Swan song for the 'Little Ships'
Swan Song for the 'Little'Ships A B-Type Fairmile Motor Launch of the type used on the Saint-Nazaire Raid, courtesy of Bundesarchiv via Wikimedia. For the raid the dinghy amidships would have been removed as, supposedly were the depth charges (not done in every case). The forward 'pop' gun would in almost all cases have been replaced by a quick-firing 20mm Oerlikon cannon as was the case aft. On each side of the deck amidships were fitted extra fuel tanks - see http://operation-chariot.org/mlchariottri,.html The term 'Little Ships' was coined in 1943, by journalist Gordon Holman who travelled to Saint-Nazaire on board MGB 314. It's a rather ‘familiar’ term for vessels which could hardly have been less well-suited to the job they were asked to do in the heavily defended estuary of the mighty River Loire. Constructed of wood, fuelled by high-octane petrol, slow and poorly-armed, the Motor Launches stood little chance against either enemy ships they might meet...
