COASTAL FORCES: Motor Torpedo Boat MTB Construction on the Solent in World War Two

#WWII #DDay #WorldWarTwo #Southampton #DDay77 #History #WWII #overlord #CoastalForces
Motor Torpedo Boats (MTBs), Motor Gun Boats (MGBs) and Motor Launches (MLs) were increasingly at the forefront of naval engagements during the Second World War.
However Britain entered the war with just a handful of Coastal Forces boats, as the guiding philosophy was that battleships would rule the waves in the same way bombers were going to rule the skies.
By 1941 the number, type and capability of boats harassing the enemy around the English Coast and North Sea was mostly as a result of private enterprise and with little planning or input from the Admiralty.
Yet between 1936 and 1945, the number of Coastal Forces craft built for the Royal and Commonwealth Navies was over 1,850 with more than a fifth of the total built in the Solent region.
@Go_Southampton @southampton2025 @sotonbloggers @SeaCityMuseum @ght_soton @SouthamptonCC @UniSotonLibrary @SotonLibraries @SotonStories