THE FIGHTING SEA FLEAS - Motor Torpedo Boats , WWII , Battle of the Atlantic , PT Boats 20130

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World War 2 propaganda film narrated by Lorne Greene about the Canadian Motor Torpedo Boats crews and their actions. Shows life aboard Motor Torpedo Boats during the Battle of the Atlantic, fending off attacks by German U-Boats and commerce raiders. Motor Torpedo Boat (MTB) was the name given to fast torpedo boats by the Royal Navy and the Royal Canadian Navy. The 'Motor' in the formal designation, referring to the use of petrol engines, was to distinguish them from the majority of other naval craft that used steam turbines or reciprocating engines. Produced & Directed by Sydney Newman, and released in 1944.
This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD. For more information visit www.PeriscopeFilm.com

[@markhowe46]

My dad is in this video. He survived the Belgian port explosion that destroyed most of the flotilla. He had some great stories of war life in Britain.

[@4G94Danno]

My Grandfather too. He was on MTB 746 for the RCN.

[@peterblahut5106]

My Maternal Grandfather was in the Royal Canadian Navy. He was 2nd head of the navel vessel to make sure not mines North tip of NFLD and the North edge of Maine, USA. But he also went from Montreal to Halifax and ALMOST caught that German sub but his boat was 1 boat before to the East lol. I’ve learned tons from him, in his last yrs. YES I do Ancestry . CA

[@cactusjack1943]

Never heard of that incident. Thanks for mentioning it.

[@TheNextGoogification]

Wow! Amazing history uncovered here!

[@rockracing325]

My dad is also in this movie at age 18 from Canada at 8:41 in movie unloading a dead crew member off mtb 726 quite a life for such young kids so we could enjoy a normal free life.

[@peterj1825]

What was his name? My grandfather Bryan Jones was on that boat

[@Centurion101B3C]

Fighting Sea Fleas! Marvelous name with brilliant Canadian understatement.

[@kleinjahr]

Also known as the Champagne Navy.

[@davidcarr7436]

Narration is by Lorne Green ("The Voice of Doom", as he was known on the CBC), before he became famous in the United States as "PA Cartwright" on Bonanza.

[@chrisfisher5960]

My gran told me that when these films came on at the cinema, people would cheer and clap when the navy went into action. If any enemy's were seen, a cry of " Kill the buggers! " or "Throw the rotten sod back!!" were heard as many of our family members were fighting overseas for us, some sadly died.

[@bluebear6570]

I have never heard anything like that from the other side! y father was one of the few U-Boat people who survived the war. When ever the boat had sunk an enemy ship, the peope on board the boat remained quite silent. They knew quite well what it meant for the sailors onoard the ship they had torpedoed. It was not a heroic deed - nor was the terror bombing of the German cities, killing older folks, women and children. War is nothing to be proud of!

[@harbourdogNL]

My parents were still saying things like that from the 1960s to the 90s when we watched a war movie on TV!

[@Demun1649]

MTB's had (small to large), Lewis guns, Vickers MGs, Oerlikons 20mm and 40mm, and Ordnance QF 6-pounder (57mm), Two torpedo tubes, no reloads, and two depth charges.

[@wilburfinnigan2142]

Those little high speed fighting boats, the MTB's, MGB's, Air Sea Rescue, PT boats were ALL powered by the powerful PACKARD purpose designed M2500 engines !!! 2500 cu in disp, 42 L of supercharged gasoline power. Merlins were only to be used in aircraft and the Brits needed engines and they went to PACKARD, who had designed and built them having started delivery to the US Navy in 1938. The M2500 was infact 50% Larger than a Merlin and put out for most of the war 1500 HP, late war versions went to 1850 HP.

[@COIcultist]

Try watching The Broad Fourteens after this!

[@gplunk]

Those old boats had some serious 'Hosspower'!

[@wilburfinnigan2142]

gplunk Most were the M2500 PACKARD PT Boat engines 1500 to 1850 HP each of the three that powered each boat, 4500 HP Plus !! !

[@kleinjahr]

Developed late in the war The deltrix engine was designed for mtbs. Don"t know if any saw service in the war but they repurposed them after and made them on trains.

[@crankychris2]

An complete and vast collection of old PD black and white films about many topics.

[@pbcoop62]

Sailor at 1:12 has an epic beard.

[@robbybee70]

we always knew WWII was an all hands affair but they even pressed Ming the Merciless into service

[@jameshanlon5689]

“Why’s the Rum always gone” Jack Sparrow

[@harbourdogNL]

The legendary Lorne Greene (later more famous on the TV show Bonanza) narrating.

