Dark Adventurer
Contents
Description
The Dark-class, Dark Adventurer (FPB 1101) is a rank II British motor gun boat with a battle rating of 2.0 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.83 "Masters of the Sea" as part of the British fleet closed beta test. With the split of the naval tech trees in Update "New Power", Dark Adventurer was moved to the coastal fleet tech tree.
General info
Survivability and armour
Dark class (FPB 1101) has the following armour layout:
- 114 mm 8cwt QF Mk I gunshield: 12.7 mm, hardened armour
- Hull: 40 mm, wood
- Superstructure: 15 mm, wood
Like most coastal vessels, Dark class (FPB 1101) has no practical armor. The gunshield is largely superficial, so while it may stop low-calibre machine guns, heavy machine guns and cannons will easily penetrate it at any range. The hull and superstructure are unarmoured and will not stop any sort of gunfire.
The hull is split into four hull sections. Starting from the bow and working towards the stern, the first section starts at the bow and ends just in front of forward gun; the second ends just after the bridge; the third ends where the fuel tanks end, just in front of the engines; and the fourth ends at the stern. Dark class (FPB 1101) can be hull-broken by any round with a large enough diameter and explosive mass. In general, this is limited to HE rounds greater with a diameter greater than or equal to 4 inches (102 mm) and with an explosive mass greater than 1.5 kg. At Dark class (FPB 1101)'s battle rating, the only guns capable of hull-breaking her are:
- the 10.5 cm SK C/32, found on the M-802, and
- the 114 mm 8cwt QF Mk I, found on Dark class (FPB 1101) herself.
There is one ammunition storage that holds ammunition for both the primary and secondary gun turrets. It is located directly behind the forward gun turret just above the waterline. Destroying it will instantly destroy the boat.
Dark class (FPB 1101) has a crew complement of 15. With a stock crew, Dark class (FPB 1101) is knocked out when 10 crew are lost; with an aced crew, this is increased to 11. Overall, the survivability is average.
Mobility
| Mobility Characteristics | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Game Mode | Upgrade Status | Maximum Speed (km/h) | Turn Time (s) | Turn Radius (m) | |
| Forward | Reverse | ||||
| AB | Stock | 73 | 27 | ~26.46 | ~53.37 |
| Upgraded | 100 | 37 | ~17.53 | ~22.22 | |
| RB/SB | Stock | 64 | 24 | ~29.42 | ~67.67 |
| Upgraded | 74 | 27 | ~23.53 | ~42.2 | |
Dark class (FPB 1101) has a displacement of 64 tons.
Modifications and economy
| Seakeeping | Unsinkability | Firepower | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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The recommended modification research order is:
- Tool Set
- Fire Protection System
- 40 mm HE clips
- 40 mm AP clips
- Smokescreen
- Propeller Replacement
- Improved Rangefinder
- Artillery Support
After that, prioritize the rest of the seakeeping modifications first, then finish researching the remaining modifications in whatever order you prefer.
Armament
Primary armament
The primary armament consists of a single 114 mm 8cwt QF Mk I cannon mounted forwards, with a maximum ammunition load of 100 rounds. Stock, the mount can traverse horizontally at a rate of 26°/s and vertically at a rate of 21°/s; with the "Primary Armament Targeting" modification installed, this is increased to 30°/s and 25°/s respectively. The gun is single-shot with a nominal rate of fire of 12 rounds/min. With a stock crew, it can be reloaded in 6.5 seconds; with an aced crew, this is decreased to 5 seconds.
| Primary armament guidance | |
|---|---|
| Horizontal | Vertical |
| ±180° | -8°/+12° |
There is only one ammunition type available:
- 114 mm HE
| Penetration statistics | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead | Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm) | |||||
| 1,000 m | 2,500 | 5,000 m | 7,500 m | 10,000 m | 15,000 m | ||
| 114 mm HE | HE base fuze | 34 | 34 | 34 | 34 | 34 | 34 |
| Shell details | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead | Velocity (m/s) | Projectile mass (kg) | Fuse delay (m) | Fuse sensitivity (mm) | Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (kg) |
Ricochet | ||
| 0% | 50% | 100% | |||||||
| 114 mm HE | HE base fuze | 457 | 6.66 | 0 | 0.1 | 2.9 | 79° | 80° | 81° |
The 114 mm HE round is able to hull-break.
