PT Boats

Very little has been said about the motor torpedo boats. Were they an effective weapon, or were they just an experiment in mediocraty?

 

i believe the r.a.f used them succesfully during the battle of britain,picking up pilots in the drink.i am not privy to specs,armament etc though.the american ones were bigger i believe.one of them rescued americas gen douglas macarther and his family from the philipines,and took them to australia.yours,4th wilts.

 

i think american pt boats were used effectively in the night action at the surigau straits,during the leyte landings,where amongst other ships,their torpedoes damaged and may have sank several large japanese surface units.yours,4th wilts.

 

i believe.one of them rescued americas gen douglas macarther and his family from the philipines,and took them to australia.yours,4th wilts.

Right, and MacArthur arrived at liberation ceremonies in Tacloban, Leyte, aboard PT-525 skippered by Lt. Alexander Wells.

JT

 

do we know if the rescuer,or indeed the pt boat that rescued mcarther and his family survived the war.was it the same pt boat that took him to the celibrations above.yours,4th,wilts.

 

PT boats, MTB's, even S-Boats proved marginally useful as naval combatant vessels. There are several reasons for this.
First, they are very lively platforms in almost any kind of sea and at speed. This means that their weapons, none of which are stabilized or director controlled, are little more than poorly aimed bullet hoses generally firing at other moving targets.
Their torpedo systems can be effective in the hands of a skilled crew. But, most crews had limited training in effectively laying out a torpedo attack. To compound this, most of the boats had only the most rudimentary aiming system to allow setting the torpedo run and spread. On top of this, most boats could only launch 2 to 4 torpedoes at most, more commonly just 2. This gives a very small spread.
Since the boats could hardly be expected to coordinate a torpedo attack a useful spread between boats rarely existed either.
The best example of this ineffectiveness is probably Suigaro Straight in the Philippines where nearly 100 PT boats launched over 200 torpedoes against a Japanese taskforce including two battleships yet failed to score a single hit. German S-Boats with crews who were better trained in torpedo attacks occasionally made spectacular scores but these too were very much the exception.
Where the MTB excelled was as a scout and search and rescue craft. In these roles they saved many an aviator and gave other naval forces warning about enemy naval forces.
They also proved to a degree capable of dealing with coastal small craft in some situations. Here, they were limited by the degree to which such craft could defend themselves and were escorted. For example, US and British MTBs in the Mediterrainian proved relatively incapable of engaging German MFPs along the coast of Italy. The MFP was too shallow draft to be torpedoed and was stable enough, armored enough and well armed enough (particularly the Artillerie version carrying several 8.8cm guns) that they could give far better than they got in a gun duel. The result was that Allied torpedo boats quickly learned to generally avoid fighting these unless supported by larger naval vessels.

 

We all know that the U.S. used PT boats inthe pacific. The German's ha E-boats. Were these similar purpose types of craft? What did they look like?
Did the British employ a version of these as well? Does ayone know of any studies that were done regarding the effectiveness of these boats? There's a certain glamour attached to the boats, but did the idea actually prove to be worth the cost? I'd read that in the case of the American PT boats the losses were quite high in relationship to the damage inflicted.

 

I am assuming that they were similar for function but the S-Booten also laid mines throughout the channel on the shores of England, in the Med and in the Baltic and Back Seas. there are comparisons of course to the arms of mg/cannon for both as well as the English MTB's. Must say the S-booten were an edge faster than the Allies and Soviet versions of Torpedo boats, and the KM S-boots were feared till the wars end. In fact through the many years it has been proven for the German Kriegsmarine arm that the U-boots and the S-booten arm were the only boats really worth their weight in gold.



and another from the 8th S-bootflottille serving on the Ost front in the Baltic

 

another shot for comparison purposes to other Allied small boats

 

another shot for comparison purposes to other Allied small boats


Thanks E,
Jolly good of you. These certainly appear to be more heavily armed and armored then the American versions which were made of wood, I believe and expeienced a lot of engine problems (probably not uncommon given conditions of us.)

 

you are very welcome, more coming ..........

 

A little more on the PT boat

PT Boats, Torpedo Boats

 

There were many others.

The high Speed Launches that patroled the channel picking up ditched pilots.

Air Sea Rescue And Marine Craft Section Club

I am researching HSL 108 from Goreleston that was captured during a failed airsea rescue attempt on 1st/2nd July 1941.

The launch was recovered and taken to Borkum and then Wilhelmshaven from which point, l believe that it was renamed 'Sengwarden' as part of 1./Sperrbecher Flottilla.

During the war, HSL was seen in a German magazine by one of the surviving launch crew in German colors being used to pick up survivors from the 'Lobster pot' survival buoys along the Dutch coast between Wilhelshaven and Flushing (Vlissingen).

If anyone can help, please let me know.

Regards,

Nick

 

I could be mistaken about this but on american PT's weren't there two styles of deploying the torpedo? One was the familiar tube launcher and I thought that there was also a roll off rack version as well. The ones I'm familiar with had I believe twin Bofors and I think a 50 caliber machine gun for armament. The german and british versions seem to be more heavily armed and not as cheaply constructed. Does anyone know what the top speed for these boats was?

 

go through this site very slowly for the KM S-boots

PRINZ EUGEN.com - the Kriegsmarine Online Photo Archive

enjoy D.K.'s site he has worked hard on it

 

The number of E-boats employed against shipping in UK home waters during the period July 1941 and February 1943 was seldom more that twenty, but during this period they managed to sink by torpedo attack, forty-four ships totalling 75,484 gross tons. The fatal casualties among E-boats at this time numbered three, none due to air attack.

S.41 on 19 November 1941 - Foundered in tow after action with British M.T.Bs.
S-53 on 19 February 1942 - Foundered after collision with another E-boat.
S-111 on 14 March 1942 - Sunk in action with British M.T.Bs.

 

Peter are you quoting from official S-Boot Flottille histories via BA/MA RM listings at Freiburg or another German KM source ? I say this is because there were at least 3 Flottilles operating off the English coast line with more than 20 boats though it would be fool hardy to put all your boats into one area.

Case in point is the 5th S-Flottille with 30 Boots at it's disposal

 

Erich,

My source is AIR41/47

The RAF Narrative. The RAF in the Maritime War. Volume III. The Atlantic and Home Waters. July 1941 to February 1943.