Dear Editor,
I am overseeing the restoration of MA/SB 32, a Type I Air Sea Rescue vessel from World War II.
I read with interest your descriptions of W1 (BNZ, July 2021) – she appears to be, at 64ft and built in 1939, patterned on the same Type 1 British Power Boat Co. design.
We aim to restore MA/SB 32 in the opposite way to W1 – to bring her back to her wartime state. To do this we need the three Power Napier petrol engines (she was engined in a similar way to W1) and a V Drive. We have found two of these engines, one at an Aviation Museum in Scotland and one from W1 at MOTAT in New Zealand (which we may be able to loan), but we need another (or two more with the second as a spare).
So, I’m seeking information on any successors to Norman Allright, who “bought her out of Service” as W1, to find out what happened to the other two engines and the V Drive. Norman replaced the Power Napier engines with two GM diesels which were subsequently swapped out for a single, more powerful diesel.
We are on the trail of those Power Napier engines and, especially the V Drive.
We are planning to bring MA/SB 32 back to wartime spec as a tribute to all the WW2 seamen and aircrews who gave their lives in RN/RAF Air Sea Rescue service.
We have two years before the boat is ready for the engines, so we have time to arrange passage.
Hoping your readers can help.
Peter Horscroft (Trustee and ex G.O. HMS Hubberston with HMNZ ‘Ton’ Class in Borneo 1965). By email.
Any Boating New Zealand readers with information on the whereabouts of W1’s original Power Napier engines can contact Peter by email: horscroftpeter9@gmail.com
