ST 441 – Dean’s Marine

ST 441

These craft were constructed by the British Power Boat Co, Hythe nr Southampton.

They were designed by George Salman as seaplane tenders, running the crews out to moored aircraft and acting as tugs and service craft, As the war progressed and more use was made of land base they became surplus to requirements.

These small handy craft were held by many to be superb sea craft and often handled bad weather that would have taxed far larger craft.

Power was supplied by 2 x 130 hp Perkins s6m diesel engines giving a speed of 23 knots and were constructed between 1941 -1944 The purpose of these small air sea rescue launches was to provide a comprehensive cover of the waters around the coats and to this end it was necessary to use some of the smaller tidal harbours.

It was almost impossible to use any of the larger High Speed craft for the purpose, and as there were a large number of seaplane tenders, usually the 41ft 6″ power boat type these were taken up as A.S.R.s and known as air sea rescue seaplane tenders.
Some of the harbours these craft worked from were Montrose, Littlehampton, Sheerness, and Lyme Regis.
Some of the notable rescues by these small craft such as no 1515 operating out of Lyme Regis picked up 26 paratroops from Lyme Bay on D day and 441 is know to have rescued a complete crew of a Fortress bomber and 444 the crew of a Lancaster who were located by light signals.

The craft represented by this model is one of the only surviving types of the launch still in its original condition.
Details of the kit Scale 1/24 Length 523mm Beam 153mm Sailing weight 1.05kg The hull of this model is moulded in lightweight glassfibre to give superb handling on the water, the deck is from 1.5mm LASER CUT plastic as is the after well and cabin internals.
The complete superstructure, nicad boxes and the motor/ prop shaft seating are in vacuformed plastic to give lightweight and fast assembly, to complement this most attractive model a full set of fittings is included along with propeller shaft, tube and rudder, and to add the finishing touch the planked deck areas are in pre-printed cast vinyl.

To assist in the construction a FULL SIZE PLAN is provided along with a complete set of comprehensive instructions including many digital pictures, plus a set of decals to give a colorful finished model. As in all of the Deans range, the on the water performance is outstanding.