A motor launch (ML) is a small military vessel in

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 ...

service. It was designed for harbour defence and submarine chasing. Similar vessels were used by the Royal Air Force for armed high-speed

air-sea rescue Air-sea rescue (ASR or A/SR, also known as sea-air rescue), and aeronautical and maritime search and rescue (AMSAR) by the ICAO and IMO, is the coordinated search and rescue (SAR) of the survivors of emergency water landings as well as people wh ...

. Some vessels for

water police Water police, also called harbor patrols, port police, marine/maritime police, nautical patrols, bay constables, river police, or maritime law enforcement or coastal police are police officers, usually a department of a larger police organiza ...

service are also known as motor launches. Motor launches were slower than motor torpedo boats and

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. ...

World War I service

Although small by naval standards, it was larger than the preceding steam or diesel-engined harbour launches of 56 ft and coastal motor boats of 40 and 55 ft length. The first motor launches entered service in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

. These were five hundred and eighty vessels built by the US Elco company for the Admiralty, receiving the numbers ML-1 to ML-580. They served with the

between 1916 and the end of the war, defending the British coast from German submarines. Some of the earliest examples, including ML 1, also served in the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bo ...

from June 1916. After the

Armistice of 11 November 1918 The Armistice of 11 November 1918 was the armistice signed at Le Francport near Compiègne that ended fighting on land, sea, and air in World War I between the Entente and their last remaining opponent, Germany. Previous armistices ...

flotilla A flotilla (from Spanish language, Spanish, meaning a small ''flota'' (Naval fleet, fleet) of ships), or naval flotilla, is a Tactical formation, formation of small warships that may be part of a larger fleet. Composition A flotilla is usually ...

of 12 Royal Navy motor launches travelled down the Rhine performing duty as the

Rhine Patrol Flotilla ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , sourc ...

. The only known surviving example of a World War I era motor launch is ''ML-286'', which now lies in a poor condition on the banks of the River Thames.

World War II types

The BPBC Type Two was succeeded by the Type Three 68 ft "Hants and Dorset". Post-war, many motor launches were taken on as pleasure boats. A number of them are on the

National Register of Historic Vessels National Historic Ships UK is a government-funded independent organisation that advises UK governments and others on matters relating to historic ships.

.Gardiner and Chesneau, p. 71

References

* Gardiner, Robert, ''Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921'' Conway Maritime Press, 1985. . * Gardiner, Robert and Chesneau, Roger, ''Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946'', Conway Maritime Press, 1980. .

External links

UK National Register of Historic Vessels

{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140309053740/http://www.junobeach.org/e/4/can-tac-fai-e.htm , date=9 March 2014

Royal Navy Coastal Forces training base, mainly for MLs

* ttp://www.motorlaunchpatrol.net/ "The Movies" A Motor Launch History Ships of the Royal Navy Submarine chaser classes Patrol boat classes Auxiliary search and rescue ship classes Military boats

World War I service

World War II types

See also

References

External links