Vosper designs for a night in the Channel

The Admiralty's requirement called for more than 40 knots, two 21-inch torpedoes, a light gun, and operation in moderate Channel or North Sea conditions. The craft also had to cross to the enemy coast, fight, and return within darkness. After failing to secure an initial order, Vosper funded a larger private-venture design and submitted it for official trials. Its initial Italian engines had originally been developed for Russian motor torpedo boats, giving the prototype a cross-national machinery lineage. The episode shows how a competitive British shipbuilding industry could develop a requirement-led warship before the government committed to buying it.