AT FORTY MILES AN HOUR.

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 116, 17 May 1924, Page 19

AT FORTY MILES AN HOUR.

Admiral Field* dispatch boat, or C.M.B. No. 123, as she is known to the officers and men of the Special Service Squadron, is here shown racing at top speed off the Prince's wharf. She is a single step hydroplane, built (or Admiralty service by Messrs. John 1. Thornycroft and Co., Ltd., of Southampton. She is 40 feet long, with a beam of 8 feet six inches, and is driven by a 250 horse power, 12 cylinder engine of this firm's make. She is capable of a sustained speed of 35 knots per hour, equal to 40 land miles. This speedy little craft has been out on the Waitemata every day this week, going all out. The boat can accommodate 14 passengers in a comfortable covered cockpit, and is in charge of Lieut. A. H. Robinson, R.N.V.R. She consumes 15-18 gallons of petrol an hour when going at full speed. During the war this particular coastal motor boat, which was built in 1917, did constant work on the Belgium coast for two years, when she was fitted with a torpedo tube, four Lewis guns, and two depth charges. She makes no fuss going head on to a sea at any speed. At top speed this boat can make the run to the Thames in exactly one hour, or to Kawau in 45 minutes.