Royal Navy fast Motor Dinghy-FMD5383-'Dragonfly'

 

 

 

 This is the story of the miraculous survival of the last of the series of small fast wooden Motor Dinghies  which were supplied to British Warships during World War 2, for the use of Captains and senior officers.

 Of the 954 which were built for the Admiralty there remain 3 other partial vessels, but FMD 'Dragonfly' is

 the sole working and original one left in existence.

 

                                                                 Here is her story.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The above photograph is one of only 5 period  ones of this type of vessel that I could ever find.  The

  quality is none too good, but that is all we have.(Two more added at the bottom of the page )

  In the restoration of 5383- ' Dragonfly' I have made every effort to conform to the orignal Admiralty

  build and equipment specifications- ( all of which I was lucky enough to source ).

  Here are the others. . . . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 This last one was taken in Hong Kong on HMS Newfoundland in 1957 and shows the local team who would clean up   the ships when in port

 

                                        SO. . .here - ( in 2015) is the tale of my 7 year restoration of one of the smallest    craft in the Royal Navy.

   During and just after WW2 these fast little vessels were kept on the decks of warships for the use of captains and  senior officers.  Generally they would be driven by stokers, as these seamen would have been idle when the ships

  were stationary.  The FMDs  became known as " Skimming Dishes", for obvious reasons.  They were only 16feet        long and fitted with a large Coventry Climax Godiva engine.. . . a 2-stroke 1800cc diesel with a Rootes

 supercharger..  This gave 55hp at 2000rpm, and a speed of 17 to 20 knots, or more.   They were built in mahogany

 with a double diagonal bottom and clinker sides, and, as you can see were exciting little machines.  It is said that the  younger officers treated them as the " MGs of the sea".   I have met an ex sailor who remembers 4 of them being

 raced to a central point in the sea at Southampton, and almost all were destroyed !.   Maybe this one of the reasons  that out of the 954 built, there remain just 4.  I am proud to relate that 'Dragonfly' is the only functioning and original  survivor.

 She was ordered by the Admiralty from Bushnells in Wargrave after the war in probably the last batch of this wooden  design. This was in 1953.  She was already out of date as the ships of that period were not equipped to to raise and  store a 1.5ton speedboat on deck, according to Tim Lewin of HMS Belfast. His father Lord Lewin did have the use of

 the FMDs on the Royal yacht.  The Belfast does have one of the other FMDs on board ( from the same batch ). . but

 this is unlikely ever to be returned to original condition.

 

 Seven years ago  a friend found her mouldering away in a leaky barn in Dublin, and I bought the ruin that she was,  never aware of what she really was and had been.   One thing I learned was that she has been towed into Ireland    during the Jubilee riots, and had run the gauntlet down the Faulds road, narrowly avoiding being torched by petrol  bombs!  and protected by the military.  A charmed ecape indeed ! The owner was a young Irish farmer who had

 found her on another farm in England and was having to take her home as the owner was about to burn her!   So. . .

 a second lucky escape.!

 She then was stored in this leaky barn on a make-shift trailer which finally had punched two holes in her bottom, and  also the rain had rotted the top boards.

 When the Admiralty had decommissioned them, they gutted them of all the internal working parts. . .so. . .no engine,  controls, instruments, rudder, fuel tank and all ancillaries.  The young Irishman had fitted a large steel cage on the  stern to support a large outbord motor. . .so. . she was in a really sorry state.   And STILL no-one knew what she

 really  was .

 We towed her all the way down here to Cognac in France, with the intention of fixing her up to lark about with on the    River Charente.   Shortly afterwards things began to emarge , and thanks to Richard Hellyer of the BMPT  ( British  Military Powerboat trust ), I learned about these little vessels.   I discovered that besides the one in the BMPT under

 a very slow restoration, but missing most of the internals, there is one also on the Belfast, which is only 2 numbers  away from mine.   This lead me to become friends with Tim Lewin and Nick Hewitt who know all about the history of

 that great ship and sent me lots of photos of their FMD to compare.

 Then I got the official records of my FMD  from the Admiralty historian ( see below ).   At the same time Richard came  up with the original Admiralty Build Specifications for me . .which means that I could build a completely new one

 some day !! if I wanted to  !

 Because she is built of African mahogany, I was very pleased to discover that the French 'empire' is still shipping in a  good quality timber, called 'Sipo'.  This could be our -'Utile', and was perfect for the rebuild.

 Early on I contacted Bushnells yard in Wargrave where she was built, but it was too long ago for them, so I went

 gaily onwards !

 The first tasks were to repair the hull.   I read a lot of forums and discovered Don Danenberg in the USA who is the

 guru of classic wooden speed-boats .   I worked out how to repair the double diagonal strips and used only copper  rivets and silicon-bronze screws.  scarf joints and steam-bending too ! To replace the whole bottom was too daunting

 a task, so I had to match the strips of mahogany and bond with 3M5200. . . .at this point I realised that restoring a  Royal Navy vessel in France is highly ambitious. . . .this continued till the very end !!

 

 However, I was determined to follow the Specs to the letter, as I now fully accepted thaat I had a serious

 responsibility to the Royal Navy.   I am so glad that I did,  because she is now returned to her early form and a credit

 to the Senior service..  I did take photographs at every stage , so I have hundreds of them, all interesting to me, but  possibly too many for this story.   I will add a good selection of them here a bit later.

 

 I rigged up a pulley system so that I could rotate and repair the bottom more easily,  so she was effectively hanging  from the roof while I did all the outer work.  After this I replaced the topboards round the gunwales, then remade the

 floorboards and inner wooden section.  I used wherever possible the water-based epoxy called Resoltek.   This also  helped the remaining original timbers.   ( These vessels were not kept in the water but on the deck, so they did not  have to swell the timbers in water ).

 The Admiralty had stripped the FMDs out before sale , so things which were missing were extremely hard to find.  

 Some amazing purchases were. . .the dashboard instrument panel with even the original rev-counter still in place !. . .  the complete engine, and finally the the extremely rare ( if not, the very last and only ones anywhere ) the engine

 hand  controls.   Without them I could never have kept her so original.  I had to fabricate the fuel tank and rudder

 from    specs.   I also discovered that the paint which looks a lightish blue is, in fact officially -Admiralty Light Grey,  and  available in Fareham !   The engine which weighs 6.5 cwt was found in Kent, thanks to another - " Erik". . .this  time, a  collector of vintage marine engines in Denmark.   He then was the source of all the Admiralty manuals for the  KF4  engine and controls !   -including all the RN  test data.    He also sent me videos of his KF4 running, and could  even supply me with filters that he had had made up specially. He still stays in touch which is great.

 I must mention,and thank Joe Blake of Kent for just having kept this very last example of the KF4 anywhere, at his  house. . in it's original and almost unused state, albeit a bit grubby !

 

 Here is the historical documentation of ' Dragonfly'. . .We do not know what she was doing for the first three years.  There is a " CH" engraved on the transom - - - ( Chatham ? )