A replica of a boat used by spies for daring rescues during World War Two has been built by a team of enthusiasts over the last year and a half.
The 8m (25ft) boat was used by spies from the Special Operations Executive (SOE) to secretly land in France to deliver supplies and rescue downed airmen during the war.
The maritime branch of the network had a base on the Helford River in Cornwall and the SN2 boat was designed to get through surf on the beaches of Brittany in northern France.
After being launched in Falmouth harbour on Friday the replica will be a central part of a new display at the National Maritime Museum remembering Cornwall’s links to the SOE later this year.
The boats were painted grey to avoid being detected by German sentry guards [BBC]
Bob White from the museum has been overseeing the project.
He said: “They were towed to within a mile of the coast on moonless winter nights and then rowed to the beaches, where they would hide the supplies like weapons and explosives and then get out of there quick.
“Later the French resistance would be informed there were packages waiting for them by coded BBC messages.”
The surfboats were double-ended so they could switch rowing position and get off the beaches more easily.
The boat was codenamed the SN2 and it’s most celebrated mission was on Christmas day 1943 when one of the vessels dropped off supplies and collected 16 Allied airmen, five French agents and six sailors in two trips.
Howard Rendle from Port Navas on the Helford skippered a crew of six, to make two trips ashore near Île Tariec, Brittany, and successfully brought off all passengers.
Bob White has overseen the construction of the vessel using wartime blueprints [BBC]
Steve Bishop and Pat Howard are volunteers at the museum who have been helping with the construction of the SN2 replica.
Howard said: “I’ve always loved stories about the adventures of the SOE and the local connection really makes it fascinating to me.”
Bishop added: “The story about the mission on Christmas day is so exciting. They need it dark, they want silence there’s no engine and the grey colour is part of its disguise against the night sky… we feel like the people aboard were actual James Bonds.
“They picked up 18 guys from the shore then they had to go back for a second trip to the beach to pick up the rest and the story goes that they got back in time for Christmas dinner.”
‘Cutting-edge technology’
National Maritime Museum Cornwall said: “The design features an innovative cold-moulded, double diagonal construction that was cutting-edge technology for its time.
“This innovative building style was made possible by the development of new adhesives and used in both boat and aircraft construction of the time, to produce lightweight and extremely rigid forms.”
The plan is to carry out sea trials for the “unusual” vessel replica, and recreate original testing that was carried out at Praa Sands in August 1943, the museum said.
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