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The Admiralty representative at the 38ft (41ft loa) Hickman Sea Sled demonstration in Boston, Mass on 5 January 1916 was Lieutenant G. C. E. Hampden (attached is a drawing I did of this craft). During the demonstration, the boat reached sustained 37 mph through whitecaps and rain squalls, with four 185hp eight-cylinder Van Blerk engines powering four surface piercing propellers. Not actually equipped with the Mark VII Bliss-Levett 18" torpedo (private craft built by Murray & Tregurtha), she was loaded with weight in the bow, simulating a single loaded bow tube. She had an internal steel frame with four lift points that allowed a fully loaded boat to be lifted in and out of the water by a mother ship in the same manner as the old 2nd class TBs. Sea Sleds, properly powered, would easily plane and draw very little water when coupled with the surface piercing propellers. Comparison studies done by George Crouch showed that sea sleds were more efficient through the water compared to other high speed craft. Big issue was the slower turning and tendency to "trip" in turns, so Hickman later came up with the beveled chine shortly after WW1. And then there is the whole "hydroplane" version for launching aircraft, another story. By no means a perfect craft, in my opinion she is worthy of mention when it comes to the development of early high speed motor torpedo boats. [ATTACH=full]714033[/ATTACH]