Royal Canadian Navy Motor Torpedo Boats (MTB), Motor Gun Boats (MGB), 1939–1945

Royal Canadian Navy Motor Torpedo Boats (MTB), and Motor Gun Boats (MGB)

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3524824)

RCN Motor Gun Boats, 1944.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3524823)

RCN operating motor gun boats (D hull) in the English Channel, 21 May 1944. MGBs were bigger and had 4 engines and a lower top speed of 29 Knots than the smaller and faster 3 engined MTBs Vospers and Elcos.  (Con Campbell)

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3204508)

Twin Oerlikon 20-mm AA Guns on an MTB of the Canadian-manned 29th MTB Flotilla, RN, May 1944.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3204509)

Personnel watching track of practice torpedo fired by unidentified motor torpedo boat of the Canadian-manned 29th MTB Flotilla, RN, May 1944.

Motor Torpedo Boats

CMTB-1 (V-250), RN MTB 332

(DND Photo)

A prototype MTB, CMTB-1 was shipped to Canada in 1940 by the British Power Boat Co., which had contracts for 12 of the type to be built at Montreal, Quebec.  CMTB-1 arrived on 16 Jul 1940, and was rebuilt to RCN specifications.  She was then sent to Halifax as a training vessel that fall.   She arrived there on 17 Dec 1940 after a trip fraught with difficulties owing to ice and weather, and had been aground for a time near Richibucto, NB, on 27 Nov 1940.  She was at some point designated V-250.  The boat returned to Montreal for refit in Aug 1941, following which she was turned over to the RN as MTB 332.  She seems to have been the only one of the twelve to serve, however briefly, in the RCN.  The others became MTBs 333-343 (RN) in Aug1941 and renamed MTB-332.

(DND Photo)

Canadian Motor Torpedo Boat V-250 undergoing trials on the St. Lawrence in the autumn of 1941. This was the original British Power Boat Private Venture seventy-foot prototype which was shipped to Canada.  Note the twin .50 calibre M.G. turrets without weapons.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo)

Fitting the machine gun turret structure of a motor torpedo boat under construction at Canadian Power Boat Company, Montreal, Québec, Canada, 24 April 1941.

MTB S-09

(DND Photo)

MTB S-09 was one of six US PT boats acquired by the RN under Lend Lease in 1941.  Numbered PT-3, PT-4, PT-5, PT-6, PT-7, and PT-9, they were subsequently lent by the RN to the RCN.  PT-9 was re-designated S-09, while her five sisters served the RCAF as crash boats from 1941 to 1945.  Alone of the group, S-09 was built in Britain, by the British Power Boat Co. at Hythe, in 1939, for the Elco Boat Co. of New Jersey.  She was handed over to the RCN without engines, arriving in tow at Montreal on 23 Aug 1941.  There the Canadian Power Boat Co. fitted her with two 500 HP engines that enabled her to make only 22 knots.  Delivered to the RCN on 25 Sep 1942, she served out of Halifax, Gaspé and Quebec before proceeding to Toronto in May, 1944, to serve as firing range patrol vessel off Frenchman's Bay.  On 15 Jun 1944, HMCS York was the D/S for S09.  She was turned over to the British Naval Liaison Officer at New York in late Jun 1945.

MTB 462, 29th Flotilla, UK, 1944.  Motor Torpedo Boat (MTB) was the name given to fast torpedo boats by the Royal Navy and the Royal Canadian Navy.  The 'motor' in the formal designation, refers to the use of gasoline-powered engines, to distinguish them from the majority of other naval craft that used steam turbines or reciprocating steam engines.

Motor Torpedo Boats, Type D Class, 65th Canadian Motor Torpedo Boat Flotilla

MTBs were designed for high speed, operating at night, low speed ambush (to keep noise low and to produce no wake) and manoeuvrability on the water.  This enabled them to get close enough to launch their torpedoes at enemy vessels.  With no significant armour, the boats relied upon surprise and their agility at high speed to avoid being hit by gunfire from bigger ships.

Canadian MTBs were used by the RCN's 29th MTB Flotila.  They were originally designed as Motor Gun Boats (MGBs)  armed with a 6-pounder (57-mm, 2.24 inch) gun, to engage enemy small craft.  They were re-designated Motor Torpedo Boats.

