Motor torpedo boat
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Motor Torpedo Boat (MTB) was the name given to fast torpedo boats by the United States Navy, the Royal Norwegian Navy and the Royal Navy.
During World War II the US Navy boats were usually called by their hull classification symbol of "PT" (from Patrol, Torpedo) and are covered under PT boat though the class type was still 'motor torpedo boat'. The capitalised term is generally used for the Royal Navy (RN) boats and abbreviated to MTB. German motor torpedo boats of World war II were called E-boats.
History
MTBs were designed for high speed and manoeuvrability on the water to get close enough to launch their torpedoes at enemy vessels. With next to no armour, the boats relied upon their agility at high speed to avoid being hit by gunfire from bigger ships.
- HMS Cricket, launched in 1906, was the first RN ship to use oil for her boilers. She was initially designated as an "Insect" class coastal destroyer, but was later reclassified as a torpedo boat. The class were nicknamed "Oily Wads" by RN seamen.
- A similar size boat with a different role was the RAF Rescue Launch.
Specification
Many boats were built with the MTB designation.RCN MTB
Specification of a Royal Canadian Navy torpedo boat of the 29th MTB Flotilla. Originally designed as Motor Gun Boats (MGBs), they were redesignated as Motor Torpedo Boats.
- Manufacturer: British Power Boats, Hythe
- Displacement: 55 tons
- Overall length: 72 ft 6 inches
- Breadth: 20 ft 7 inches
- Draught: 5 ft 8 inches
- Full Speed: 38 to 41 knots
- Armament:
- *6 pdr gun,
- *Two Torpedo tubes,
- *.303 or .50 MG,
- *20 or 40 mm Oerlikon cannon
- Powerplant - 3 Rolls-Royce or Packard V-12 Supercharged
- Power - 1250 hp
- Range - 140 miles while cruising at 25 knots
Vosper Private Venture Boat
Designed by Commander Peter Du Cane CBE, the Managing Director of Vosper Ltd, in 1936. She was completed and launched in 1937, she was bought by the Admiralty and taken into service with the Royal Navy as MTB 102.
- Length: 68 ft
- Beam: 14 ft 9 in
- Draft: 3 ft 9 in
- Powerplant: 3 Isotta Fraschini 57-litre petrol engines
- Power: 3300 hp.
- Speed 48 knots (light), 43 knots (loaded and armed)
- crew: 2 officers, 10 men.
- Armament:
- *Two 21-inch torpedo tubes (depth-charges, machine guns and the Swiss made Oerlikon 20 mm cannon were trialled on her)
Vosper Types 1 & 2
Between 1943 and 1945 two Vosper designs appearedVosper Type I
- Length: 73 ft (22 m)
- Engine: 3 Packard engines for a total of 4200 hp
- Speed: 40 kt
- Range: 470 nm at 20 kt
- Displacement: 47 t
- Armament:
- *Four 18-inch Torpedo
- *20 mm Oerlikon,
- *Two 0.303 Vickers MG, (optionally two 0.5 Vickers MG)
- Crew: 13
Vosper Type IIThis design remained in use after the war.
- Length 73 ft (22 m)
- Engine 4200 hp
- Speed 40 kt
- Range 480 nm at 20 kt
- Displacement 49 t
- Armament
- *Two 18-inch Torpedo
- *QF 6 pdr Mark IIA (57 mm)*,
- *20 mm Oerlikon,
- *Two 0.303 Vickers MG
- Crew 13
References
- "British Motor Torpedo Boat 1939–45" by Angus Konstam, Osprey, 2003, ISBN 1841765007
- "Dog Boats at War: A History of the Operations of the Royal Navy d Class Fairmile Motor Torpedo Boats and Motor Gunboats 1939-1945" by L. C. Reynolds and Lord Lewin,Sutton Pubns Inc, 2000, ISBN 0750924543
External links
- http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/static/pages/3540.html (Dead Link)
- [A Short History of HMS St Christopher]
- http://www.bmpt.org.uk/index.htm - British Military Powerboat Trust
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