Jul 3, 2026 · 1 hr 18 min · 17 segments
Welcome back to Part 2 of our conversation with Commodore (Retd) Richard Farrington CBE on The Sailing Podcast (Episode 20). In this final half, Richard steps into his role with the Coastal Forces…
Richard FarringtonGuestTheo StockerHostSo, um, shall we just talk a little bit about, um, what Coastal Forces were and what-
I think the, the, the thing to think about is, is, um, you know, why not aircraft carriers and, and submarines and destroyers and battleships? And of course, the answer is that in confined waters, those ships are very vulnerable, and they can't operate properly, and the water's too shallow, the submarines can't dive, and, uh, the aircraft carriers need room to launch and recover aircraft, and they're big targets.
So, uh, the Battle of the Narrow Seas, uh, was basically keeping, uh, the English Channel, uh, open.
And once, uh, France fell, uh, then, uh, the Germans were within 20 miles-
The Germans, after, after the First World War and the Treaty of Versailles, weren't allowed to build big ships, so they developed a Schnellboot-
... uh, which were fast patrol boats, were, were, were heavily armed, uh, motor torpedo boats with serious guns, and they were, they were diesel-powered.
So, um, shall we just talk a little bit about, um, what Coastal Forces were and what-
I think the, the, the thing to think about is, is, um, you know, why not aircraft carriers and, and submarines and destroyers and battleships? And of course, the answer is that in confined waters, those ships are very vulnerable, and they can't operate properly, and the water's too shallow, the submarines can't dive, and, uh, the aircraft carriers need room to launch and recover aircraft, and they're big targets.
So, uh, the Battle of the Narrow Seas, uh, was basically keeping, uh, the English Channel, uh, open.
And once, uh, France fell, uh, then, uh, the Germans were within 20 miles-
The Germans, after, after the First World War and the Treaty of Versailles, weren't allowed to build big ships, so they developed a Schnellboot-
... uh, which were fast patrol boats, were, were, were heavily armed, uh, motor torpedo boats with serious guns, and they were, they were diesel-powered.
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