Thunderbolt (PT-556)

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Rank VI USSR | Premium | Golden Eagles
Su-25K Pack
Thunderbolt (PT-556)
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Thunderbolt (PT-556)
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Description

GarageImage Thunderbolt (PT-556).jpg


The Elco 80 ft, Thunderbolt (PT-556) is a premium rank III American motor torpedo boat with a battle rating of 3.0 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.83 "Masters of the Sea" as part of the fleet release into Open Beta Test.

General info

Survivability and armour

Similar to the other Elco boats, the PT-556 has 6.35mm of hardened armor protecting the helmsman, who is a critical crew member. With a crew complement of 12 predominately operating guns above deck, this boat can be knocked out relatively easily. The quad Oerlikon mount on the rear features a protected "basket" with an open top, sporting the same 6.35mm sides and back with a 12.7mm front plate.

Mobility

This boat weighs as much as the heavier PT-565 while maintaining the top speed of the lighter PT-314, helping this boat live up to the nickname "Thunderbolt" which is scribed on the rear quad mount. With a top speed of 106km/hr in Arcade Battles, this boat is among the fastest in game. Additionally it sports a high reverse speed and is capable of tight turns.

Armament

Primary armament

The primary armament consists of a quadmounted 20mm Oerlikon Mk.II cannons aft and a single one at the front. They are extremely deadly to light targets and aircraft. Both turrets have fast traverse rate and good elevation angles so there should be no problem in engaging aircraft. Short bursts are all it should take to take out any unarmoured targets or aircraft. The ballistics should be familiar from the other PT boats. You should have some trigger discipline because you don't have enough ammunition to "spray and pray". The HE or universal ammunition belt should be used because of the general lack of armour around your battle rating.

The placement of the quad mount makes for a forward dead zone of roughly 20 degrees and roughly 45 degrees left and right of the bow. This can limit the ability to engage targets with maximum closing speed and maximum firepower at once.

Secondary armament

Main article: AN-M4 (37 mm)

The secondary armament on this boat is one 37 mm AN-M4 cannon at the front of the boat. The low rate of fire and low velocity makes it unsuitable for general use but it can save you if your 20 mm cannons are taken out. It is unsuitable for anti-aircraft because of the problems mentioned above and the fact that it has poor elevation angles. The high explosive shells also self-destruct so you can't engage with them past medium ranges. The penetration rates of the armour-piercing shells are on par with the main Oerlikon cannons so you can have it as your backup for armoured targets.

Anti-aircraft armament

Main article: AN-M2 (12.7 mm)
The PT-556 utilizes the same AA layout as the PT-565, however it does offer twice the ammunition load at 8000 rounds for the two dual-mount 12.7mm AN-M2 emplacements.

Torpedo armament

Main article: Mk.13 (569 mm)

The torpedo armament is identical to the PT-565.

Usage in battles

Describe the technique of using this ship, the characteristics of her use in a team and tips on strategy. Abstain from writing an entire guide – don't try to provide a single point of view, but give the reader food for thought. Talk about the most dangerous opponents for this vehicle and provide recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of playing with this vehicle in various modes (AB, RB, SB).

Pros and cons

Summarise and briefly evaluate the vehicle in terms of its characteristics and combat effectiveness. Mark its pros and cons in the bulleted list. Try not to use more than 6 points for each of the characteristics. Avoid using categorical definitions such as "bad", "good" and the like - use substitutions with softer forms such as "inadequate" and "effective".

Pros:

Cons:

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

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  • encyclopedia page on the ship;
  • other literature.


USA boats
Motor torpedo boats  PT-3 · PT-6 · PT-20 · PT-71 · PT-103 · PT-109 · PT-174
  PT-200 · PT-314 · Thunderbolt (PT-556) · PT-565 · PT-658 · PT-810 · PT-811 · PT-812
Motor gun boats  Kim Qui · LCS(L)(3) · PT-59 · PTF-7 · USS Candid · USS Asheville · USS Douglas · USS Flagstaff · USS Tucumcari · USS Cyclone
Armoured gun boats  LCM(6) Zippo

USA premium ships
Motor torpedo boats  PT-3 · PT-109 · PT-174 · Thunderbolt (PT-556) · PT-658 · PT-811
Motor gun boats  LCM(6) Zippo · USS Douglas · USS Flagstaff
Sub-chasers  Carmi (PC-466)
Destroyers  USS Welborn C. Wood · USS Wilkinson · USS Bennion · USS Cowell · USS Davis · USS Moffett · USS Phelps · USS Frank Knox
Light cruisers  USS Detroit · USS Helena
Heavy cruisers  USS Des Moines
Battleships  USS Arkansas