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WORLD WAR 1 at SEA   A CANADIAN LIEUTENANT RNVR in MOTOR LAUNCHES 1914-19, Part 2 of  2   Dedicated to the 6,000 men who served in Motor Launches

Lt John R Hunter RNVR

After serving on ML.81, John Hunter took command of ML.211 on 8 June 1917 and remained her commander until 9 January 1919 when he was demobilized and returned to civilian life   At the time the photos were taken, Andy's father would have been 23 or 24 years of age. Naval tradition is such that he would have been referred to as "The Old Man"!   In this time he took many photographs of the boat, both interior and exterior, as well as photos of other ML's in his flotilla. As far as Andy knows, 211 was engaged in patrol work in the English Channel for the duration.   These photographs were mounted in an album during the 1930's with explanatory notes. Andy Hunter, who helped compile the album with his father, still has it in his possession   John Hunter built a "very fine model replica" of his boat - 211. The model has suffered some damage over the years but Andy Hunter and his son have plans to refurbish it in the near future.       Captain John Hunter OBE RCNVR, died in 1971   John Hunter joined the RCNVR in 1940 at he age of 48. He served mostly in shore establishments, had a brief tour in a Lend Lease Destroyer, and was posted to an RCN manning depot in Greenock, Scotland which was named HMCS Niobe (after the Canadian Navy's first ship). He became the CO of Niobe in early 1944, was promoted to the rank of Captain and awarded the OBE for his contribution there. After WW2, he returned again to civilian life.       Andy Hunter (below) attended the Royal Canadian Naval College at Royal Roads, British Columbia from September 1944 on a two year officer training course. Although the war ended after their first year at Royal Roads, most of the cadets completed their two years. Quite by coincidence, it turned out that the fathers of two of his classmates at RCNC had also been skippers of MLs in WWI.   Midshipman Andy Hunter on HMCS Uganda, January 1947, aged 20   He then served for the better part of a year in the RCN as a Midshipman in HMCS Uganda, which had been sold to the Canadian Navy after serving in the Mediterranean with the Royal Navy, for part of which time she was Admiral Cunningham's flagship I believe. He did not see active service during the war, and in 1947 entered University in London, Ontario, and graduated as a Medical Doctor in 1953.   Andy, now retired and his wife Cynthia in Canada 2004           If you can identify any of the ports or coastline, please email Gordon Smith       No.17 - "Captured from Russia by the Japs this gun was borrowed by the Admiralty and issued to us. It would not work". Believed to be a 3-pounder which replaced the original 13-pounder in most ML's     No.18 - "We sight something".       No.19 - ML211 .... "and goes on the slip for rub down"       No.20 - "Meet some of the crew". Andy Hunter - "probably .... of ML 211"           No.21 - "81 on her passage south"       No.22 - "We meet a friend - 531, Dells' ship". Andy Hunter - "'Dell' was a friend of my fathers. Dells' son was a classmate of mine at the Royal Canadian Naval College 1944-46"         No.23 - "(Number removed) goes on the ways to have her prop straightened"     No.24 - ML285 "What is the Navy doing?"         No.25 - ML211 ".... and 81 together alongside 'Onyx'. It wasn't long before they were hard to tell apart".   HMS Onyx is believed to be the partly-boarded vessel to left with one funnel and four ventilators showing, ex-torpedo gunboat, 810t, launched 1892, submarine depot ship, mainly Devonport 1907-16, Torbay 1917-18, W/T training ship Devonport Jan-Sept 1918, Auxiliary Patrol depot ship Torbay Sept 1918-Feb 1919     No.26 - "Drifting with hydrophone down. Scotty goes up the mast to adjust the wireless and takes a snap" Andy Hunter - "That is my father at left on the foc'sle of ML211         No.27 - ML369 "Ups"     No.28 - "And downs". Another ML is on her port beam         No.29 - "13 pounder at the moment of firing with gun recoiled twenty-seven inches". The original ex-Army gun mounted on all ML's until replaced on most by the 3-pounder     No.30 - ML211; "ARMISTICE. Refit at private yard Kingswier (Kingswear opposite Dartmouth). Dell joins us and we leave for Devonport with volunteer crew to go minesweeping"         No.31 - "January 20th., 1919 Devonport. UNEXPECTEDLY RELIEVED OF COMMAND. A last look at the bridge"     No.32 - "Crew of ML211". Andy Hunter - "My father is in the middle of the front row. The man to his right - second-in-command - is Lieutenant Douglas Scott RNVR from Victoria, BC. The others are not identified"

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