motor launches travelled down the Rhine performing duty as the
Rhine Patrol Flotilla. The only known surviving example of a World War I era motor launch is
''ML-286'', which now lies in a poor condition on the banks of the River Thames.
World War II types
The BPBC Type Two was succeeded by the Type Three 68 ft "Hants and Dorset".
Post-war, many motor launches were taken on as pleasure boats. A number of them are on the
National Register of Historic Vessels
National Historic Ships UK is a government-funded independent organisation that advises UK governments and others on matters relating to historic ships. .
[Gardiner and Chesneau, p. 71]
See also
*
Harbour launch
The harbour launch was a type of small launch used by the Royal Navy for general duties around Royal Naval dockyards and sea ports. The first were built in the 1850s with the advent of the steam engine and were originally designated harbour se ...
*
High-speed launch
A high-speed launch (HSL) is a type of military boat typically used for air-sea rescue operations. The British Royal Air Force (RAF) and others used HSLs especially during World War II.
The 64 ft. high-speed, air/sea rescue launch built by ...
*
Motor gunboat
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. ...
*
Motor torpedo boat
*
Coastal Forces of the Royal Navy
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 Minesweeper (ship), minesweepers to wea ...
*
R boat
The R boats (''Räumboote'' in German, meaning ''minesweeper'') were a group of small naval vessels built as minesweepers for the ''Kriegsmarine'' (German navy) before and during the Second World War. They were used for several purposes during th ...
– German World War II equivalent
*
References
* Gardiner, Robert, ''Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921'' Conway Maritime Press, 1985. .
* Gardiner, Robert and Chesneau, Roger, ''Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946'', Conway Maritime Press, 1980. {{ISBN, 0-83170-303-2.
External links
UK National Register of Historic Vessels Royal Navy Coastal Forces training base, mainly for MLs
*
ttp://www.motorlaunchpatrol.net/ "The Movies" A Motor Launch History
Ships of the Royal Navy
Submarine chaser classes
Patrol boat classes
Auxiliary search and rescue ship classes
Military boats