The Secret Helford River Spy Boat: Reviving a WW2 Hero

A New Boat Build in our Workshop

A remarkable piece of local maritime history is coming to life in our Museum boatbuilding workshop. Under the direction of Bob White, Boat Collection Manager, our workshop volunteer team are carefully crafting a replica of a World War II boat with an extraordinary secret mission…

Test launching an SOE boat. National Archives HS 7/23 SOE Naval Section

During the dark days of World War II, the Helford River was a critical launching point for daring Special Operations Executive (SOE) missions into occupied France. Brave operatives would navigate small boats to within a kilometre of enemy coastlines, before being rowed ashore to inhospitable beaches, delivering crucial supplies to the French Resistance.

Boat Collection Manager, Bob White, Lofting the S.N.2 plans in the Museum workshop.

In the latter half 1942, Lt. Cmdr. Nigel Warington-Smyth of Naval Intelligence in Falmouth, undertook ‘Operation Slide Rule’, to test a variety of hull shapes suitable for rowing ashore in surf. As part of this process, he drew up two new designs, the S.N.1 and S.N.2.

The replica in our workshop is being built using original S.N.2 plans that were discovered at the National Maritime Museum Greenwich. The design features an innovative cold-moulded, double diagonal construction that was cutting-edge technology for its time. This innovative building style was made possible by the development of new adhesives and used in both boat and aircraft construction of the time, to produce lightweight and extremely rigid forms.

Boat Collection Manager, Bob White, Lofting the S.N.2 plans in the Museum workshop.

Pass by the boatbuilding workshop in the Museum on Wednesdays to see the progress of the Helford Spy Boat build as it moves from the initial lofting, the process of drawing a boat full-size before it is built, to the construction itself.

Visitors can look forward to seeing the completed historic vessel, and learning more about the secret wartime activities of the Helford River, in a special exhibition planned for spring 2026.

In the meantime, discover more about the Helford River and SOE missions that took place in this Maritime Views article Helford and the SOE.

Thanks to Museum volunteer Phil Clarke who first brought the story of this boat to our attention. Research undertaken by the late Tony Pawlyn, and continued by Jonathan Griffin, has unearthed a wealth of information relating to the secret wartime activity on the Helford which will feature in the exhibition.