The Community that saved the last remaining Coastal Motor Boat of WW2
Hannah Walsh, 1st June 2017, Boat
When this historic vessel's lease in Oxfordshire was due to expire, the National Museum of the Royal Navy knew they had to step in so they could bring her home to Gosport, where she was based during the Second World War. It became their mission to save this piece of history.
Source: The National Museum of the Royal Navy
The CMB 331's History
The 331 is the last surviving Thornycroft 55-foot Coastal Motor Boat (CMB). These innovative crafts were designed during the First World War following a suggestion by three junior officers that small, fast torpedo-carrying crafts, might be able to pass over German minefields and attack the High Seas Fleet at its base in Wilhelmshaven.
The larger boats saw action in the Baltic and Caspian Seas in 1919, during the 'secret war' to overturn the Russian Revolution.
Designed by pioneering boat builder John Thorneycroft and built all over the country, including at Camper and Nicholson's Yard in Gosport, the 40-foot boats first saw action at Zeebrugge in April 1918.
The 40-foot boats could only carry one small torpedo, so in 1916, Thornycroft designed a much larger 55-foot model which could carry two torpedoes, whilst still being capable of extraordinary speeds of up to 41 knots (76km/h.)
Source: The National Museum of the Royal Navy
The 331 is the Grandmother to the generations of crafts which followed, through Gunboats of the Second World War, right up to the missile boats in service all over the world today.
These remarkable boats remained current technology right up to the Second World War. CMB 331 was one of the last to be built, and was part of an order for the Government of the Philippines, which were requisitioned for the Royal Navy in 1941. She was built at Thornycroft's yard at Woolston near Southampton, commissioned in November 1941 and based at HMSÂ Hornet, the Coastal Forces Base at Haslar in Gosport. She was decommissioned for disposal in 1945.
CMB 331 is the last surviving boat of her group and is a lasting legacy to Britain's courageous Royal Navy personnel who fought in the Second World War.
How they saved her
The National Museum of the Royal Navy took to the internet, and set up a crowdfunding page. A place where anyone can contribute to the cause, by donating to the fund. It is with this money that they will bring the CMB back home.
Source: The National Museum of the Royal Navy
This story obviously resonated with many people form all stretches of the UK as the donations rolled in. Five days before the closing date of the fundraiser, they had a total of 139 individual backers! The fundraiser has now closed, and we can reveal they not only met their target, but surpassed it! A grand total of £6301 - Huge congratulations to all who donated and were involved!
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