ORDERED: 29/04/41.
LAID DOWN: 02/09/41.
COMMISSIONED: 14/04/42.
COMPLETED: 17/04/42, BY SOLENT SHIPYARD, SARISBURY GREEN,        
                                           HANTS. (ON THE RIVER HAMBLE).
DISPOSAL: TO FELIXTOWE (HMS BEEHIVE) 27/8/45, THEN PAID OFF
                      INTO RESERVE AT POOLE HARBOUR.** (OCT'45)

TYPE: MOTOR LAUNCH. FITTED WITH A HALF PATTERN HEDGEHOG A/S
            MORTAR, ON FOCS'L. ONE 3 POUNDER Mk V FOR'ARD. SINGLE
            OERLIKON 20mm CANNONS AFT AND AMIDSHIPS. 2 LEWIS GUNS.
            8 DEPTH CHARGES AFT.

UNITS: UNDERWATER WEAPONS RESEARCH ESTABLISHMENT. (ANTI-
              SUBMARINE TRIALS UNIT).

BASED: PORTSMOUTH (EQUIPPING PORT), OCT'41.
               TOBERMORAY / FARLIE, APR'42 - JUN'43.
               ARDRISHAIG (HMS SEAHAWK), JUN'44.
               CAMPBLETOWN, NOV'44 - JUL'45
               XFERD TO NORE COMMAND JUL / AUG'45.(ALTHOUGH NOTED
               AS STILL IN THE CLYDE AREA).
-------------------------------------
** Route taken by ML 472 to reserve at Poole:
Campbletown, Jul'45 - Loch Linnhe (Fort William) - Loch Lochy - Caledonian Canal-
- Loch Ness (Inverness) - Buckie (night stop) - Newbiggin By The Sea (night stop, 
{a crew members home town}) - Felixtowe, 27/8/45 (2 day stopover) - Poole Harbour. Disposal Oct'45.




The initial photo of ML 472 was given to me by the son of  Cecil John Vivian Evitt, Commanding Officer of ML 427 from 08/03/1944 to ?/06/1944.
The remaining photo gallery is by kind courtesy of Robert Rushton son of William Rushton the MM on 472 from Oct 1944 until Aug 1945. I have also included an edited copy of emails describing the photos.
AA
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
 
       AA             Possibly taken Dec'44 on Holy Loch after refit at Robinson's Yard.
       A                Taken in Kilbrannan Sound.
      B                Taken on the slip at Robinson's Yard, Sandbank, Holy Loch Dec'44.
       C                Crew photo skipper Lt. Kester in centre. Other names unknown.
       D                Ships bell, rear Oerlikon and mascot.
       E                Skipper Lt. Kester.
       F                Cox, name unknown on left, my father William Rushton MM to right.
       G                The motley crew, names unknown.
      H                Crew collecting water, my father on left, possibly on isle of Islay.
      I                "I see no ships".

.
 
CLICK ON IMAGE FOR FULL SIZE
    
       J & K        Engine room of ML472.
      L                Was obtained from Geofrey Hudson the Coastal Forces historian. You can see on
                         this photo and on some of the others the launching tubes for the Hedgehog in
                        front of the wheelhouse.My father remembers someone also having to remove all
                        light bulbs as they tended to shatter when it was fired.

       M                Shows the launch dressed for VJ day at Colonsay in the Inner Hebrides.
       N                Shows the launch in Kilbrannan Sound where most of the photos were taken by my
                          father.
       O                Location unknown.

The following story is taken from the book,
Allied Coastal Forces Of WWII. John Lambert & Al Ross ©
By chance no one had thought of the effect on an ML of attacking a shallow target, only 20-30ft deep, with hedgehog bombs - which explode on contact. A technique had been worked out, by eye and stopwatch, without using asdic.
Commodore Stephenson, who had seen the report, leapt at the error and told Fairlie that he intended to find out, and that he would organise it. The charts were examined to find a flat rock area at a depth of 20ft or so, the nearest being south of Canna Island.
On a hot summer's day, 472 set off with Q 453 as safety vessel and observer. On arrival, several lines of armed lead soundings were made to confirm the data on the chart. The bottom was rock and kept clear by sluicing tidal streams, and a dan buoy was laid in position to simulate the spot where the target was to be. This buoy attracted a small gaggle of ducks on the glassy water. As the boat, travelling at close on 20 knots, roared up, the ducks were still swimming around, but as the hedgehog fired and the projectiles soared upwards, the now terrified ducks flew off as the cascading V of bombs came down . . . all except one duck, which dived. There was a hell of a bang as the bombs hit the bottom, half a cable ahead. The lower deck had been cleared earlier, but everyone was shaken up severely. Then ... up in the air, turning over and over, went the poor old duck. The ML had passed the test and a boat was dropped to recover the dan, and the duck. It was discovered that, apart from a tuft of feathers round the Parson's Nose, the bird was completely bald and very seriously dead.