Royal Navy’s Coastal Forces exhibition set to open in Gosport

Coastal Forces operated small motorboats, torpedo boats and patrol launches

The first permanent museum display dedicated to Coastal Forces, a division of the Royal Navy, is set to open.

The exhibition tells the story of the men who manned the craft used to attack German convoys, carry out raids and pick up secret agents.

They sank hundreds of enemy vessels and carried out more than 900 operations across the world, including the Dieppe Raid and D-Day. 

It opens on Saturday at the Explosion Museum of Naval Firepower in Gosport.

The exhibition features two surviving historic boats used by the division

The Night Hunters: The Royal Navy's Coastal Forces at War features two of the division's World War Two boats, Coastal Motor Boat CMB331 and Motor Torpedo Boat MTB71.

The museum said: "Immortalised as 'Spitfires of the Seas'  they were often deployed in the dark, at incredibly high speeds as small but fast attack craft travelling at speeds up to 35 knots. "

Among those who manned the attack craft were the future Avengers star Patrick Macnee, the second Doctor Who, Patrick Troughton, renowned conservationist Sir Peter Scott and James Bond director Guy Hamilton.

The crew's sketches, notebooks and photographs also feature in the exhibition

Professor Dominic Tweddle, director general of the National Museum of the Royal Navy which operates the Explosion Museum, said: "Their service has all the elements of an incredible story, but sadly they often paid with the ultimate sacrifice.

"They were incredibly brave young men onboard what were really quite basic boats, loaded with fuel and ammunition, working at high speed, often under the cloak of darkness.

"Their service and sense of duty send a shiver down the spine."

Their service was recognised with more gallantry awards than any other branch of the navy -  3,000 decorations, including four Victoria Crosses.  

The exhibition charts their service from their first operation in late 1916 up until the 1950s when they were decommissioned.