Five 60ft Pinnaces were built for the Royal Navy during WW2. Morgan Giles records state these were for the Royal Naval Air Service but this section of the Navy was disbanded after WW1 and became part of the Fleet Air Arm but the drawing of these craft are stamped by the Admiralty and it is reported that 90 of these were built for Naval use during WW2. Two of these craft built by Morgan Giles were originally built as torpedo recovery craft and were fitted with a large derrick but others were used for different purposes such as harbour launches.
The Admiralty had these boats built to the same design and construction as the popular RAF Pinnaces. The original design came from the builders Groves and Gutteridge of Cowes who completed the first RAF pinnace in 1938. The Admiralty version were known as FSMB’s (Fast Seagoing Motor Boats) or TRSB’s (Torpedo Recovery Safety Boats), or more simply as 60ft Seagoing Motor Boats.
These 60ft craft had a beam of 14ft, a draught of 3ft 4in and were of Hard Chine construction in Mahogany. They were believed to be powered by three Perkins S6M diesels of 130HP giving a speed of 17 knots.