Secondary armament
The secondary armament consists of a single 40 mm QF Mk VII cannon mounted aft, with a maximum ammunition load of 1500 rounds. Stock, the mount can traverse horizontally at a rate of 34°/s and vertically at a rate of 29°/s; with the "Auxiliary Armament Targeting" modification installed, this is increased to 40°/s and 34°/s respectively. The gun has a magazine capacity of 4 rounds and a cycle rate of fire of 160 rounds/min. With a stock crew, it can be reloaded in 0.49 seconds; with an aced crew, this is decreased to 0.38 seconds. The reload is short enough that there is a seamless transition between magazines, although continuously firing for too long will cause the gun to overheat and jam. This happens after continuously firing for about 1.25 min, or about 200 rounds. There is no noticeable drop in accuracy as the gun overheats.
| Secondary armament guidance | |
|---|---|
| Horizontal | Vertical |
| ±180° | -10°/+89° |
There are three ammunition choices available:
- Universal: AP-T · HEFI-T
- 40 mm HE clips: HEFI-T · HEFI-T · HEFI-T · AP-T
- 40 mm AP clips: AP-T · AP-T · AP-T · HEFI-T
| Penetration statistics | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm) | |||||
| 10 m | 100 m | 500 m | 1,000 m | 1,500 m | 2,000 m | |
| Universal | 80 | 77 | 66 | 57 | 50 | 45 |
| 40 mm HE clips | 80 | 77 | 66 | 57 | 50 | 45 |
| 40 mm AP clips | 80 | 77 | 66 | 57 | 50 | 45 |
The best ammunition is the 40 mm HE clips because it has the highest ratio of HE rounds to AP rounds. Take mostly 40 mm HE clips along with several 40 mm AP clips for armoured targets. Because of the gun's seamless reload, there is no reason to use the Universal belt once the others are unlocked.
Additional armament
Dark Adventurer has two possible loadouts:
- Without load
- 2x Mk.VII depth charge
Depth Charges
The Mk.VII depth charges are carried amidships in front of the aft gun, one on each side. They are dropped one at a time in the following order:
- Starboard
- Port
Before spawning, the detonation time delay can be set anywhere between 3 seconds and 10 seconds.
| Depth charge characteristics | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mass (kg) | Explosive type | Explosive mass (kg) | TNT equivalent (kg) | HE armour penetration (mm) | Armoured vehicle destruction radius (m) | Fragment dispersion radius (m) |
| 196 | TNT | 130 | 130 | 101 | 8 | 122 |
There is almost no practical reason to use depth charges on any naval vessel in the game. Although they usually result in a one-hit kill if used properly, they are extremely situational, requiring the player to close to point-blank ranges to even use them. In almost every case, anytime a depth charge could be used, the guns or torpedoes can be used instead to greater effect. In fact, depth charges tend to actually be a liability in battle, since they essentially act as exposed ammo racks before they're dropped. They can be shot at, and if destroyed, they have a chance to detonate, instantly destroying the boat.
Despite this, some success can be had in dropping them either next to, or in front of a large, slow target. If dropping them next to the target, remember the depth charge drop order, since it's most likely that only the depth charges dropped on the side closest to the enemy will deal any damage. If dropping in front of the target, rush in from the sides as quickly as possible and drop them all at once directly in front of the target. For both cases, set the depth charge time delay to the minimum 3 seconds, since any higher time delay will only allow the depth charge to sink further away from the target, giving them more time to move out of the way. Again, using depth charges is extremely situational, and they will only be a liability the vast majority of the time, so take them at your own discretion.
