The first of the War Department "River" class launches was completed on the 1st November 1944 and entered Army service on the 20th June 1945. A total of 11 units had been handed over to the War Department by the time that the original order for 98 craft was reduced to 40 by the cancellation of 58 units on the 3rd September 1945. This was due to the reduced requirements after VJ day in August that year. The cancellation left the builder with a balance of some 29 units to complete with a revised value of the whole order of £168,000. Despite the end of the war production and completion of the 44¼ft FLs continued at some pace. According to BPB records, by the 30th September 1945, some 17 units had been completed leaving 23 to be finished. By 1946 the yard had shifted emphasis to the Scottwood House pre-fab construction programme to offset the post-war shortage of Government boat orders. Completion of the "River" class FLs slowed as a result of the shift of labour to other work. With Scott-Paine in the USA and the retirement of the yard's General Manager in 1946, Scott-Paine made the decision to close down the Hythe yard after being informed by the new Manager that it was uneconomical to run. The last of the 68ft RAF HSLs was completed by March 1946 and as the final MTB for the Royal Navy, MTB 521, was completed, the RASC River class FL HUMBER was probably the last service craft to be built at Hythe, completing on the 1st November 1946.

The hulls of the River class FLs were of double diagonal construction from African Mahogany. The frames were of Spruce and other members were of Canadian Rock Elm. Intercostals in the main were of Mahogany. The hulls were built up of a framework which itself was a rigid structure without the skin, thus gaining maximum strength for minimum weight. The boats were of jigged construction, ensuring that every boast was an accurate reproduction of the designed hull and also keeping production costs down. This type of construction also made later repairs very easy. The British Power Boat Co used a method of constructing hulls inverted (keel uppermost) as a complete rigid structure, before the double diagonal skin was added. The River class construction comprised 5 main compartments divided by 4 watertight bulkheads. The five compartments were the fore peak, the forward accommodation (mess) with the central accommodation (cabin) and wheelhouse and well deck, the engine room and aft cockpit and lastly the aft peak. From the keel 23 main frames, the transom and the stem, which was scarfed into the keel, provided the strength along with the intercostals and the watertight bulkheads. The main hull was then covered in double diagonal mahogany and the decks were fitted in herring bone style mahogany planking.

The resulting design and construction provided a high forecastle deck under which were the forepeak, crews mess, galley and toilet. Aft of this the central wheelhouse had access forward to the crew mess area, access aft into the central passenger accommodation and access to the side decks which were stepped down from the forecastle. Immediately aft of the passenger cabin was a small central open cockpit. The engine room was designed for twin Perkins S6M diesels and had access doors at the rear of the compartment leading to the aft cockpit. The stern of the boat comprised the fuel tank and the aft peak. Each compartment (except the fore and aft peaks) was decked out with watertight floors, under which the spaces remained void thus adding to the residual buoyancy of the boat.

HUMBER

FL HUMBER was officially commissioned into the War Department fleet on the 1st November 1946, and with an overall grey livery was briefly in RASC Water Transport home waters service. Early in 1947 she was allocated for Far East Theatre service and was slung onto delivery cradles and craned onto the deck of a mercantile cargo vessel for a four week passage to Malaya. On arrival at Port Swettenham, Malaya, she was towed ashore, complete with cradle, and then cleaned up to ready her for service; - weeks of greasy soot accumulation from the freighters funnel had to be removed, the inhibitors for the engines had to be removed, and the boat removed from the cradle. The hull was repainted and after sea trials she remained in service at Port Swettenham but officially part of 986 Water Transport Company, RASC, Singapore. After several months on patrols, mainly around the base, but also occasionally incorporating trips to neighbouring Penang or Port Dixon, the HUMBER was adopted by General & Mrs Ritchie. They used to send the crew books, and following a trip on board, a full set of ship's crockery. The Ritchie's also supplied the craft a small fridge which ran on Kerosene, thus allowing the crew a rare and most appreciated extra facility in the heat of the tropics.

On the 28th September 1949 HUMBER was transferred to 79 Coy RASC WT to be stationed at Sham Shui Po, Hong Kong. Part of the Sham Shui Po complex comprised the infamous former Japanese POW camp. At this stage 79 Coy had only recently re-formed from 1874 WT Coy, which itself was a descendant of the platoon which had been established after the Colony had been re-taken at the end of WWII. In the early 1950's HUMBER was redesignated as a FMB in keeping with "Navy Speak" at the base HMS Tamar. The crew then comprised 5, a Sergeant coxswain, an engineer and three locally enlisted personnel (LEPs) as deck hands. The HUMBER was kept in very good condition and modified with extra equipment to serve as a VIP launch. She was permanently assigned to the General Officer Commanding (GOC) Hong Kong, Major General G.C. Cruddas who entertained many distinguished visitors in the area.

