Founded by
Lieutenant Roger Courtney with the motto '
Not by Strength, By Guile' in 1941, the
Special Boat Squadron, or SBS, is one of the
UK's
elite fighting units.
Based at the Naval Port in Poole, Dorset, the SBS is basically a waterborne version of the Army and RAF's SAS, the sister service with whom they are in constant competition. Initially known as SBS 101 Troop, where SBS stood for Special Boat Squadron, the current SBS regiment consists of around 250 members, and is organised into three squadrons. C Squadron is responsible for swimming and canoe operations. M Squadron runs the anti-terrorist and shipboard operations, and also contains a small Black Group, who specialise in counter-terrorism that uses helicopter borne assaults, and S Squadron specialises in small water borne craft and minibsub insertions and operations.
The SBS exclusively recruit from the Royal Marines. This gives rise to their claims that they are the better equipped of the two services, as the Royal Marines have the longest period of basic training of any regiment in the world, and combined with the intensive water-based work on top of the advanced small arms, explosives and escape and evasion training the SAS recieve, as well as their far lower public profile, mean that the SBS can perform operation with far fewer people watching their movements.