Skimmers
Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2008 11:09 am
In 1918, a flotilla of RN "Skimmers" or CMBs as they were officially called, very shallow draught fast motorboats, the 40ft model carrying one and the 55ft model carrying two torpedoes - operated out of a base on Osea Island in the Blackwater River in Essex in Eastern England and four other smaller bases.
This flotilla carried out a number of very successful raids on German bases on the North Sea coast through 1918, including supporting Roger Keyes' raid on Zeebrugge on 22nd April, 1918...and of course went on to later cripple the Soviet Navy's warship capability in the Baltic in the leadup to British involvement in the Russian Civil War. But apart from Zeebrugge there is little mention of their other North Sea coastal raids. Can anyone point me to details of these?
This flotilla carried out a number of very successful raids on German bases on the North Sea coast through 1918, including supporting Roger Keyes' raid on Zeebrugge on 22nd April, 1918...and of course went on to later cripple the Soviet Navy's warship capability in the Baltic in the leadup to British involvement in the Russian Civil War. But apart from Zeebrugge there is little mention of their other North Sea coastal raids. Can anyone point me to details of these?
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