Dog Boats combine firepower with adaptation

Fairmile D armament fits combined six-pounders, Bofors and Oerlikon cannon, machine guns, torpedoes, depth charges, mines, and flare launchers. Packard engines gave the design useful speed, while at least one boat reportedly received much more powerful Griffon engines. Operational crews rapidly customized their craft, so a naval constructor judged the idea of a standard Dog Boat largely fictional after its first months in service. The ninety-day figure reflects the first inspection cycle, by which point crews had already altered the nominally standardized boat. Radar, identification equipment, and a hydrophone made the class a night-fighting and anti-submarine platform as well as a heavily armed gunboat.