MTB 726 (Type D)

(Jeff Bobbie Photo)

MTB 726, a "D" Type, 115 x 21.25 x 5.25ft,  Displacement: 102 tons, Speed: 29kts, Complement: 4 Officers, 28 Men, Armament: two 6-pounders, two 20-mm (1xII), two 18-inch TT.  While she flew the White Ensign, she was not commissioned into the RCN but instead was listed as a tender to HMCS Stadacona (tenders were not commissioned vessels).  MTB 726 took part in the D-Day landings on 6 Jun 1944.  She was returned to the RN on 22 May 1945.

 (Larry Varrin Photo)

MTB 726, 1944.

(Larry Varrin Photo)

MTB 726, 1944.

MTB 727 (Type D)

(Paul Bray Photo)

MTB 727 (Type D).  In Jan 1944, she was listed as part of the 65th MTB Flotilla.  While she flew the White Ensign, she was not commissioned into the RCN but instead was listed as a tender to HMCS Stadacona (tenders were not commissioned vessels).  MTB 727 took part in the D-Day landings on 6 Jun 1944.  MTB 727 was returned to the RN on 21 May 1945.

MTB 735 (Type D)

(Naval Museum of Manitoba Photo)

MTB 735 (Type D).  In Feb 1944 she was listed a part of the 65th MTB Flotilla.  While she flew the White Ensign, she was not commissioned into the RCN but instead was listed as a tender to HMCS Stadacona (tenders were not commissioned vessels).  MTB 735 took part in the D-Day landings on 6 Jun 1944.  She was removed from service and returned to the RN on 21 Jun 1945.

(Jessica Santos Photo)

MTB 735 (Type D). Yarmouth, NS.

MTB 736 (Type D)

(Jeff Bobbie Photo)

MTB 736 (Type D).  While she flew the White Ensign, she was not commissioned in the RCN but instead was listed as a tender to HMCS Stadacona (tenders were not commissioned vessels).  MTB 736 took part in the D-Day landings on 6 Jun 1944.  She was returned to the RN on 18 May 1945.

MTB 743 (Type D)

(Jeff Bobbie Photo)

MTB 743 (Type D).  While she flew the White Ensign, she was not commissioned in the RCN but instead was listed as a tender to HMCS Stadacona (tenders were not commissioned vessels).  MTB 743 took part in the D-Day landings on 6 Jun 1944.  She was returned to the RN in 1945.

MTB 743 (Type D).  While she flew the White Ensign, she was not commissioned in the RCN but instead was listed as a tender to HMCS Stadacona (tenders were not commissioned vessels).  MTB 743 took part in the D-Day landings on 6 Jun 1944.  She was returned to the RN in 1945.

MTB 745 (Type D)

(Paul Bray Photo)

MTB 745 was part of the 65th MTB Flotilla in Jan 1944. While she flew the White Ensign, she was not commissioned into the RCN but instead was listed as a tender to HMCS Stadacona (tenders were not commissioned vessels).  MTB-745 took part in the D-Day landings on 6 Jun 1944.

MTB 746 (Type D).  While she flew the White Ensign, she was not commissioned in the RCN but instead was listed as a tender to HMCS Stadacona (tenders were not commissioned vessels).  MTB 746 took part in the D-Day landings on 6 Jun 1944.  She was returned to the RN on 18 May 1945.

MTB 748 (Type D)

(Paul Bray Photo)

MTB 748 (Type D).  While she flew the White Ensign, she was not commissioned into the RCN but instead was listed as a tender to HMCS Stadacona (tenders were not commissioned vessels). MTB 748 was returned to the RN on 23 May 1945. MTB-748 took part in the D-Day landings on 6 Jun 1944.

MTB 797 (Type D).  While she flew the White Ensign, she was not commissioned into the RCN but instead was listed as a tender to HMCS Stadacona (tenders were not commissioned vessels).  MTB 797 was returned to the RN on 21 May 1945.

