S-38b
Contents
Description
The S-38b is a rank II German motor torpedo boat with a battle rating of 1.7 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.79 "Project X" as part of the fleet closed beta test.
General info
Survivability and armour
The S-38b is nearly identical to the S-38 in terms of survivability. The S-38b has the same hull construction and composition, yet the bridge is constructed of 10 mm thick anti-fragmentation armour. This means the bridge is more resilient to damage on the S-38b than S-38.
Mobility
The S-38b is also nearly identical to the S-38 in terms of mobility. It too is quick and agile. The difference is that the S-38b is slightly quicker forwards at 106 KPH (66 MPH).
| Mobility Characteristics | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Game Mode | Upgrade Status | Maximum Speed (km/h) | |
| Forward | Reverse | ||
| AB | |||
| Upgraded | 106 | 33 | |
| RB/SB | |||
| Upgraded | 76 | 24 | |
Modifications and economy
| Seakeeping | Unsinkability | Firepower | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Armament
Primary armament
While good but not excellent, the 20mm are capable guns for shreddring lightly armored boats and aircraft. However, the low rouns ammo clip tend to be an issue. While using this guns, the aiming must be really accurate. Due to being lightweight guns, the turning speed and aiming speed are very fast and accurate. This should be used as an advantage as this reduces the risk of being flanked and surprised attacked by other enemy boats and aircraft.
Secondary armament
The main difference between the S-38 and the S-38b is the presence of MG34 machine guns. These machine guns are more suited towards firing upon aircraft instead of ships; citing their meagre calibre. The machine guns are mounted behind the bridge and are initially aimed upwards. The location of these machine guns allows them to fire on either side of the ship, and fire upon aircraft.
Additional armament
The S-38b is armed with two torpedo launchers. They have a max range of 6 km (14 km with torpedo mode) and can be used at almost point blank, the torpedo must travel 50 m at minimum to be armed (most of the time "point blank" engagements will be between 100-500 m). Depending on the map, game mode and captain's discretion, torpedo depth can be adjusted in order to achieve multiple tasks.
1 meter depth:
This is the most universal depth used for all types of engagements, being in deep water or at shallow waters. This depth is capable of hitting all sorts of vessels, including PT boats. The main downside is that enemy ships can see the water trail made by the torpedo which can make enemy vessels evade or fire at the torpedo.
4 meter depth:
This is the recommended depth when on deep water trying to do long range sneaky engagements to big ships. This is one of the riskier techniques as there is no way to launch them on shallow waters (most shallow water maps have water depth of 2-3 m). Only the captain and the team will be able to see the torpedo symbol while traveling close to them and it will not leave any visible water trail compared to the 1 meter depth torpedo.
| Torpedo Characteristics | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Torpedo Mode | Mass (kg) | Maximum speed in water (km/h) | Travel distance (km) | Depth stroke (m) | Arming distance (m) | Explosive type | Explosive mass (kg) | TNT equivalent (kg) |
| No | 1528 | 81 | 6.00 | 1 | 50 | SW39a | 280 | 358.4 |
| Yes | 1528 | 55.8 | 14.00 | 1 | 50 | SW39a | 280 | 358.4 |
Usage in battles
The S-38b has a similar playstyle to the S-38, a fast, agile, lightly armored but well armed craft. They main purpose of this craft is cap rushing and support. This ship should never go alone due to the light armor that can be easily penetrated by the guns seen at the battle-rating, specially the 3in guns seen in American and British sub-chasers. Instead, the S-38b should rush with other ships, essentially making the enemy engage in a single target while being engaged by 2-3 or more.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Very close to the S-38, one could go from the S-38 to the S-38b with no special learning required
- Main cannons are the same as the ones found on the S-38
- Better armour then the armour found on the S-38
- Quicker, while maintaining the same handling characteristics
- Same BR as the S-38, meaning one can have the S-38 and S-38b in the same lineup
- Still inexpensive to operate
Cons:
- Most flaws from the S-38 are maintained in the S-38b
- Even with additional MG 34s, anti-air coverage is minimal
History
S-38b was a subclass of S-38 class Schnellboots (S-boots), these being later production ships. The S-38b class added an armored bridge to the design due to the lack of protection for the bridge on the original S-38 class. It was known as the Kallot (Eng: skull cap) because of its round shape. The S-38b class was eventually equipped with more powerful Daimler Benz MB 501 diesel engines, increasing the maximum speed.
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.
| Germany boats | |
|---|---|
| Motor torpedo boats | LS 3 · LS 4 Esau · KM-5 · VS-10 |
| S-38 · S-38b · S-100 · S-147 · S-204 Lang · S-701 | |
| R-301 | |
| V-990 | |
| Jaguar · Hugin · Pfeil | |
| Motor gun boats | R-41 · R-130 · Krischan der Große |
| Motor torpedo gun boats | Albatros · Bussard · MZ1 · Pr. 206 |
| Minelayers | VS-8 |
