Dark-class

Visual comparison of the Dark family of Torpedo/Gun Boats

Description

The Dark-class (or Type A) were a class of British patrol boats in service from 1954 till 1971. It succeeded the Gay-class (not in the game), and was replaced by the Brave-class.

Vehicles

Rank II

• Dark Adventurer

Rank III

• Dark Aggressor
• Dark Aggressor TD

History

Dark-class fast attack boats were designed during the early years of the Cold War as the first diesel-engine vessel of the Royal Navy. It replaced the Gay-class, which was powered by an expensive high-octane gasoline, while maintaining the same speed and displacement. Outside of the Royal Navy, it served also in the Union of Burma Navy (modern Myanmar Navy), Finnish Navy and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force. It has never seen combat.

The class had an interesting design, where it could be easily converted to either a torpedo or gun boat, with all boats of the class being prepared for either role, and the configuration depending solely on a mountable armament.

Boats were built as an aluminium decks, wooden skin on metal frame (either steel alloy (British) or aluminium (Burmese, Finnish and Japanese)), except for Dark Scout (P1116) which had a welded aluminium skin, and the five of the Burmese boats, which had a riveted aluminium skin.

To date, likely only the Dark Scout survived from the class. It was identified in Florida, USA, converted to a private motorboat named "Scuba Doo". That said, there's only a single photograph surviving of that specific boat with a statement of one witness and no registration details that would allow confirmation of the identity.

External links

• [Wikipedia] Dark-class patrol boat
• [British Military Powerboat Trust] Dark Class Boats
• [www.navyphotos.co.uk] "Dark" class Fast Patrol boats
• [World Naval Ships Directory] Dark Class
• [David Mills] SARO Dark Class FPBs
• [Coastal Forces Veterans] The British 'Dark' class
• [Oldships] Dark Class (webarchive, website containing history of each of the boats in the class)
• [Diesel Army] Significant Engines In History: How The Napier Deltic Diesel Works