The Fairmile Bs of the Royal Canadian Navy

The origins of the Fairmiles

During the First World War, in the face of successful attacks by German submarines on British ships, it became imperative to create an anti-submarine counterattack force. That is why the British Admiralty, among other measures, awarded the Elco company a contract to built 50 wooden motor launches. This order was followed by a second order for 500 units, to be delivered by November 1916.

The 80-foot-long motor launch was designed by Mr Irwin Chase. With a displacement of 42 tons and a speed of 19 knots, it was fitted with two Standard-brand 6-cylinder engines and with anti-submarine weaponry, including depth charges and, on the bow, a 3-pound gun.

The United States Navy also developed a subchaser in 1916. The naval architect Albert Swasey was mandated by Franklin D. Roosevelt to design an effective vessel for hunting down submarines. The vessels of this new class (SC-1), with a displacement of 85 tons, a length of 110 feet and a 16-foot beam, were equipped with three 200-HP (horsepower) Standard engines. They had a range of 1000 miles and a top speed of 17 knots. Each SC-1 was fitted with two 3-inch 23-caliber guns and two machine guns, and carried a crew of 27 persons, including two officers. By the end of the war, a total of 440 ships of this type had been commissioned.

Although fast and relatively effective for hunting submarines, the Elco motor launches and SC-1s were uncomfortable for the crew and ill-suited for rough seas.

But despite this, both types of motor launch, as the Second World War approached, gave inspiration to the designer of the Fairmiles.

Shortly before the Second World War, a document by Vice-Admiral C.V. Usborne on the need for a fleet of anti-submarine motor launches attracted the attention of a British industrialist by the name of Noel Macklin.

Prototype of Fairmile ML 100, completed on 19 May 1940 Imperial War Museum

Mr Macklin had served as a reservist before holding the rank of lieutenant from 1916 to 1918. After 1918, he undertook various commercial yachting and auto-racing projects. His firm, the Fairmile Engineering Company, had also built the Railton, an English version of the American Hudson automobile.

Drawing on his experience in the field, he submitted to the British Admiralty a plan for series production of a motor launch, to be built of components prefabricated by furniture, piano and other manufacturers and assembled in shipyards.

He founded the Fairmile Marine Company, located in Fairmile, Cobham, in Kent, surrounding himself with a team of engineers and naval architects. As the initial order was delayed, he decided to have a prototype, the Fairmile A, ML 100, built by the Woodnut yard in Bembridge, on the Isle of Wight. In July 1939, two months before the outbreak of hostilities, the Admiralty awarded Macklin a contract to build 11 Type A Fairmiles.

The brilliant idea of turning to companies little involved in the war effort permitted quick series production of large quantities of vessel components such as keels, frames, bulkheads and stemposts, with assembly in the form of modules being assigned to designated shipyards.

The Fairmile Type A had the following characteristics:

Fairmile being completed in a Canadian shipyard Photo: Department of National Defence (O-1176)

Just before the war began, the Admiralty decided to develop a new version of the Fairmile A, based on the same construction method; it would become the Fairmile Class B.

The Class B was, naturally, to be an improved version of the A, with a length of 112 feet instead of 110, and a beam of 18 feet 3 inches instead of 17 feet 5 inches. The fuel-reserve capacity was raised from 1200 to 2305 gallons (89-octane aviation gas). Because of a limited supply of engines from the Hall-Scott company, the number of engines was reduced to two, making it possible to build 50% more vessels. The top speed was reduced from 25 to 20 knots. With its new tanks, the Fairmiles had a greater range - 1500 nautical miles at a speed of 12 knots.

In September 1939, an order for 13 units was awarded to the Fairmile Marine Co., whose mandate was to contract out the construction to the different yards in the world and ensure compliance with established assembly standards.

Orders came in at an accelerating pace, with the result that in the period from 1939 to 1945, over 680 vessels were built for the navies of the Commonwealth, including the Royal Navy (534), the New Zealand Navy (12), the Australian Navy (35) and the Royal Canadian Navy (80).

