Coastal craft

[sukhe_bator (Neil)]

I don't know if my family history has any salt-water in their veins but I keep eyeing up the Naval Ships crew from the Colonial range (22/61) and wondering what I could potentially do with them. After the success of my steam picket boat, ship's boat conversions and free form carved boats for my MexRev I'm casting about for ideas for some kind of small steam gun/patrol boat around 6" to 8" long. The trouble is most conventional 'gunboats' are in the 150 foot plus bracket. Even the lovely model paddle steamer 'Albion' is a little too large at 12" x 5". Something with a funnel, open bridge, canvas awnings and at least 1 3pdr Hotchkiss deck gun and some MGs would be nice... possibly a civilian boat pressed into defensive duties...
I see my old Royal Armouries mate Angus Konstam has been busy publishing on similar nautical topics on the Nile, WW1 and Yangtse gunboats... I guess I'll be hitting the bookshops soon...

[sukhe_bator (Neil)]

It just so happens the US Navy created a category 'Section Patrol' of smaller civilian craft and motor boats sequestered for war service c.1916 which have all kinds of types and designs of craft
http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/17idx.htm
I am hopeful of finding a craft built c.1900-1912 that I can use as a design for a freelance harbour patrol or revenue cutter. Typically though they seem to all follow the similar pattern of armament with a deck mounted 3pdr and an MG...