[@rikmoyle3610]

can't beat"Scorn Seen". Sorry, ran into him in Vancouver and not that friendly!

[@drgunnwilliams5185]

Lorene Green reported on CBC during war. Was known as the "voice of doom" Canada used MTBs not PT boats They were much more heavily armed and metal hulled not plywood like the much lighter PT boats

[@WgCdrLuddite]

Untrue. The MTBs and MGBs were made of plywood. The US PT boat hulls were actually based on British designs.

[@walthammond6816]

@@WgCdrLuddite yes they were based on British designs however the Halls were made of triple diagonal plank mahogany Lumber. They only plywood in PT Boats were the decks.

[@walthammond6816]

HULLS!

[@wilburfinnigan2142]

@@WgCdrLuddite No plywood used , what you had was 2 layers of 1 inch mahogany planks at an angle to each other with a layer of canvas in between !!!! Plenty of video on You Tube of their construction !!

[@WgCdrLuddite]

@@wilburfinnigan2142 We ned to ask JFK on this one. Oh no! He's dead !

[@marcusaetius9309]

That was back in the day when Canada had a military…..

[@harbourdogNL]

You can blame Paul Hellyer and Conservative Party, even for the current state of our Armed Forces. They still have never recovered from the idiotic unification he forced on them.

[@marcusaetius9309]

@@harbourdogNL Although I didn’t consider unification to be a good idea the issues that currently plague the Canadian military are in a whole different universe.

[@BigSkyCurmudgeon]

i assume these chaps performed air-sea rescue services too. how many downed fliers were they credited with saving?

[@jerrymccrae7202]

The RN used a separate force called Crash Boats. Heavily armed minus the "fish" theysave a lot of our boys ditching b 17s in the channel. God bless their service! It needs to be told in a movie. I dont know how manywere rescued but a lot!

[@chrisangove8997]

@@jerrymccrae7202 check out the book and film "the sea shall not have them" RAF high speed launch for aircrew rescue

[@chrism7969]

I assume they would have rescued any airmen they spotted, but they weren't tasked with that job. There were specific boats that were tasked with that job, RAF high-speed rescue launches. So if down aircrew were spotted in the sea, by another aircraft for example, it was the HSL that would be sent out to rescue them, not the MTBs and MGBs kzbin.info/www/bejne/aYHGqJ2vZ8-qiMk

[@maxpayne2574]

The worst thing they fought were German barges along the Italian coast. To shallow a draft for torpedos and armed with the 88mm cannon.

[@johnsouth3912]

That’s some real firepower!

[@cactusjack1943]

I watch a lot of sailing videos, etc., and this popped up in my feed. The sound track sounded weird and stretched but then I noticed that the music was so much more involved than the repetitive pop crap that we constantly listen to on modern videos nowadays. The musicians were playing complicated things from folk songs to symphonies. Good video and was that Lorne Green narrating it?

[@outinthesticks1035]

Sure sounds like it

[@harbourdogNL]

Yes, Lorne Greene.

[@buckolan]

and commander Tony Law appears in this video a Canadian hero see video crash start saving Canada's last mtb boat

[@casadelshed9128]

And then it was back to base an pub at night for pints of beer an pies for tea.

[@Grimenoughtomaketherobotcry]

...and a bit o' crumpet!

[@casadelshed9128]

Socially Distant The Lovely Bit o’ Crumpet is the best part. Sorry I missed that.

[@WgCdrLuddite]

And gongs !

[@ijc9984]

And jumpers for goal posts

[@mikewalrus4763]

@@WgCdrLuddite gongs were for stage struck Americans, the British don't like handing out medals all that much, the Canuks much the same!

[@lisab3396]

👍👍

[@Demun1649]

"Eye for an eye. Life for a life". Not whatthe Bible teaches. You don't win a war by dying for your country or cause, you make the other bugger die for theirs.

[@koosvanzyl2605]

Mc Hales navy!!

[@gjohnston6052]

How do you claim ownership of a product that was paid for by Canadian taxpayers? National Film Board of Canada.

[@wendigo63music55]

Canadian government debt > a trillion dollars. It was this or sell Vancouver Island to China.

[@TheNextGoogification]

Lol, the stupidity of KZbin posters is incredible. Many people asking if it's Lorne Green narrating, and all you got to do is read the film description. How do these people consider themselves experts?

[@mikewalrus4763]

Because a lot of them are armchair experts, Legends in their own Lunchtimes!

[@wendigo63music55]

Who is Lorne Green? I thought it was Lorne Greene.

[@mikewalrus4763]

Love the BS that the commentator comes out with, there again it is a propaganda filum!