Usage in battles
The main armament of Dark Adventurer is a single 114 mm 8cwt QF Mk I. This gun has a powerful HE round with an explosive mass of 2.5 kg of TNT, and, since its larger than 4 inches, it can also hull-break most of the smaller boats seen around this battle rating. Hull-break is triggered by destroying an enemy boat's compartment, and, if done successfully, it will result in a one-shot kill. Despite being one of the only guns at this battle rating capable of hull-breaking, the gun overall is poor. Its rate of fire is relatively slow at 12 rounds per minute, and its muzzle velocity is very low at 457 m/s, both of which contribute to making the gun difficult to use at long ranges and against fast-moving targets. Even at close ranges, it gets outperformed by Dark Adventurer's other weapon anyway. The 8cwt QF Mk I is the primary armament in name only.
The secondary gun, the 40 mm QF Mark VII, is actually a far superior weapon, and there is generally no reason to even use the 8cwt QF Mk I over it. The QF Mark VII is a 40 mm Bofors L/60 gun, one of the best naval automatic cannons in the game, and Dark Adventurer is one of the lowest battle rating vehicles to receive it. Where the 114 mm 8cwt QF Mk I lacks, the 40 mm QF Mark VII excels. Its rate of fire, though a bit low for an automatic cannon, is much higher at 160 rounds per minute. The gun's magazine size of only 4 rounds may seem like a disadvantage on paper, but in practice, the reload is quick enough that the gun can fire continuously as if there wasn't a reload at all. The QF Mark VII also has a much larger effective range of roughly 3.25 km thanks to its higher muzzle and relatively large projectile mass. This allows Dark Adventurer to outrange, and thus be effectively immune to, many guns at this battle rating, most notably the 2 cm/65 C/38 (20 mm) and the Oerlikon Mk.II (20 mm), both of which have a maximum range of roughly 2 km.
The QF Mark VII has a very powerful HE round for its calibre as well as an impressive AP round, the latter of which has a maximum penetration of 80 mm of armour, more than enough to trivialize any armour Dark Adventurer might come across. The gun is very powerful and doesn't require much ammunition to destroy most of its enemies, usually less than 10 rounds if all rounds hit. In fact, it's actually quite rare that Dark Adventurer will use up more than a couple hundred rounds of ammunition throughout the entire match. This is good because firing the gun for too long (indicated by the red circle around the crosshair) will cause the gun to jam and will require a substantial amount of time before it can be fired again. Always pay attention to the red circle and try to never let the gun jam.
Despite how good the QF Mark VII might be, though, the boat it's mounted on has some issues. The first of these is rather obvious: the gun is mounted on the rear of the boat, which of course prevents it from firing forwards. Because of this, there is a ~25° dead zone to either side in which the gun is unable to fire. Second, the survivability of Dark Adventurer is close to nonexistent, especially when considering the ammo racks in the front of the hull. Dark Adventurer can either be played at long range to outrange enemy fire or by using hard cover to hide the hull. Either playstyle is really dependent on the map and is mostly down to player preference. Regardless of how Dark Adventurer is played, she shouldn't be the first to charge into action. If an enemy is met straight-on, time is needed to turn the hull to allow the QF Mark VII to fire, enough time for a smart enemy to inflict major damage.
- Depth Charges
It should be noted that Dark Adventurer can carry two Mk.VII depth charges. Being an anti-submarine weapon and without the presence of submarines in the game, their usage against surface targets is very situational. Sailing up right next to a slower target and dropping a depth charge can lead to some success, though again, this is very situational. If attempting this, remember that depth charge on the starboard side always drops first and that there is no reason to use any depth charge activation time setting above the minimum 3 seconds, since higher delay times means the depth charge will sink further, and thus away, from the target. For the most part, though, there is no reason to even take them into battle since if they're not dropped, they essentially become extra ammo racks to shoot at.
