Taken over post war by the Branch for range duties off the northern coast of Germany. These craft were built in Germany at the Krogerwerft Yard at Rendsburg. Their "D" prefix brought about their nickname - 'D'-Boats. They had mixed RAF and German civilian crews, with three of the four Deckhands and one of the two Mechanics being German (and some times the Coxswain), the Skipper along with one Deckhand, two Fitters, the remaining Mechanic and W/Op were all RAF.
Operating from the island of Sylt off Denmark, D2762 and D2765 worked out of Hornum, D2763 and D2764 from List, with D2766 acting as relief boat to cover for any boat out of service. The numbering sequence accounts for the missing boat numbers in the RTTL Mk.2 fleet.
With a length to beam ratio of 7:1, their sleek design was very different to any other boats in the Branch, more akin to the Wartime 'E' Boat, with flared bows and rounded bilges and powered by high speed diesels. Their construction also differed with double skin mahogany shell planking, (outer layer laid horizontal, with a diagonal inner layer) bolted to welded steel skeletal frames and keel. Decks were steel with a timber sheathed foredeck. Superstructures were fabicated from steel using snap-head rivets. The hull was subdivided into six watertight compartments, a Forepeak, Crews Fo'csle, Skippers accomodation, Engineroom, Sickbay and Galley and finally the after Tank Space and Tiller Flat. The outfit and finish of these craft was of a very high standard, making them well liked by their Marine Branch crews.
They were all initially fitted with winches for Target Towing, these were subsequently removed as the boats duties were confined to Range Safety and ASR work well out into the North Sea. Their duty roster was one day at sea, one day on stand by in harbour and the third day off duty. The Ranges covered a large area extending seawards from the island of Sylt. Five 7th Class buoys were laid for use as foul weather moorings, three outside List harbour, one off Ellenbrogan at the Northern tip of the island and the Southern one near Hornum Odde lighthouse.
The craft had relatively short lives with the RAF, with all five being disposed of by 1961. D2762 and D2764 were sold to private owners in 1960, and the other were handed over to the Federal German Navy in 1961. They were subsequently used as ASR craft.
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