History of MTB 102

Motor Torpedo Boats (MTBs) were developed to provide a rapid response to threats from any sea-going vessel, including warships and submarines. MTB 102 was designed in 1936 under the designation "Vosper private venture boat" by Commander Peter du Cane CBE, Managing Director of Vosper Ltd. She was completed and launched in May 1937 and underwent trials on The Solent.

After being acquired by the Admiralty, she was commissioned as MTB 102, with the "100" prefix indicating a prototype vessel. MTB 102 was the first MTB of the modern era. The vessel was crewed by two officers and eight men and saw active service primarily in the English Channel during 1939 and 1940.

During Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk, MTB 102 crossed the Channel seven times. When the destroyer HMS Keith was disabled by a bomb from a Stuka dive bomber, MTB 102 served as the flagship for Rear Admiral Wake-Walker for the final two nights of the operation. As the vessel did not carry a Rear Admiral's flag, a crew member fashioned one from a Navy dishcloth, allowing MTB 102 to fly the appropriate ensign. She was the third to last warship to leave Dunkirk.

In 1943, MTB 102 was transferred to the 615 Water Transport Company, Royal Army Service Corps, and renamed Vimy. In 1944, she carried Winston Churchill and General Eisenhower to review the ships assembled on the South Coast for the D-Day landings, thus witnessing both the conclusion of the evacuation and the commencement of the Allied return to Europe.

Following the war, MTB 102 was sold along with most other small naval craft. She was converted into a private motor cruiser, fitted with two Perkins P6 diesel engines, and operated around the North Sea. After twenty years, she was sold again and in 1976 was discovered by a Norfolk Scout Group while being converted into a houseboat. Despite requiring extensive restoration, the group saved her from neglect.

In 1976, Kelso Films refurbished MTB 102 as a World War II MTB for the film The Eagle Has Landed, returning her to full operational status. She also appeared in the Dutch film Soldier of Orange. MTB 102 participated in the Queen's Silver Jubilee Pageant on the River Thames and represented "Yesterday's Navy" at Portsmouth Navy Days in 1979, 1984, and 1986. She took part in the Association of Dunkirk Little Ships quinquennial crossings to Dunkirk in 1985 and 1990. During the 1990 crossing, a Spitfire flew over the fleet and waggled its wings, replicating a morale-boosting gesture from the evacuation. MTB 102 returned to Dunkirk in 1995, carrying Commander Christopher Dreyer, her skipper during the evacuation, who piloted her into Dunkirk as he had decades earlier.

In 1986, MTB 102 was inspected by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh during the launch of her 50th Anniversary Appeal. She also featured in the Channel 4 series Classic Ships.

Technical Specifications

• Length: 68 ft overall
• Beam: 14 ft 9 in
• Draft: 3 ft 9 in
• Construction: Double diagonal mahogany on Canadian rock elm
• Original Powerplant: 3 × 1,100 hp Isotta Fraschini 57-litre petrol engines
• Speed: 48 knots light, 43 knots loaded and armed; the fastest wartime British naval vessel in service
• Armament: Initially fitted with a single torpedo tube firing through the stem via a hatch in the bow; later modified to two 21-inch side torpedo tubes angled at 10 degrees from the centreline. Also equipped with a 20mm Oerlikon cannon and participated in depth-charge and machine-gun tests.

Maintenance and Modifications

Spares for the original Isotta Fraschini engines became increasingly difficult to obtain, especially after Italy allied with Germany. Most MTBs were powered by American-built Packard marine engines. During private ownership, the original engines were replaced with two Perkins P6 diesel engines. In 1983, major work was undertaken on the hull and decks, revealing that the Perkins engines would soon require replacement. Perkins provided two turbocharged V8 engines in 1985.

Rough weather during the 1990 return crossing exposed the need for further hull strengthening. En route to the Victory over Japan (VJ) celebrations in 1995, the port engine failed, forcing the abandonment of the trip. In 1996, the diamond anniversary of her design, Cummins Marine supplied new "Diamond Series" diesel engines, extending her operational life into her seventh decade.

MTB 102 is one of the very few World War II Royal Navy vessels still afloat and is believed to be the only Royal Navy vessel involved in the Dunkirk evacuation that has survived.

Recent Service and Preservation

In 2003, MTB 102 was re-engined with two 600 hp Cummins diesel engines, achieving a top speed of 27 knots. She is regularly seen around the East and South coasts of England and has been featured by major television channels. In 2005, MTB 102 participated in the sail past for Her Majesty The Queen at the International Fleet Review at Spithead.

To safeguard her future, the MTB 102 Trust took over Newson’s Boatyard at Lowestoft, where a collection of military powerboats is being established. In 2011 and 2012, MTB 102 was under the command of Commodore Richard Basey, leading the Association of Dunkirk Little Ships at the Diamond Jubilee Pageant in the presence of HM Queen Elizabeth II. This marked the sixth occasion that MTB 102 had been involved with the Monarch.