HORNETS OF THE NAVY

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 193, 10 May 1919, Page 8

HORNETS OF THE NAVY

THE " C.M.B.'S" IN WAR TIME

' HOW THEY PROVED THEIR WORTH During the war the naval censorship was seldom lifted as far as the Coastal Motor Boat Service was concerned. The "C.M.B.'s" were designed alter the outbreak of war by officers -ami engineers, who realised that information of 1 their plans must be kept from' the Germans as lons' as possible, 'l'lio boats Were built behind a veil of secrecy. They were a portion of the fleet of "mystery ships," and they, had proved themselves on aetiyo service before the general public lieard anything of them at all. Atterwards they were mentioned occasionally and briefly in official communications. It was announced, for example, that they had taken an important part in the b,locking actions at Ostend and Zeebrugge, though few details were given at the time. The first detailed information to reach New Zealand people was given by Surgeon-Lieutenant G. l'\ V. Anson, 8.N.V1E., son of Dr. Anson, of Wellington, in an interview published by Tub Dominion some days ago. Lieutenant Anson was one of the officers responsible for the inception of the C.M.B. service, and ho commanded one of the lirst four boats put into commission. Tlie C.M.B. service was never monotonous. The boats, as was explained by Lieutenant Anson, did their work at night. They were not intended to face enemy firo or undertake long range actions. and the goneral instruction given their commanders was to return to the base before diijlight. They were modelled oil the racing motor boats that had been built before the war by the great firm of Thornycroft. They depended for success—"safety" could not be an apt word to uso in connection with the C.M.B.'s—on their tremendous speed. "The idea of (he officers who were uig-

ing tho scheme and who had volunteered to tako chargo of tho boats themselves, if they could be obtained," says tli3 firm in a report, "was to take for their solo object attack and not defence, so it seemed imperative that tho torpedo should somehow bo capable of being discharged as the boat advanced to tho attack at full speed." There wei'o several' reasons why the torpedo could not be discharged from tho bow. Ono reason was that a C.M.8., running, at high speed, throws her bow and about one-third of her length out of the water. She skims along the surface., "Eventually," continues tho firm, "the happy idea of discharging the torpedo over tho stem tail first occurred, it being thought that if the boat was going at about tho same speed as tho torpedo there could bo a good chance of Jjpr being steered clear of the torpedo's track after it had been discharged." Tho scheme of attack, in fact, was for the motor boat to race at.high speed towards the enemy, launch the torpedo tail first from the stern when the rango was short, and then swing asidd. There was "a good chance" that the torpedo would fail to overtako tho C.M.8., and would rush on tho original course towards the enemy 6hip.

The first published report of C.M.B. activity came late in 1910, when it was announced bv (lie Admiralty that aircraft had bombed Ostend, and that a. a result of '"naval operations," certain German destroyers had been sunk. 'The motor boats had made one of their rush attacks, and had "got home," to the exceeding discomfort' of the enemy. The first C.M.B.'s were 40-footers, each carrying one torpedp as their sole armament. While their value was being proved in the Channel, Messrs. Thornycroft built an experimental 55-foot boat of twico tho power, designed to carry two torpedoes, or one torpedo and t'our depth charges.

vero work for motor mechanics, Each M-foater earned two ollicers, two mechanics and a wireless operator. The mechanics had been largely recruited in Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. Off the Belgian Coast. Tho larger C.M.B.'s had bases at Portland, Portsmouth, and Dover, with an advanced base at Dunkirk. It was from tho Dunkirk baso that tens of thousands of miles were covered in patrols between This boat was a,great success. It exceeded a speed of forty knots on trial, and was considered to be capable of keeping the sea in almost aiiy weather. The Admiralty gave orders for tho building of a largo number of the boats with all speed, and tho Thornycroft firm distributed orders wherever possible. A shortage of boat-builders and of suitablo motors were among tho difficulties encountered. I t became necessary to adopt aeroplane motors of various types_ in order (o secure high power in combination with light weighl.. This meant setlie minefields before the entrances to Ostend and Zcebrugge. "The Dunkirk boats," says a report, "liacl in addition tho opportunity of action with ilie German patrol boats and destroyers. . . . Since it has been possible to obtain information from the Belgians who lived in those places during the German Occupation, the commodore at Dunkirk states that the Germnn naval authorities were in utter dread of the boats and never knew when to expect them. Their own inotor patrol boats, or 'I'.M.B.'s,' as they, were called, never ventured out at

liiglit or when the weather was the least bit bad. 'During their patrols up and down the coast the British boats were constantly fired at by the shore batteries, and unfortunately more than one has been lost, having apparently received a direct hit at short range." A C.M.B. that was struck by « shell from a Herman battery off Ostend was subsequently washed ashore. The stern had been com-' pletely shattered, but the Belgians roported afterwards that the Germans took the boat to Germany, presumably for examination bv their naval experts. "The quickness with which these boats can work up their speed, which is more than the majority of destroyers in favourable weather conditions, has enabled them to get away from Germans successfully after attacks," state Messrs. Thornycroft; "but the aeroplane or seaplane, having greater .speed, has, as was expected, proved a formidable adversary when met ivitli in the daylight. It will be recalled that in the summer of this year (1918) six boats were reported" as lost after a hostile aeroplane attack. For-. Innately they were not all lost, and four of them were able to make their way into' Holland, but not until they had accounted for several of the German planes, which had attacked them in great • numbers, and had used up all the ammunition for their Levis guns." The story of this fight has still to be written. The six C.M.B.'s were found at sea in daylight by the German aircraft. The German air commander brought squadrons of aeroplanes to the attack, and the boats used their high speed to dodge the bombs hurled at them from aloft, while they replied with their machineguns to the German attacks. Curiously enough, the trophies of the Service include Gorman photographs, taken from an aeroplane, showing the British boats attempting to escape, their curved wakes recording their rapid evolutions. Two of the six boats were sunk-. The remaining four held out as long as their ammunition lasted, while the German aeroplanes attacked' in relays. Their ammunition exhausted, the boats were defenceless, and the. commanding officer gave the order to raco for the Dutch coast, it being hopeless to attempt a return to, the base. The four boats got into the neutral wa-

