British MTBs and German E-Boats Fought in the Channel Every Night — At 40 Knots in Total Darkness

Описание: June 1940. The fall of France handed Germany 600 miles of Channel coastline transformed overnight into E-boat bases. The English Channel became "E-Boat Alley"—twenty miles of water where German Schnellboote and British Motor Torpedo Boats fought nightly battles at forty knots in total darkness.
The economics were brutal. German E-boats cost £40,000 each—sophisticated diesel-powered vessels with 700-mile range, forty-three-knot speed, and round-bottomed hulls that maintained performance in heavy seas. British MTBs cost £30,000—plywood boats powered by aircraft engines, built in eight to ten weeks by yacht builders and furniture makers. Neither side held decisive tactical advantage. Both carried deadly torpedoes. Both relied on speed and darkness. Both crews were elite volunteers.
The difference was numbers. By mid-1943, Britain fielded over 300 MTBs in Coastal Forces. Germany had thirty-four E-boats operational in the Channel at D-Day. That numerical superiority—achieved through distributed construction across civilian boatyards rather than specialized naval yards—transformed the Channel War from German dominance to stalemate to Allied superiority.
E-boats were extraordinarily cost-effective weapons. They sank 101 merchant ships totaling 214,728 tons, plus twelve destroyers, eleven minesweepers, and eight landing ships. Their mines destroyed another thirty-seven merchant vessels. Exercise Tiger—the April 1944 D-Day rehearsal—saw nine E-boats attack American LSTs in Lyme Bay, killing 749 servicemen in three hours. Individual E-boat actions could be devastating.
But strategic victory required sustained operations. Britain could absorb MTB losses and continue. Germany could not. Every E-boat lost was irreplaceable while fighting globally. Every MTB lost was replaced within weeks. The Channel War cost Britain £12 million in MTB construction. An E-boat-based defense would have cost £60 million minimum. That £48 million difference funded operations that won the war.
This is the story of how Britain won the coastal war not with superior boats, but with adequate boats in overwhelming numbers. When MTB 102—the prototype that started everything—carried Churchill and Eisenhower to review the invasion fleet in 1944, she proved a fundamental truth: wars are won by weapons available when needed, at a cost the nation can afford. The £30,000 plywood boat couldn't match the £40,000 E-boat's capabilities. It just had to be numerous enough that E-boats couldn't avoid them.

#navalhistory #britishmtb #e-boats #militaryhistory #ww2documentary #battleofbritain

Primary Sources & Historical Records:
E-boat Development & Operations:

German Schnellboot construction history (Lürssen Bremen-Vegesack primary builder)
S-boat specifications: 32-35 meters, Daimler-Benz diesels, wooden construction over alloy frames
Kriegsmarine E-boat flotilla operations 1940-1945
Führer der Schnellboote operational records
E-boat combat claims: 101 merchant ships (214,728 tons), 12 destroyers, 11 minesweepers
Sea mines laid by E-boats: 37 merchant ships (148,535 tons) destroyed

British MTB Development & Construction:

Commander Peter Du Cane / Vosper Ltd development (MTB 102 prototype 1936-1937)
MTB construction costs: approximately £30,000 per vessel (£31,000 Polish MGBs)
Vosper 70ft design production 1940-1945
British Power Boat Company, Thornycroft, White's Cowes construction records
Total British MTB production: approximately 400 vessels plus 100+ Canadian-built
Coastal Forces operational strength: 300+ MTBs/MGBs by mid-1943

Exercise Tiger (April 28, 1944):

Convoy T-4 E-boat attack in Lyme Bay
German E-boats involved: S-130, S-145, S-150 (9th Flotilla)
American casualties: 749 killed (LST-507: 202, LST-531: 424, LST-289: 13)
LST-507 and LST-531 sunk, LST-289 damaged, LST-511 friendly fire damage
Post-Exercise Tiger RAF operations: Le Havre E-boat base destruction (June 14, 1944)

Economic Analysis:

British MTB program total cost: approximately £12 million (400 vessels @ £30,000)
German E-boat estimated cost: £40,000 per vessel (400,000 Reichsmarks)
U-boat Type VII C cost comparison: 2 million Reichsmarks (1943 prices)
Cost differential analysis: £48 million savings versus E-boat-based strategy

Combat Operations & Tactics:

Channel War 1940-1945: 464 actions in British home waters
British Coastal Forces claims: 269 enemy vessels sunk or probably sunk
British losses: 76 Coastal Force craft to enemy action
MTB/MGB flotilla tactics: 6-8 boat formations, night operations, hit-and-run attacks
Torpedo engagement ranges: 300-500 yards typical

Vessel Service Records:

MTB 102: Operation Dynamo (8 crossings), flagship for Rear Admiral Wake-Walker
MTB 102 postwar: carried Churchill and Eisenhower for Operation Overlord review
Coastal Forces casualties: approximately 1,400 officers and ratings killed (1940-1945)