 The Fairmile A motor launch ML104 carrying depth charges as an A/S escort or sub-chaser in 1941 at Dover, England
| |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Fairmile A motor launch |
| Succeeded by | Fairmile B motor launch |
| Planned | 25 |
| Completed | 12, numbered from ML100 to ML111 |
| Cancelled | 13 (completed to Type B design instead) |
| Lost | 4 |
| Retired | 8 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement | 57 tons, not including armament and equipment |
| Length | 110 ft (34 m) |
| Beam | 17 ft 5 in (5.31 m) |
| Draught | 4 ft 6 in (1.37 m) forward, 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) aft |
| Propulsion | 3 Hall-Scott Defender V12 petrol engines 600 hp |
| Speed | 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph) at 2,200 rpm |
| Range | 600 mi (520 nmi; 970 km) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Complement | 16, including 2 officers |
| Sensors and processing systems | ASDIC |
| Armament | one QF 3 pounder Hotchkiss gun
one pair of 0.303 in. Lewis machine guns 12 depth charges |
The Fairmile A motor launch was a coastal motor launch designed by Norman Hart for the Fairmile Marine for the Royal Navy in World War II. The prototype ML 100 was privately built by the British industrialist Noel Macklin, who placed an order for this craft on 27 July 1939 with Woodnut's boatyard at St Helens. The Admiralty placed an order for a series of 25 boats to this design on 22 September, including the prototype under construction. The twelve boats completed to this initial design were numbered ML 100 to ML 111, while the thirteen other boats ordered on 22 September were re-ordered to the Admiralty's own Fairmile B design.