I remember the RN water taxi service which carried people to Navy Point and to the various ships in the inner (and sometimes also the outer harbour) which were I think crewed by a coxswain and a couple of matelots.
I remember a couple of shall we say "heavy landings" when some RN officer was given a turn at the wheel by the usually Petty Officer cox'n, supposedly to keep his hand in. All I can say is that the more junior the helmsman the more comfortable the trip! Though to be fair conditions could get a bit rough with a tricky crosswind.
I'm not sure of the class of vessel but they were brought in as deck cargo and craned off. They were not combat support boats (CSB's) which I also remember trying to water ski behind, I managed a couple of laps but after only a short time in the water your hands were too cold to grip the handle on the tow rope. The immersion suit was ok for normal ops, but when I fell I made the mistake of holding onto the rope too long and so entered the water head-first and the neck seal was shall we say, compromised.
The result being what felt like several pints of icy sea water but was probably no more than a quart, followed by a strong gasp reflex, a sharp constriction in breathing and then it worked its way down.....
Aged 25 it seemed like fun at the time.
MB