I was in the RAF stationed at Mountbatten in 1961/2 and there were a number of RTTL's there then. This was the main base for the Marine section of the RAF and was an operational station and the Maintenance Unit for the section after the closure of Calshot. The only significant job they did was target towing for the Shakletons from St Mawgan, virtually all rescue being done by helicopters at that time. I can assure you that none of the boats had names and the numbers were painted large enough not to be missed. As far as I can remember there were about 5 to 7 RTTLs stationed there, one of which had an aluminium hull which did not spend much time in the water and one old one that was powered by 3 Napier Lions, all the others had twin Roll Royce Merlin derivatives.

In addition to the RTTLs there were a number of pinnances and RSLs.

Nasraf