At the beginning of WW2, the Admiralty had Morgan Giles Limited in Teignmouth, Devon, on a list of companies capable of carrying out new construction and repair work to naval craft.
Motor Torpedo Boat (MTB) 240 Morgan Giles - The Teign Heritage archives
Just before the outbreak of war, a new shed was built on an old site that had been used in Mansfield's time for hauling up trading vessels. This was large enough to take vessels of 100ft. Later in the war, the old building at the south end of the yard was pulled down and another large shed erected with an upper floor where smaller boats could be built.
The local house 'Misterton' was taken over for offices including the drawing offices.
Over 100 Admiralty craft were built at the Morgan Giles yard during WW2 and many more were repaired and refitted. For a period over 150 hands were employed to assist the war effort. It is appropriate to pay tribute to the efforts of all the men and women who worked at Morgan Giles during the war years achieving far higher production than could ever have been achieved in peacetime while maintaining a very high standard of workmanship.
During the WW2, Morgan Giles was given an order to build four Harbour Defence Motor Launches (HDML). These were 72ft Launches intended for inshore work but were so successful that they were used in all operational areas during the war.
HL 1039 from HMS Kimberly - The Teign Heritage archives
Two HDML’s were captured by the Germans in 1942, as noted above ML 1039 was one of these and the other was ML 1069. One of these Launches is shown in the photo on 8th May 1945 when the Commander of the German Forces, Major General Wagner and two of his staff officers went aboard HMS Kimberly to surrender the German forces in the Dodecanese. This could well be ML 1039.
