A British blokade runner

Another IO fun project. A vessel that is a must for me in coastal war.

There was a shortage of ball bearings in UK 1942/43 and no chance for good ones in the numbers needed from USA. The best came from Sweden anyway. At first some got flown but the weight made that no option in long term.

Camper & Nicholson had 1939 some fast 117 ft motor launches for Turkey on stock. They became MGB 502 – 509. Now five got converted into merchant vessels

They got named Gray Viking, Gay Corsair, Master Standfast, Hopewell and Nonesuch. Stealth cause problems with the Ministry of war transport. The MOWT surveyor was not happy with some details. Like the missing official load line. Steel hulls got it cut in but the vessels had wooden. An easy removable steel plate was used and caused a lot of head shaking by the surveyor.

A deck house was added and the existing bridge fitted on top of it. 40 tons got transported in the cargo holds and 6 more on deck. Fully loaded they could make 20 knots but the engines had been poor. Master Standfast was captured by a Vorpostenboot when the engines failed. It became RA 11, now hunting British agent transporters in Norwegian waters.

They could only operate in the long winter nights. Two twin 20 mm guns and two twin .303 MG stands on top of deck house made them well armed merchant ships. But the best weapon was stealth. One night for each direction.
They never reached the number of trips hoped for but the mission was a success.

The model is a bit crude, I had two plans but they differed in many details. But good enough for Wargaming. Made from wood, cardboard, wood kit, wire and plastic. Everything scratch built.