Motor Torpedo Boats, Type G Class, 29th Canadian Motor Torpedo Boat Flotilla

MTB 459 (Type G)

(DND Photo)

MTB 459 (Type G).  Displacement: 44 tons, Length: 71.75 ft, Beam: 20.6 ft, Draught: 5.6 ft, Speed: 39 kts, Complement: 3 officers, 14 men, Armament: one 6-pounder, two 20-mm(1xII) four 18-inch TT.  While she flew the White Ensign, she was not commissioned into the RCN but instead was listed as a tender to HMCS Stadacona (tenders were not commissioned vessels).  In Jan 1944, MTB 459 was listed as part of the 29th MTB Flotilla.  MTB 459 took part in the D-Day landings on 6 Jun 1944.  She was destroyed by fire at Ostend, Belgium, on 14 Feb 1945.

 (Larry Varrin Photo)

MTB 459 (Type G).

(Coastal Forces Trust Photo)

MTB 459 (Type G).

MTB 460 (Type G)

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 4950981)

MTB 460 at speed, 29th Flotilla, English Channel, ca 1944.

MTB 460 (Type G).  In Jan 1944, MTB 459 was listed as part of the 29th MTB Flotilla.  MTB 459 took part in the D-Day landings on 6 Jun 1944.  She was sunk by mine on 2 Jul 1944 with a loss of 10 men.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 4950975)

MTB 460 (Type G), 29th Flotilla in line-ahead formation, English Channel, ca 1944.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 4950976)

MTB 460 (Type G), 29th Flotilla in line-ahead formation, English Channel, ca 1944.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 4950977)

MTB 460 (Type G), 29th Flotilla in line-ahead formation, English Channel, ca 1944.  MTB-460 was commissioned in March 1944 and sunk on the night of 2 July 1944.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3204512)

MTB 460 of the Canadian-manned 29th MTB Flotilla, RN, May 1944.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3204516)

Motor torpedo boats (MTB.460 nearest camera) of the Canadian-manned 29th MTB Flotilla, R.N.  

MTB 461 (Type G), 29th Flotilla.  She was destroyed by fire at Ostend, Belgium, 14 Feb 1945 with the loss of 9 of her crew.

MTB 462 (Type G)

(Larry Varrin Photo)

MTB 462 (Type G).  While she flew the White Ensign, she was not commissioned in the RCN but instead was listed as a tender to HMCS Stadacona (tenders were not commissioned vessels).  MTB 462 took part in the D-Day landings on 6 Jun 1944.  She was destroyed by fire at Ostend, Belgium, 14 Feb 1945 with the loss of 6 of her crew.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, PA144574)

MTB 462 (Type G).

(Larry Varrin Photo)

MTB 462 (Type G).

(Larry Varrin Photo)

MTB 462 (Type G).

MTB 463 (Type G)

(DND Photo)

MTB 463 (Type G).  MTB 463 took part in the D-Day landings on 6 Jun 1944.  On 7 Jul 1944, MTB 463 was sunk by a mine in the English Channel.  MTB 466 picked up her crew - none were lost.

MTB 464 (Type G).  MTB 464 took part in the D-Day landings on 6 Jun 1944.

MTB 465 (Type G).  MTB 465 took part in the D-Day landings on 6 Jun 1944.  She was destroyed by fire at Ostend, Belgium, on 14 Feb 1945 with the loss of 6 of her crew.

MTB 466 (Type G)

(Don Gorham Photo)

MTB 466 (Type G).  MTB 466 took part in the D-Day landings on 6 Jun 1944.  She was destroyed by fire at Ostend, Belgium, on 14 Feb 1945 with the loss of one of her crew.

MTB 485 (Type G)

(Don Gorham Photo)

MTB 485 (Type G).  MTB 485 was removed from service on 10 Mar 1945.

MTB 486 (Type G).  While she flew the White Ensign, she was not commissioned in the RCN but instead was listed as a tender to HMCS Stadacona (tenders were not commissioned vessels).  MTB 486 was removed from service on 8 Mar 1945 and sold sometime thereafter.  There is a fundraising campaign underway by Canadian Coastal Forces Trust to raise money to purchase and restore MTB 486 back to operational condition. It is currently serving as a houseboat in the UK.

MTB 491 (Type G).  While she flew the White Ensign, she was not commissioned in the RCN but instead was listed as a tender to HMCS Stadacona (tenders were not commissioned vessels).  MTB 491 was removed from service on 10 Mar 1945.

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