HUMBER & AVON - 44½ FT RASC FAST LAUNCH

Thus many such VIPs were carried in HUMBER - these included Royalty, Flag Officers and some famous people. Known to have been passengers are HRH Duchess of Kent, HRH Duke of Kent, Viscount Althorp (the late Earl Spencer), The Governor General of Australia plus numerous Generals. During the Korean War period HUMBER provided much ancillary back up support for the war effort ferrying a broad selection of war participants ranging from the highest ranking officers to civilian entertainers on their way to entertain British troops in Korea. She notched up General Mark Clark, US Army Supreme Commander, Korea, Bill Kerr the Australian actor as well as British actress Hy Hazell and singer Carole Carr.

In the 1950's HUMBER was in use as a VIP launch along with four other river class craft in the Colony. By the early 1960's, as a result of a reorganisation of the Hong Kong Garrison, 79 WT Coy was absorbed into 56 Coy RASC, at which time two of the five craft were sold off locally. In 1961 HUMBER was taken in hand at the local Cheoy Lee shipyard where she was completely stripped to her frames and completely rebuilt with teak planking, decking, wheelhouse and cabins. She was re-engined at this time and emerged in her blue hull and white cabins livery. Thus there is very little of the present craft that is original! In July 1965 HUMBER became RCT manned within the re-structured Royal Corps of Transport and became part of 31 Regt RCT. She was latterly attached to 415 Maritime Troop RCT, part of the Gurkha Training Regt. In 1970 HUMBER was at hand and sped to the scene of a ditched aircraft in Hong Kong harbour and continued to assist the local authorities with rescuing survivors. During 1974 she was taken in hand once again for another rebuild, again in teak, however as newer GRP launches were introduced, in 1976 she was returned to UK as deck cargo.

On arrival in UK she was laid up in reserve throughout the late 1970's and only taken out back into service in the early 1980's for use as a Range Safety Craft at Weymouth, and then only for one season. She was finally ruled unstable by the HM Naval Base Portsmouth and was finally withdrawn from active service; - as such at that time she was the last true WWII-type planing boat to retire from MoD service. She was reportedly laid up on chocks near the factory building in the Naval Base.

By 1985 she was on temporary loan to the Junior Leaders Regt at Colerne, Wiltshire, and having had her engines removed, was utilised for static display and induction training on a permanent cradle within the EL Hangar. The HUMBER departed Colerne in 1989 and returned to Southampton, where she was transferred to 17 Port & Maritime Regt, Marchwood. A decision was then made to retain the craft indefinitely as an historic exhibit as well as a restoration exercise. She was subsequently refurbished by HQ Transport Group RCT, and thereafter became the only WD/RASC/RCT veteran to remain in MoD(A) ownership within the newly formed Royal Logistic Corps (RLC). In February 1992 she arrived at 100 Store, Portsmouth Naval Base after a period of lay up at the Gunwharf. On the 14th June 1993 she was moved out of the protective cover of 100 Store and simply laid up outside on the factory apron with a tarpaulin cover. From then on she was unofficially cared for by Maurice and Dave Fricker who took it upon themselves to lovingly restore her to her present condition. In the meantime she was moved into No 6 boathouse in May 1994 as part of the D-Day 50th anniversary commemorations, but although it was intended to be her permanent display home, she was evicted a year later to make way for the Dockyard 500 exhibition. A month later in June 1995 she was placed next to MTB 331 for a public display for the visitors to the Dockyard 500.

In August 1995, any interest by the Portsmouth Naval Base Preservation Trust evaporated and she was craned from the Heritage area back to a site close to the "Square Tower". However this was not her home for long as in May 1996 HUMBER was again moved to a quiet site by the Round Tower Complex. During that year a great deal of work was put into restoring the HUMBER and she was later put on show at IFOS 98 as a "gate guardian" at Unicorn Gate. Her residence in the Naval Base had to come to an end as the site was effectively required for other work, thus HUMBER was reclaimed by her owners and brought by road to the BMPT site in early 2000. She remains controlled by the RLC and is a static exhibit - she has never had her engines refitted.
Humber goes home On the 31st March 2005, we towed RASC Humber on her trailer, from the shed at Marchwood. On the 1st April, her removal trailer arrived and she was transported to her new home, with Mr George Black in Norfolk.	RASC Humber outside the shed at Marchwood, prior to move to Norfolk. 31st March 2005.
RASC Humber on her trailer, with new owner George Black, ready to start the trip to Norfolk, 1st April 2005.	RASC Humber arrives at her new home, Norfolk, 1st April 2005.

Humber being pulled from the barn in which she has lived for the last few years and beginning the journey to the yard