Three Fairmile motor launches of the 72nd Flotilla, based in Halifax Origin unknown

The Fairmile's armament could be modified as needed, and adapted to the vessel's various roles as a subchaser, ambulance launch, rescue launch or minelayer.

The deck was fitted with metal rails and anchorings so that the different types of armament could be installed and changed quickly, depending on the ship's mission.

The Fairmile's versatility was to be one of its great strengths.

In this context, the Fairmile Marine Co. expanded considerably, but because of the additional capital requirements, Noel Macklin negotiated an agreement to become a kind of division of the Admiralty with responsibility for receiving orders for Fairmiles, managing supplies of materials and supervising the construction contracts that were awarded.

At one point, the company had a staff of over 500 employees. Macklin had to ensure that production times were kept to the minimum, that components were available and that subcontracting was spread out among a variety of companies which were less affected by the war effort.

Sea trials of Q 054, shortly after launching in October 1941 Origin unknown (neg. no.: 87-56)

Launching of Q 056 in November 1941 at Greavette Boats Ltd., Gravenhurst, Ontario Origin unknown

Across the Atlantic, the Royal Canadian Navy also faced a growing need for vessels of all kinds to repel U-boat attacks on convoys. Since the immediate need for Fairmile-type motor launches was obvious, the Canadian Navy also benefitted from the vessel's design, as a Commonwealth Navy and because of its close and harmonious ties with the British Royal Navy.

All together, 80 Fairmiles were built for the Canadian Navy and put into service between October 1941 and October 1944. The earliest Canadian Fairmiles, which were similar to the British version except for a few details, were built by Ontario shipyards and commissioned in October and November 1941.

The cost price of each vessel was $132,000: $85,000 for the hull, $20,000 for the engines, and $27,000 for armament, supplies and equipment.

The Fairmile construction programs in Canada break down as follows:

In the course of this period, construction was carried out in 12 shipyards, mainly in Ontario:

Summary plan of the Fairmile Type B and types of armament Origin unknown

In order to secure the contracts for building Fairmiles in Ontario shipyards, the Ontario Fairmile Association, with W. Taylor as president and D. Hunter as secretary-treasurer, was formed early in the war. All Ontario shipyards involved in building Fairmiles belonged to this association, which also looked after coordination among shipyards and had responsibility for speeding up production.

When construction of a hull was completed, a short official launching ceremony was held.

The next step was to install the various armaments, and then put aboard the vessel all the equipment it needed in order to be self-sufficient: bedding, dishes, spare parts, tools, miscellaneous supplies, food and, finally, fuel.

All this equipment was warehoused - among other places, in Québec, in Shed 18 on the Bassin Louise. So new vessels setting out from one of the shipyards on the Great Lakes would schedule a stopover there.

J. A. Heenan aboard ML 050. On the left, the Honourable C.D. Howe, federal minister. Photo: Department of National Defence (S 538)

Oerlikon bow gun Photo: Department of National Defence (GM 0015)

The communication equipment on board consisted of a wireless transmission system, an FR12TH-model transmitter and an MSL5-type receiver. The transmitter, on a 24-volt power supply, had an output of 20 watts and a low-frequency range of 50 miles.

The Fairmile's submarine detection was the asdic (the forerunner of modern sonar), Type 134 A. It consisted of a fixed dome, located under the forward part of the hull. The apparatus emitted pulses of sound energy which travelled through the water and were reflected back by a target. The echo was received, amplified and recorded. The time which elapsed between transmission and reception indicated the distance between the asdic and the target. However, this apparatus was not as successful as anticipated in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, because of the rocky escarpments there, which sent back false echoes. When a contact was clear, the operator would alert the officer on the deck who, in turn, would order that depth charges be dropped or other missiles fired by the Y gun.

The armament aboard a Fairmile was fairly complete, considering the size of the vessel. It consisted of the following:

With all these weapons aboard, the Fairmile was described as a veritable little fighting ship.

The operations of the Fairmiles during the Second World War fall into two periods. The first, or defensive, period began with the commissioning of the first Fairmiles in the autumn of 1941 and lasted until the spring of 1943; the second, or offensive, period ran from the spring of 1943 until the cessation of hostilities.