Fairmile A: an anti-submarine starting point

The Fairmile A was shaped by British fears of mine-laying submarines and the need to hunt them in coastal waters. Only twelve were built, but they established the anti-submarine starting point for the much larger Fairmile family. Its hard-chine planing hull exchanged range for speed, reaching about 25 knots with a range of roughly 600 miles at 12 knots. Asdic, a quick-firing three-pounder, machine guns, and twelve depth charges gave the small craft a complete coastal hunting fit. Several boats could work together as a pack rather than leave one launch to prosecute a contact alone. That foundation helps explain how later Fairmiles could be adapted into increasingly heavily armed gunboats.