The Gay class were a class of twelve fast patrol boats that served with the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

from the early 1950s. All were named after types of soldiers or military or related figures, prefixed with 'Gay'. The class could be fitted as either

motor gun boat The motor gun boat (MGB) was a small, high-speed British military vessel of the Second World War, which was armed with a mix of guns, in contrast to the physically similar motor torpedo boat (MTB), whose main offensive weapon were torpedoes. ...

s or motor torpedo boats, depending on the type of armament they carried.

Design

They were developments of the MTB 538/539 class that had served during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, and were intended to be an interim measure until the

diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine ...

-powered s could be introduced. The vessels were to be powered by three V12 Packard 4M-2500 engines, each providing and a speed of . The Gays were the last petrol powered warships to be built for the Royal Navy. Those fitted as Motor Torpedo Boats received two guns and two torpedoes, while those classified as Motor Gun Boats received a single gun and a 40 mm gun.

Construction

The class was ordered between February and May 1951 from a number of shipyards across Britain, many of whom had built similar ships for the navy during the Second World War. Four were built by

Vosper & Company Vosper & Company, often referred to simply as Vospers, was a British shipbuilding company based in Portsmouth, England. History The Company was established in 1871 by Herbert Edward Vosper, concentrating on ship repair and refitting work. By t ...

, two by

Thornycroft Thornycroft was an English vehicle manufacturer which built coaches, buses, and trucks from 1896 until 1977. History In 1896, naval engineer John Isaac Thornycroft formed the Thornycroft Steam Carriage and Van Company which built its fir ...

, two by Morgan Giles, of

Teignmouth Teignmouth ( ) is a seaside town, fishing port and civil parish in the English county of Devon. It is situated on the north bank of the estuary mouth of the River Teign, about 12 miles south of Exeter. The town had a population of 14,749 at t ...

, two by Taylor, of

Chertsey Chertsey is a town in the Borough of Runnymede, Surrey, England, south-west of central London. It grew up round Chertsey Abbey, founded in 666 CE, and gained a market charter from Henry I. A bridge across the River Thames first appeared in ...

and two by McGruer & Co Ltd, of Clynder. They were launched between 1952 and 1954, with the last of the class, , being launched in March 1954.

Careers

Most of the vessels served for a decade before being retired and sold off, though the longest-lived, , was only sold off in 1971, after nearly 20 years in service. She had been a High Speed Target Towing vessel at HMNB Devonport since 1959, until being put into reserve in 1964. HMS ''Gay Charger'' was commanded by

Nigel Lawson Nigel Lawson, Baron Lawson of Blaby, (born 11 March 1932) is a British Conservative Party politician and journalist. He was a Member of Parliament representing the constituency of Blaby from 1974 to 1992, and served in the cabinet of Margare ...

during his

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

. appeared as ''1087'' in ''

The Ship That Died of Shame ''The Ship That Died of Shame'', released in the United States as ''PT Raiders'', is a black-and-white 1955 Ealing Studios crime film directed by Basil Dearden and starring George Baker, Richard Attenborough, Roland Culver and Bill Owen. The ...

'', a film based on a book by

Nicholas Monsarrat Lieutenant Commander Nicholas John Turney Monsarrat FRSL RNVR (22 March 19108 August 1979) was a British novelist known for his sea stories, particularly '' The Cruel Sea'' (1951) and ''Three Corvettes'' (1942–45), but perhaps known best in ...

and starring

Richard Attenborough Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough, (; 29 August 192324 August 2014) was an English actor, filmmaker, and entrepreneur. He was the president of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and the British Academy of Film and Televisio ...

. became a target vessel and was sunk off

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

in 1968, while was damaged while being delivered to the Navy, and then damaged when a vessel she was moored next to exploded. She then struck a submerged boom and nearly sank off Southsea Pier. She was sold out of the navy in 1963, but survived to be restored as the only remaining member of her class.

Ships

During the

the Royal Navy also sailed HMS ''Gay Viking'' and HMS ''Gay Corsair'', a pair of motor gun boats. These were superficially similar to the later ''Gay''-class, although their primary armament was a mixture of

QF 6-pounder Hotchkiss The Ordnance QF Hotchkiss 6 pounder gun Mk I and Mk II or QF 6 pounder 8 cwt were a family of long-lived light naval guns introduced in 1885 to defend against new, small and fast vessels such as torpedo boats and later submarines. There were ma ...

Oerlikon 20 mm cannon The Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons, based on an original German Becker Type M2 20 mm cannon design that appeared very early in World War I. It was widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others, with various models emp ...

, and depth charges. Both had left service by the top of the ''Gay''-class' introduction.

Notes

References

* * * * {{Gay class fast patrol boat Patrol boat classes Ship classes of the Royal Navy