ROYAL NAVY SOUTH ATLANTIC COMMAND - ROYAL NAVY M
27)ML 1016 (MOTOR LAUNCH)
Image by A. I.
During World War II, Motor Launch 1016 (ML 1016) was a 72-foot Harbour Defence Motor Launch (HDML) commissioned by the British Royal Navy. Much like its sister ships, it was assigned to the 104th Motor Launch Flotilla. Alongside ML 1006, ML 1016 was explicitly stationed at the strategic naval hub of Freetown, Sierra Leone, to anchor local defenses under the West Africa Command.
As an HDML designed specifically for localized seaward defense and littoral warfare, ML 1016's specific operations and capabilities at Freetown included:
Inshore Anti-Submarine Protection: Armed with depth charges and fitted with basic sonar (Asdic) capabilities, ML 1016 regularly swept the shallow channels, coastlines, and rivers around Sierra Leone to detect and deter German U-boats lurking near the continent.
Guarding the Freetown Convoy Anchorage: Freetown featured a massive natural harbor that served as one of the most critical mid-ocean staging grounds for global Allied merchant convoys. ML 1016 acted as a physical barrier against sabotage, covert minelayers, or surprise sub-surface raids targeting vulnerable ships while they refueled or organized.
Coastal Convoy Routing: While too small for deep Atlantic crossings, the vessel escorted small coastal supply convoys running between Freetown, Bathurst (Gambia), and Takoradi (Ghana).
Inter-Port Movements and Survivor Rescue: Because of the flexibility of the 104th Flotilla, these motor launches were heavily integrated into regional actions. For instance, records show ML 1016 occasionally operating down the coast toward Nigeria; in March 1944, ML 1016 notably assisted in rescuing and landing the 47 survivors of the British steam tanker Matadian at Lagos after it was torpedoed by the German submarine U-66.
The rescue of the crew from the British steam tanker Matadian on March 21, 1944, is a notable action illustrating how interconnected the small boat flotillas were along the West African coast. The image above an impressive rendition on the task of rescuing of survivors.
The Sinking of the Matadian
The Matadian was a 4,275-ton cargo vessel operating unescorted under Master Cyril Gordon Silwyn Shorter. She was loaded with valuable wartime commodities (primarily palm oil) when she was spotted southeast of Lagos, Nigeria, by the German Type IXC U-boat U-66.
U-66—commanded at the time by Oberleutnant zur See Heinrich Seehausen—fired a torpedo spread, striking and rapidly sinking the merchant tanker.
The Multi-Stage Rescue
Fortunately, because of the proximity to the key Nigerian port, regional British naval assets responded immediately:
Initial Extraction: The British motor launch HMS ML 282, commanded by Sub-Lieutenant D.R. Pearson, arrived swiftly at the scene of the wreckage. They managed to successfully fish all 47 men out of the water. This included the Master, 38 crew members, and 8 naval gunners.
The Hand-off to ML 1016: To ensure the survivors received fast medical attention while allowing active patrol vessels to stay on the hunt, the 47 survivors were transferred over to your harbor defense motor launch, HMS ML 1016.
Safe Return: ML 1016 brought the exhausted crew safely into the port of Lagos, where they were landed without any reported fatalities.
The Aftermath for U-66
The swift action of the Allied motor launches did more than just save lives. Following the sinking of the Matadian, the local British patrol craft fiercely engaged U-66. The defensive counter-attack was so intense that the German submarine was forced to bottom out in the coastal mud to hide from sonar sweeps and elude the depth charge attacks. Though U-66 survived that specific afternoon, it would be hunted down and permanently sunk by Allied forces less than two months later near the Cape Verde
