Thread by @SeaSpitfires

#OTD (or night) 100 years ago, occurred perhaps the greatest success of the humble 40 ft Coastal Motor Boat. Defying the orders of his superiors, Lieutenant August Agar and his crew, Sub-Lt John Hampsheir and Chief Motor Mechanic Hugh Beeley, sank the Russian cruiser Oleg. 1/7

Leaving their secret mooring on the Finnish coast at 10.30pm, the crew steered CMB 4 – a diminutive 5 ton Thornycroft boat – south, through a screen of destroyers and close to the forts defending the Russian navy base at Kronstadt. 2/7

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Slowly, CMB 4 crept closer to the Oleg, a Russian cruiser that had been bombarding White Russian positions at Krasnaya Gorka. As the crew readied their single torpedo disaster struck, when the firing charge detonated prematurely. Fortunately the torpedo wasn't released. 3/7

For 20 nerve wracking minutes the boat drifted silently whilst the crew replaced the charge. With everything in place, Agar opened up CMB 4’s throttles and they raced towards the Oleg, dropping the torpedo over the stern at 5 past midnight. 4/7

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As CMB 4 roared past the nearby destroyers and out to open water, the torpedo struck the 7,000 ton Oleg amidships, throwing up a high column of flame and water. Slowly she settled onto the seabed, with the loss of 5 lives. 5/7

For sinking a ship 1,500 times their size, Agar was awarded a VC (which for political reasons could not initially be publicly explained, causing it to be known as the Mystery VC), Hampsheir received a DSC and Beeley a Conspicuous Gallantry Medal. 6/7

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Incredibly, CMB 4 has survived the past 102 years since her launch in 1916. After decades on display at Thornycroft’s yard in London she was restored and has most recently been on display at Duxford. Will she be there much longer? Watch this space... 7/7