MOTOR GUNBOAT 502
MGB 502 at sea.	MGB 502 and crew in dock.
MOTOR GUNBOAT 502 - DATA
Length	120ft overall
Beam	?
Draught	?
Engines	3 Paxman Ricardo Diesel. Two banks of 8 cylinders in V-12 with element Bosch Fuel Pumps in-line between banks. 7 inch bore, 7 3/4 inch stroke. 1,000H.P. at 1800 R.P.M.
Speed	Up to 34 Knots.
Range	2000 Nautical Miles.
Armament	2 Pounder (Pom-Pom) For'd - Power mounted. Twin .05 Machine Guns power mounted either side of bridge. Twin 20mm Oerlikon power mounted on coach roof midships. Holman Projector midships just aft of mast. This apparatus (of sorts) was designed to hurl a bomb-like misile (sometimes). Twin Vickers .05 guns on stands. Hand operated either side midships. One 6 pounder aft - loaded, laid and trained by hand. 4 Depth Charges either side, aft. 2 C.S.A. chemical smoke apparatus located right at the stern and operated from the bridge.

MGB 503 was the sister boat to MGB 502 and these were 2 of 5 built by Camper Nicholson in Southampton for the Spanish Government before the war.
The hulls lay idle for quite some time. In fact, 2 more were built, making 7 in all. 2 were commissioned for the Royal Navy and 5 were brought into the Merchant Service for use in the blockade run from Gothenberg, Sweden, to Hull. (This became known as the BallBearing Run).
They were engined with the same make of engines as MGB 502 and 503, Paxman Ricardo 16 cylinder. These gave them a speed when loaded of around 22 Knots.

MGB 502 (renumbered 2002 the previous month) sailed from Aberdeen at 0800hrs on May 11, 1945 on a mission to Gothenberg, when she struck a floating mine in the Skagerak. A total of five officers, nineteen ratings and four Ellermen Wilson officers were killed. There were only two survivors - P.O. Motor Mechanic, Thomas H. Sheehan and Able Seaman Norman T. J. Hine D.S.M. who were picked up after three days.

#15 MGB Flotilla consisted of 7 boats
502 Camper Nicholson 503 Camper Nicholson 318 C-Class Fairmile 718 D-Class Fairmile (4 Engines and 4 Props) 36 M.A.S.B. (Motor Anti Submarine Boat) PT 21 U.S.A.| Higgins built boats that PT 72 U.S.A.| worked with us at the latter end of operations.	Members of the 15th Flotilla leave Buckingham Palace with their medals - it was the most highly decorated unit in the Royal Navy during the war.