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Fairmile B Type motor launch

Fairmile B Type motor launch kit (x1).
3D printed hull and detail parts, photoetch, brass and decals elements included.
Possibility of building different versions of the boat, including the navigation leader, ASW, Canadian and minelayers version.

€41.74

Tax included

Quantity

In Stock

Description

The Fairmile B Type motor launch was based on an Admiralty design, with a hull form that had favorable sea-keeping abilities. The design also met the requirements for a wooden motor launch that could be mass produced. The drawings were given to Fairmile so that it could be adapted for prefabricated construction. The initial B Type order
for 13 units was made on September 22, 1939. This was followed by several additional orders with approximately 650 constructed in total. Eighty were built in Canada with other overseas construction done in Cairo, Alexandria, Auckland, Jamaica, Bermuda and Capetown among other locations. Those under construction in Hong Kong, Singapore
and Rangoon were lost to invading Japanese forces prior to completion.

The 112-foot long B Type was designed an ASW motor launch, carrying 14 depth charges. The B Type design allowed for rapid reconfiguration, with some refitted as minelayers, minesweepers, gunboats, torpedo boats and rescue boats. Some were converted to navigational leaders for the Normandy invasion, fitted with a radar atop a tall lattice mast. Several were transferred to the Royal Army as ambulance launches. Armament changed during their service life. During the war, over 50 B Types were lost, including 12 of the 16 that served as assault transports during the St. Nazaire raid.