- Ammunition Choices
The 40 mm HE clips should be the primary ammunition choice since it contains the highest ratio of HE to AP rounds. HE rounds have the highest effectiveness against aircraft and boats, so the choice that maximizes this is the best. A small amount of 40 mm AP clips should also be taken to deal with armoured targets. AP rounds can also be used against boats coming towards Dark Adventurer straight-on. Whereas HE rounds would just explode on an already destroyed bow compartment, AP rounds can pass through and deal damage to the rear of the boat.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Primary armament can hull-break most opponents
- Secondary armament: very good damage output, high armour penetration, seamless reload
Cons:
- Primary armament: very low muzzle velocity, low rate of fire, difficult to use
- Secondary armament is mounted aft, cannot fire directly forwards
History
The Dark class fast patrol boats, also known as the Admiralty Type "A" Fast Patrol Boat (FPB), were 18 patrol boats used by the Royal Navy, with another 8 built for export. The class was originally ordered in the late 1940s, calling for a new diesel-powered FPB, with Saunders-Roe eventually winning the design contract in early 1952. The Dark class was built between 1954 and 1958 primarily by Saunders-Roe alongside several other British shipbuilding companies. The Dark class had interchangeable armaments and could be configured as motor torpedo boats, as motor gun boats, or as minelayers. These armaments include:
- 4x 21-inch torpedoes
- 1x 40 mm Bofors gun (forward), 2x 21-inch torpedoes
- 1x 40 mm Bofors gun (aft), 1x 4.5-inch cannon (forward)
- 16x mines
The Dark class boats had a length of 71 ft. 8 in., a beam of 19 ft. 5 in., a draught of 6 ft. 1 in, and a standard displacement of 50 long tons and were the first of their kind in Royal Navy service to use diesel engines. Each boat was powered by two 18 cylinder Napier Deltic diesel engines, each producing 2,500 bhp and driving a single shaft, with an exhaust port on the port side hull. The first few Dark class boats were painted entirely in standard grey. However, the port side of the hulls would quickly become stained by the diesel exhaust fumes, even after only a short period of use. Initially, an experimental paint scheme was tried on HMS Dark Biter (P1104) around March 1956 that had the rear hull painted in black with the front hull still in grey. This, too, was found to be unsatisfactory, and eventually, it was decided that the entire hull of the Dark class boats was to be painted in black.
Eighteen Dark class boats served with the Royal Navy. All of these were built with wooden hulls and aluminium decks on aluminium hull frames with the exception of the final boat, the unique HMS Dark Scout (P1116), which had an all-aluminium welded construction, a redesigned bridge, and transom exhaust ports. In addition to these, eight more Dark class boats were also built for export, all built by Saunders-Roe: two standard boats to Finland; five riveted, all-aluminium boats with an additional electric drive system to Burma; and one standard boat to Japan. A further nine Dark class boats were planned to be built as well for Royal Navy service, but these were all cancelled in 1955. During the 1960s and 1970s, of the 18 Dark class boats in Royal Navy service, two were used as target practice with one being sunk. The surviving 17 were sold to various places, including several to Italian law enforcement in the late 1960s.
HMS Dark Adventurer, pennant number P1101, was the first of the Dark-class boats. She was built by Saunders-Roe in Beaumaris and was completed on 28th October 1954. She was sold in early 1970.
Media
- Skins
- Images
- Videos
See also
External links
- [Development] Newsflash from IgroMir 2016! New ships and first look at Japanese Ground Forces!
- Coastal Forces Veterans Forum - The British "Dark" Class
- British Military Powerboat Team - Dark Class Boats
- mprints.co.uk - SARO Dark Class MTBs
- Wikipedia - Dark-class patrol boat
| Britain boats | |
|---|---|
| Motor torpedo boats | Brave Borderer · Dark Aggressor · Dark Aggressor TD · Fairmile D (617) · Fairmile D (697) · Fairmile D (5001) · HMS Gay Archer |
| MTB-1(1) · MTB-1(2) · MTB Vosper · MTB Vosper(2) · MTB-422 | |
| Motor gun boats | Dark Adventurer · Fairmile A (ML100) · Fairmile B (ML345) · Fairmile C (312) · Fairmile C (332) · Fairmile D (601) · Fairmile H LCS(L)(2) |
| HMAS Arrow · HMAS Fremantle · MGB-61 · MGB-75 · ML 1383 · SGB Grey Fox · SGB Grey Goose | |
| Gunboats | HMS Spey |