ters, and the officers and crews were interned by tho Dutch authorities. The boats had all been riddled and most of the officer.* wounded.

Tho i daily work- " 10 C.M.B.'s was to seek toman destroyers and suiimarines, and the more spectacular "stunts" came less often, J l'bo boats did'not always get credit for their performances,, perhaps because Uie Admiralty did not wish to advertise their activities. Zecbrugtje and Ostend. The blocking actions at Zeobrugge and Osteiul have been very fully described ns far as the larger vessels are concern? Ed, and the official reports made reference to tho good work done by the C.M.B.'s, but it is.uiot generally known what a leading part the C;M.B.'ss;played, and that many of tho officers who were given decorations were in charge of them. "In the Zeobrugge action tho C.M.B.'s wore responsible not only for making the smoke-screen (which they effected by running ahead of tho other vessels at high speed and emitting smoke clouds from their exhausts, by a special smoke-producing contrivance), but had (o mark certain positions witli flares'to indicate the right turning points for the blocking vessels. Two C.M.B.'s entered the harbour in the early stages of tho operation to torpedo ft vessel alongside tho mole, while others were specially fitted with Stokes trench mortars to throw bombs over the mole on to the aeroplane sheds. "In the second action at Ostend, wliqn tho Vindictive was placed in' position, two of tho C.M.B.'s were specially told off to torpedo the ends of tho piers to put ihe guns on flicm out of action. While others made tho smoke scrocn, ono of theiu wont in ahead of Uir^Mdi^^i

burning flares to imlicato the exact position of the entrance. It is a remarkable fact.that, with one exception, all (lie C.M.B.'s which took pjji't in the blocking actions succeeded in getting away, though they were, in. many cases, very battered and war-worn, with numerous officers and men wounded. Mine-laying hardly sounds tho work which these small craft would bo expected to undertake, but they have been used very effectively to lay mines where the ordinary minelaying vessels could not go, their shallow draft enabling them to pass safely over enemy minefields and their high speed to approach unexpectedly enemy waters." Tho Original Twelve. The names of the officers and men who volunteered . for the. original twelve C.M.B.'s are given by Messrs. Thornycroft as follows-.— 1. Lieut. \Y. S. diwii. R.N. (Sub-Lieut, (I. S. IT. Johnston, R.N.). 2. Lieut. <!. l'\ V. Anson, H.N.V.1?., now surgeon-lieutenant; R.N, (SubLieul. (,'edric Priestley, R.N.V.R.). .1 Snli-Lieiit. 1 K. 11. M'Lioan, Ji.N., now lieulenant, D.S.C. (Sub-Lieut. D. J!. Willelt, K.N., now lieutenant, D.K.0., Legion of Honour). 1. Lieut. W. X. T. Beckett, R.N., D.S.C. (Lieut. W. 11. Green, D.S.C., U.N.U.)'. :». Lieul. V. 11. G. Wells, R.Jf. (Lieut. I'. T. Brade, R.N.R., now lieut.commandcr, D.S.C.). G. Lie-it. A, Swann, D.S.C., H.N.V.R.

(Sub-Lieut. R. W. Bateman, R.N.li., now* lieutenant, D.S.C.). 7. Lieut. A. E. I'. Welman, R.N., D.S.O. and hiir, D.S.C., Croix tie Guei'ro. (Sub-Lieut, 'li 1 . C. Hnrrison, 8.N., now lieutenant, D.S.O. mid lwr, Croix tie Guerre). 8. Sub-Lieut. W. JI. Brenmer, E.N., now lieutenant, D.S.C. (I.ieut. G. C. E. Hampden, E.N., original officer in charge, since employed at the Admiralty, C.M.B. Office). 9. Lieut. A. Dayrell-lieed, 8.N.8., now lieutenant, D.S.O. and bar, Croix Je Guerre, li.N. (Lieut. 11. Drew, 1t.N.1i., now sub-lieutenant, R.N.). 10. Lieut. K. H. Stai'tin, R.N., D.S.OV mid Board of Trade Medal (SubLieut. A. C. Bottamley, E.N.V.R., now lieutenant). 11. Sub-Lieut. ,1. C. Annesley, E.N., now lieutenant, D.S.O. (SubLieut. C. ])'. B. Eowlby, E.N'., now lieutenant, D.S.C. and bar). 12. Sub-Lieut. li. P. J. Onslow, 8.N., now lieutenant D.S.C. (Sub-Lieut. W. B. Slayter, li.N., now lieutenant, D.S.C.). 13. Sub-Lieut. C. E. E. Spencer, EX, now lieutenant, D.S.C. and bar, Croix do Guerre. (Sub-Lieut. E. K. Bogerson, E.N.8., mention).