MAS 555
Contents
Description
The Velocissimo Classe 500, MAS 555 is a rank I Italian motor torpedo boat with a battle rating of 1.0 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update "Starfighters".
General info
Survivability and armour
The MAS 555, it’s hull is protected only by 40 mm of the finest italian wood with the superstructure featuring 15 mm of wood. It does not have any kind of external or internal armor this means that the ship is more vulnerable to enemy munition.
The survival of the MAS 555 in general is low because the ship only has 13 crew members, which makes it a very easy target to destroy in combat!
while comparable options to the MAS 555 are the LS 3, G-5, PT-6 and other early ships, they instead have more survivability and resist more shots.
Mobility
The MAS 555 is a very fast ship up to 80km/h in RB, 112 km/h AB. It is very maneuverable, this makes it very fast and agile.
Providing the ability to reach the enemy quickly to initiate a first-strike on them! by launching it’s torpedoes and allowing sneak attacks with its use of depth charges to destroy them easily with a few drops.
All thanks to it’s agility to dodge shots and make surprise/lateral attacks on enemy ships. {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! colspan="6" | Mobility Characteristics |- ! rowspan="2" | Game Mode ! rowspan="2" | Upgrade Status ! colspan="2" | Maximum Speed (km/h) ! rowspan="2" | Turn Time (s) ! rowspan="2" | Turn Radius (m) |- ! Forward ! Reverse |- | rowspan="2" | AB | | Stock | | 82 | | 33 | | ~20 | | ~41.56 |- | Upgraded || 112 || 45 | | ~13 | | ~25.29 |- | rowspan="2" | RB/SB | | Stock | | 68 | | 28 | | ~22 | | ~46.69 |- | Upgraded || 80 || 32 | | ~19 | | ~39.48 |- |}
Modifications and economy
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Armament
Primary armament
The primary armament, in fact the only armament, is an Italian 20 mm cannon. It has a firerate of 240 shots/min and a 12 shot magazine before reloading for a minimum of 1.8 seconds. The cannon is unable to shot in front of the ship, it is necessary to locate broadside or turn your ship 180 degrees.
Three different belts containing two different shells are available:
- Perforante mod.35 (unlocked by default): API-T · HEFI-T
- Granata mod.35: HEFI-T · HEFI-T · HEFI-T · API-T
- Perforante mod.35: API-T · API-T · API-T · HEFI-T
These belts are mostly the same, the HEFI-T belt is slightly more suitable against wooden boats, like PT-6 and the MTB 1, as well as low flying aircraft, while the API-T belt is slightly more suitable against component damage and steel boats, like the LS 3 and the G-5.
Additional armament
Two 450 mm steam turbined W.200/450X5,75 torpedoes on the left and on the right of the ship are a useful tool against larger sub chasers and gunboats when being able to sneak up. They have a maximum speed 81 km/h, a range of 3 km, and an explosive filler of 200 kg, enough to destroy any ship at the battle rating.
The MAS is one of the reserve boats able to carry six B TG depth charges with an explosive filler of 50 kg. These however are extremely situational and most of the time defensive in nature, as you have to drive in front of the enemy ship, or wait for the enemy to pass you, to utilize these weapons. Furthermore, 50 kg of explosives is very weak for a depth charge, as most others have around 100-140 kg of TNT, limiting effective use even further.
But despite the drawbacks, making a kill with these is one of, if not the most, satisfying ways to destroy an enemy player and equally humiliating for those who are on the receiving end.
Usage in battles
The MAS 555 is a rather strange boat, despite being the reserve boat equipped with the largest calibre, its slow firerate and small magazine, as well as the inability to fire directly forwards drastically limits its potential. However, it can still be a significant threat to other ships.
The best strategy whilst using the cannon is not to drive forward into battle, but to turn your rear to the enemy, and sailing in reverse. This way you can negate the limiting firing arcs at the front and still only reveal a small part of the hull, which extends your life expectancy by a few crucial seconds. The best way is to stay behind cover and move only rearwards when engaging and then back into cover. A one on one fight against almost any other PT boat will not go in your favour, therefore the element of surprise is most important.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Good Top speed forward - 80km/h in RB, 112 km/h in AB
- Good Top speed backward - 33km/h in RB, 46 km/h in AB
- Good rotation time (~19 seconds RB, ~13 seconds AB)
- Good torpedoes (Speed 74km/h, Range 4 Km, Explosive mass 200 Kg)
- Good acceleration.
Cons:
- Angle of fire of the 20mm cannon only 270° effective range, the cannon can’t shoot in the front of the ship
- 20mm has small magazines and slow rate of fire ( 3 seconds circa for reload after 12 ammunitions)
- Very unstable gun platform, can be very difficult to make full use of each clip
- Although it has the highest calibre armament of all reserve boats, the 20 mm does not consistently inflict damage unlike its counterparts
- No anti-aircraft protection
- The 20mm cannon is positioned at the back.
- Terrible survivability (compared to other ships).
- No armour.
- Aircraft can straff the ship and knock it out with a few well placed shots.
History
Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the ship in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the ship and adding a block "/History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Ship-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />. This section may also include the ship's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === In-game description ===, also if applicable).
Media
Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.
See also
Links to articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:
- reference to the series of the ship;
- links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.
External links
Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:
- topic on the official game forum;
- encyclopedia page on the ship;
- other literature.
| Italy boats | |
|---|---|
| Motor torpedo boats | MC-490 · Freccia P-493 · MAS 555 · MAS 561 · MAS 569 |
| MS-15 · MS-53 · MS-472 · Stefano Turr · VAS 201 · GIS 811 · MS 444 · MC 485 | |
| Motor gun boats | MAS 441 · MS-473 · MV-611 · Alano · Sparviero |
| Motor torpedo gun boats | Saetta P-494 |
| Gunboats | Albatros · Alcione |
