PT-103

PT-103

PTF-7

PT-71

PT-103

PTF-7

PT-71

USA

II Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
1.7	1.7	1.7

Class:

Motor torpedo boat

Boat

Research:9 200

Purchase:16 000

Show in game

Description

The Elco 80 ft PT-103 is a rank II American 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

Talk about the vehicle's armour. Note the most well-defended and most vulnerable zones, e.g. the ammo magazine. Evaluate the composition of components and assemblies responsible for movement and manoeuvrability. Evaluate the survivability of the primary and secondary armament separately. Don't forget to mention the size of the crew, which plays an important role in fleet mechanics. Tips for preserving survivability should be saved for the "Use in battle" section.

If necessary, use a graphic template to show the most well-protected or most vulnerable points in the armour.

Mobility

Write about the ship’s mobility. Evaluate its power and manoeuvrability, rudder rerouting speed, stopping speed at full tilt, with its maximum forward speed and reverse speed.

Armament

Primary armament

Provide information about the characteristics of the primary armament. Evaluate their efficacy in battle based on their reload speed, ballistics and the capacity of their shells.

• 4 x .50 cal (12.7 mm) AN-M2 machine guns

The primary armament consists of two twin .50 cal M2 Browning machine gun turrets, for a total of 4 .50 cal machine guns. The turrets are set towards the center of the hull, one to the right of the bridge and one to the left, rear, of the pilot house. One drawback of the turret placement is that only one turret (2 machine guns) can be pointed in most directions. Only one turret can fire forwards, only one turret can fire to the left, both turrets can fire to the right, and neither turret can fire towards the rear. On the other hand, the turrets have excellent elevation angles (up to +60 degrees), allowing these turrets to effectively engage aerial targets. The .50 cals can shred torpedo boats in seconds, especially when broadside, but against more heavily armored targets they may struggle. Against aerial targets, multiple hits will normally be required to down one, but with the good fire rate of 576 rpm multiple hits can be regularly attained.

Secondary armament

Some ships are fitted with weapons of various calibres. Secondary armament is defined by the weapon chosen with the control Select secondary weapon. Evaluate the secondary armament and give advice on how to use them. Describe the ammunition available for the secondary armament. Provide recommendations on how to use them and which ammunition to choose. Remember that anti-air armament, even heavy calibre weapons, belong in the next section.

• 1 x 20 mm/70 Oerlikon Mk.II autocannon

PT-103's secondary armament consists of one 20 mm/70 Oerlikon Mk.II autocannon. The Oerlikon cannon is mounted on the rear deck of the ship, and it has very good traverse (±180 degrees) and elevation angles (-5 to +60 degrees). The fire rate of 450 rpm is decent, and the reloading rate is very quick at only 4 seconds. The 20 mm can be used against air and sea targets, and deals heavy damage; it can cripple an enemy aircraft with as few as only one hit and can also disable an enemy torpedo boat in seconds. The only downside to the Oerlikon is its placement: it can not fire to the front of the ship. This means that you will not be able to get the Oerlikon on target when facing towards the enemy. It is not recommended to face the rear of the ship towards the enemy, but in the case than an enemy gets behind you the 20 mm can deal heavy damage very quickly. It can also fire to the sides.

Torpedo armament

2 x 21" wet-heating Mk.8 torpedoes

Two Mk.8 torpedoes can be equipped, even when stock; they are located one on each side of the bridge. They are not independently aimed, and as such to aim them you will have to turn the entire hull of the ship. They can be fired at any speed, with any direction of travel. These torpedoes can be incredibly useful, as they can usually destroy smaller boats outright, and will severely damage even most of the largest ships you will face. The torpedoes have an arming distance of 50 meters and a travel distance of up to 9.14 kilometers.

Special armament

• 8 x Mk.6 depth charges

After research, 8 Mk.6 depth charges can be equipped. They are located on either side of the hull rear, with four on each side. These will generally not be effective in combat, although in certain rare situations they can be. As such, you may consider not bringing depth charges, as most of the time they will not be useful and they also function as additional ammo racks, increasing the likelihood of your untimely demise.

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 get 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).

Modules

Tier	Seakeeping	Unsinkability		Firepower
I	Dry-Docking	Tool Set		.50 AP belt	20 mm HE
II	Rudder Replacement	Fire Protection System	Smokescreen	.50 APIT belt	20 mm AP	Auxiliary Armament Targeting
III	Propeller Replacement				Depth Charges	Primary Armament Targeting
IV	Engine Maintenance	New Pumps		Artillery Support

Pros and cons

Summarize 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 - they have a substitution in the form of softer "inadequate", "effective".

Pros:

Cons:

History

PT-103 was layed down on January 24, 1942 by the Electric Boat Co., Elco Works, in Bayonne, New Jersey. It was launched on on May 16, 1942, and was completed on June 12, 1942. It entered service as the USS PT-103.

It was assigned to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 5 (MTBRon 5), commanded by CDR Henry Farrow, USN. MTBRon 5 was assigned to the Panama Sea Frontier from 1942 to 1943. Afterwards, it was sent to the Solomon Islands where it saw action at a number of locations, including Rendova, Vella Lavella, Treasury, Bougainville, Green, and Emirau. At the end of 1944 the squadron was disbanded, and the ships were distributed between other squadrons to replace lost ships.

The USS PT-103 was transferred to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 18 (MTBRon 18) under the command of LT Edward MacCauley, III, USNR, on February 15, 1945. MTBRon 18 was assigned to the Southwest Pacific. It saw action at Dreger Harbor, Aitape, Hollandia, Wakde, and Mios Woendi, in New Guinea; at Manus in the Admiralties; and at Morotai in the Halmaheras. The squadron was also temporarily based at Kana Kopa, New Guinea, and later at San Pedro Bay, Philippines. PT-103 was scuttled by American forces on November 4, 1945, at Samar, Philippines.

The ship had a displacement of 56 t, a length of 80 ft, a beam of 20 ft 8 in, and a draft of 5 ft. It was powered by three 3,600 shp Packard W-14 M2500 gasoline engines, and had three shafts. The armament consisted of one single 40 mm mount, four 21" torpedoes, one 37 mm mount (added by the crew on August 1, 1943), one 20mm mount, and two twin .50 cal. machine guns. The crew complement was 17 sailors and officers, and the maximum speed of 41 knots.

Media

An excellent addition to the article will be video guides, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.

See also

Links to the 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.

Bibliography

• Radigan, Joseph M. PT-103. NavSource Naval History. http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/05103.htm

External links

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• topic on the official game forum;
• encyclopedia page on ship;
• other literature.