Vosper 73 ft motor torpedo boat

The Vosper 73 foot Motor Torpedo Boat was a mid-twentieth century British motor torpedo boat (MTB) designed by Vospers that served in the Royal Navy Coastal Forces during the Second World War.

MTB 382, a Vosper 73 ft type I MTB
Class overview
Builders:	Vosper & Company, Portsmouth
Operators:	Royal Navy
Built:	1943-1945
Planned:	32[1]
Completed:	29 (17 × type I, 12 × type II)[1]
Cancelled:	3 (type II)[1]
Lost:	1 (MTB-530, 28 March 1952)[1]
Preserved:	1
General characteristics [2]
Type:	Motor torpedo boat
Displacement:	Type I : 44.5 long tons (45 t) Type II: 48.75 long tons (50 t)
Length:	73 ft (22 m)
Beam:	19 ft 6 in (5.94 m)
Draught:	3 ft (0.91 m)
Propulsion:	3 × 1,400 hp (1,000 kW) Packard petrol engines
Speed:	40 knots (74 km/h; 46 mph)
Complement:	13
Armament:	Type I 4 × 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes 1 × 20mm Oerlikon gun 2 × .303 Vickers K machine guns Type II 1 × QF 6 pounder gun 2 × 18-inch torpedo tubes 1 × 20mm Oerlikon gun 2 × .303 Vickers K machine guns
Armour:	Armour plate around the bridge

At 73 ft (22 m) long they were considered small boats compared to longer designs such as the Fairmile D. The design came about from a requirement that British motor torpedo boats should be better able to fight other small craft, which was the job of motor gun boats (MGB). To this end Vospers built on their existing 70 foot designs. The type I was introduced in 1943 and the type II before the end of the Second World War.

The boats carried four 18-inch torpedo tubes as their major offensive armament along with Oerlikon 20 mm cannon and some defensive armament (Vickers K machine guns) for protection against enemy aircraft. The type II gave up two torpedo tubes, but gained a QF 6 pounder gun which displaced the Oerlikon to the aft deck. This made it more capable of performing the MGB role. Of the 29 built to this design none survives, although a slightly earlier model 60 ft example has been saved and resides at the Imperial War Museum Duxford.

MTB382 (depicted in the associated image) was sold (minus the three Packard engines) in 1945 or 1947 and converted into a houseboat, berthed on the Chelmer & Blackwater canal at Heybridge Basin, Essex. She was renamed 'M.Y. Vixen' and remained in use as such until 1954, when she was broken up.