After modifications by the builders to the engine layout, units delivered to the RAF from mid 1943 were different in appearance from the previous Series II craft. Whereas in the Series II craft the Hall Scott engines were mounted right aft, behind the well deck and drove the propellers via V drives, in the Series III craft they were moved to midships and drove the propellers directly without the need for V drives. Consequently the well deck was moved back to a position it was originally in the Series I craft - i.e. right aft as in the early SAAF craft. As a direct consequence, the profile of the Series III craft was altered, in that the cabin over the sick bay was further aft and in the same place longitudinally as the well deck was in the Series II craft. This resulted in the sick bay being directly over the two main engines. The remainder of the layout of the craft differed little from the layout adopted in the Series II craft. From available records it appears the RAF grouped all the craft from both series under one stores reference, that of 116F/1, however another source indicates the stores reference may have been 16F/115.
The Series III craft were delivered to the RAF from July 1943 through to February 1944, however the last craft HSL 2779, which was handed over to the RAF at Nassau in March 1944, was in fact a former US Navy boat (Ex C26589) which had been transferred to the US Army and subsequently given an US Army number of P712. It is therefore not known if the HSL 2779 was a Series III or Series II craft. Apart from the aforementioned HSL 2779, the majority of the RAF Series III craft served in the Mediterranean or the Middle East, and were all subsequently disposed of locally from those respective locations, many (as in the Series II craft), ending up at Suez for disposal. Two were recorded as being returned to US Authorities in May 1946, whilst one, HSL 2644, was transferred to the Nigerian Government in July 1946. The former US Army craft at Nassau was disposed of locally in June 1947.
As well as being so widely dispersed, the Miami series craft took part in Special Boat Service operations in the Eastern Mediterranean. Two such boats, Series II HSL 2516 (F/Lt Legge) and Series III HSL 2539 (F/O Farnsworth) were disguised as Greek caiques. With volunteer crews wearing civilian clothes they operated from the Alexandria base amongst the Aegean Islands, providing a link with Greek partisans. These operations led to the capture of these islands by the Greek "Sacred Heart Regiment" and units of Naval Commandos.
The first step carried out by the MCU at Alexandria, October / November 1943, was to camouflage the two RAF HSLs to resemble private yachts. Although HSL 2539 was subsequently changed to more closely resemble a Greek caique, the first conversion of these two launches consisted of scraping and repainting the hulls, one pale green and the other duck-egg blue. A false mast was raised on the foredeck in a tabernacle, the upper works were scraped and repainted, the gun tubs removed and underwater exhausts fitted which could be operated from the engine room. As HSL 2539 was a series III craft with the engine room amidships, this facilitated the fitting of a deck house aft into the well deck. Extra lockers were built into the well deck which were intended to carry weapons out of sight and once completed the launches were both despatched to the Aegean. Here they were employed whenever and wherever possible in ferrying agents to and fro, and transporting small raiding parties including the Greek Special Service Sqdn.
Their camouflage enabled them to operate quite openly in Turkish waters and to a certain extent protected them from the unwanted attention of enemy shipping. On the 29th December 1943, a signal was despatched to the "Master" of HSL 2539, congratulating him and his crew for operations carried out in the Aegean Sea. On the 27th January 1944, HSL 2539 arrived damaged at Alexandria from Castelrosso and on the 19th March 1944, HSLs 2516 and 2539 were back in Alexandria for a complete overhaul before returning to the Aegean. By February 1944 the Mediterranean situation had stabilised and records show that 201 Groups' ASR launches no longer operated beyond Benghazi to the West, and that the two special duties HSLs still in their camouflage were at Alexandria awaiting orders.
The civilian names given to the special HSLs were 2639 - MY "BAIRAM" and 2516 - MY "FOUAD". The 25 ton caique "VATHY" was originally planned to be their radio ship and base but the radio idea had to be abandoned. However "VATHY" continued as the base ship for RAF craft and other special duties vessels in the Aegean. On the 19th March 1944, orders were given that "work was to proceed at full pressure" on the two HSLs at Alexandria. On the 8th April 1944, 2516 and 2539 were tested and serviceable and on the 12th sailed for Paphos. By the 29th July 1944, 2516 was again at Alexandria and on the 31st July, gun pods were received and were being fitted. HSL 2516 was slipped with an engine defect, but was re-launched on the 4th August and by the 7th August was tested satisfactory. Successful operations were carried out in September, however HSL 2516 suffered severe damage to her underwater gear and spares were rushed to Cyprus. HSL 2539 was slipped between 2.10.44 and 4.10.44. During November 1944, both HSLs were on ops in the Aegean with "VATHY", however by January 1945 there were problems with 2516. First she required a hydraulic steering motor and new prop shaft, but later she was again in for a repair to her intermediate shaft. She went US again with a damaged V drive. In April 1945, HSL 2516 was transferred from 206 group to 207 group and on the 25th April an ASR crew took over the craft. Early in 1946, the base at Alexandria was closed down, all being removed to Port Said.
| Back |