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June 2014

4 boats took part in the 70th Anniversary of the DDay landings in France. MGB 81, HSL 102, MTB 102 and Medusa. The week started with a days visit to the Portsmouth Naval Base Property Trust by the Millin Pipe Team, along with a contingent of American Veterans. 3 boats, MGB 81, HSL 102 and MTB 102 left Portsmouth for France on Tuesday 3rd June, and after a very successful round trip, returned to Portsmouth on the 9th June. The voyage report is here, and eventually we will have a file of photographs available for you to access. The means for this will be put on this site.

June 2014

A cake made by Christina, owner of the Cafe Bon Appetit, in Totton Southampton, which will travel over to Pegasus Bridge in France, on board MGB 81, in time for the 70th DDay commemorations. It will be given to the Mayor of Benouville, the small village at Pegasus Bridge. It is intended as a thank you to the folk of the region, for looking after the many graves of our fallen.

December 2013

MGB 81 BBC Video - click on panel below

D-Day gun boats' race against time for 70th anniversary

November 2013

MGB 81 at Haslar Marina. November 2013

October 2013

HDML 1397. Medusa’s visit to Poole to commemorate her launch in 1943

Medusa, then ML1387, was built by R A Newman whose yard was just below Poole bridge, and launched on the 20th October 1943. Each 10th anniversary we have tried to go back to celebrate her birthday in Poole but the last attempt was foiled by the weather. This time we brought the trip forward a couple of weeks to avoid the gales that always seem to happen around mid October...................read more

October 2013

Apprentices to bring back the lost art of boat building

BBC Video features impressive shots of HSL102.   Click on video panel below

October 2013

Traditional Boatbuilding Skills Project in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard secures Heritage Lottery Fund support

Portsmouth Naval Base Property Trust (PNBPT) is delighted to have received a grant of £3.75m from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for its Boatbuilding & Heritage Skills Training Centre project, announced today. The project, which focuses on preserving and celebrating valuable traditional skills, will be delivered by PNBPT and the IBTC Portsmouth, the new, south coast branch of the long established International Boatbuilding Training College, specialists in traditional boatbuilding training. The Centre will open its doors to the public and begin training in April 2015...............more

October 2013

Historic Small Craft Latest Newsletter is here - click!

September 2013

Southampton Boat Show.
HSL 102 alongside at the Southampton Boat Show, where she was viewed by a huge number of show visitors, September 2013

September 2013

MGB 81 on the blocks at Endeavour Quay Yard Gosport having some works attended to

August 2013

Gay Archer after p-bracket damage

August 2013

MGB81 returns to the water after attention to her p-brackets. 22nd May 2013. The work was successfully undertaken by a team from the IBTC Lowestoft.

May2013

Farewell to the aircraft carrier Ark Royal, under tow, as she departs from Portsmouth on Monday the 20th May 2013. She is on her way to a Turkish scrapyard. She was seen off by the PNBPT 25ft FMB Ark Royal, which served on board the Ark Royal, previous to this one. The FMB has a new propeller, and reaches a very handsome 15 knots at 2500 rpm with her new Perkins

May 2013

MTB 219 rescue plan and Watchet Warships - click here for details

January 2013

The PNBPT is fast making progress toward the planned Shipwright Training Centre, and as we know more we will put on view for you. Below is ST1502, being attended to in BoatHouse (BH) 4, as of the 8th January 2013. She needs a new mast, as the original one, made by the Volunteers whilst at Husbands Yard, had been cracked, and was rotten at the crack.

The future of the website is being discussed at a Boat Committee Meeting on the 16th January, and we will be able to decide "what next", after that meeting. Thank you all for your continued support of this website, we continue to entertain requests for boat information, from around the world. Since we started this web site, we have had over 644,000 visits - long may this continue

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