Brave Borderer

Brave Borderer

SGB Grey Fox

HMCS Terra Nova

Brave Borderer

SGB Grey Fox

HMCS Terra Nova

Britain

V Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
3.3	3.3	3.3

Class:

Motor torpedo boat

Boat

Research:220 000

Purchase:640 000

Show in game

Description

The Brave-class, Brave Borderer (P1011) is a rank V British motor torpedo boat with a battle rating of 3.3 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.83 "Masters of the Sea" as part of the British fleet closed beta test.

The Brave-class fast patrol boats were a class of two MTBs (Motor Torpedo Boats) built during 1958-1960 for the Royal Navy. They became the last type of MTB to be built for the Royal Navy's coastal forces, but their design cemented the foundation to many more amazing fast crafts used by navies around the world.

The Brave-class brings the potential to increase the already remarkable firepower of the single-armed Dark class. Not only doubled on this Brave-class but with an increase in speed, thanks to the quick-sailing gas turbines of the Brave Borderer, which allowed her to break world records at her epoch.

Great mobility, great guns and very well rigged with four lethal torpedoes plus depth charges!- The Brave-class surely ain't short of braveness but only of crew members; therefore low crew size becomes one of the main drawbacks of this class directing the general playstyle of the boat. She can be really fun to play, but also very frustrating due to her poor combat endurance.

General info

HMS Brave Borderer is a very fragile ship. She is really powerful in the offensive department, but her defences and survival are not prominent. Her crew might seem average, but her enormous size attracts a lot of fire that will sink the boat in no time.

Survivability and armour

Brave Borderer has the following armour layout:

• Hull: 40 mm, wood
• Superstructure: 15 mm, wood

Brave Borderer's crew is 20 sailors. This is not enough to endure sustained combat actions, as often a single high calibre shell impact (100+ mm) from a destroyer or frigate, will trigger a hullbreak. Against other boats, she might survive longer, but the proper strategy is to fire first to conserve the crew as much as possible. The complement of the ship is actually the average crew size of most fast patrol boats at her rank. But this boat will often face vessels with the double of the crew size.

Therefore, the Brave-class must usually be on the defensive since it does not carry any crew-size advantages. The guns really help Borderer on this, as they have a high angle of drop and they can be aimed behind barrier islands or solid formations, keeping the Borderer visually covered from direct enemy fire.

Careful, these guns share similar properties and ballistics to the guns present in the powerful Italian fast crafts, the Freccia P-493 and Folgore P-490

The boat lacks any sort of armour shielding and the gun turrets are also exposed. This means all the guns can be taken out of combat with low-calibre machine guns or even shrapnel. This also applies to the most lethal component aboard the Brave Borderer; the torpedoes. If these are hit, it is likely they will just remain out-of-service until repairs are made.

Ammo cache in the forward area of the ship; it only requires a direct-hit and the entire boat is done for.

However, there's a possibility of a catastrophic detonation depending on the amount of explosive mass inside the shell that hit the torpedo. The same applies to the depth charges ammunition in the stern of the boat, as it is also unprotected. The more volatile area of the Borderer is located at the bow. This area is replete of ammunition and depth charges. It only requires a direct hit to finish the entire Brave Borderer.

The bridge where the helmsman operates the ship is actually decently protected within the boat's superstructure. The deck bridge is somewhat more exposed to machine gun and cannon fire and can be taken out. But often the Borderer will conserve its capacity to manoeuvre because of how adequately the control bridge is located.

Mobility

Brave-class mobility is actually marvellous. It enables the boat to reach speeds up to 130 km/h in arcade mode!

Mobility Characteristics
Game Mode	Upgrade Status	Maximum Speed (km/h)		Turn Time (s)	Turn Radius (m)
		Forward	Reverse
AB	Stock	___	___
	Upgraded	130	55
RB/SB	Stock	___	___
	Upgraded	93	40

Brave-class is currently the speediest fast attack craft available for the Royal navy in the game. Also one of the fastest in the game and within her rank. This is all thanks to her remarkable marine powerplant of three Bristol Proteus gas turbines engines providing a total thrust-power of 10,500 hp.

Coincidence, this same turboprop engines can be found in the Italian hydrofoil fast craft, Sparviero.

The boat is really good at the frontal speed, she can get wheresoever is needed because of that. However, her steering is not as prominent, likely because of her wide hull beam and large hull, especially when stock and with low-speed. When compared with the preceding Dark-class, the mobility in the forward aspects received an amazing boost from the diesel engines, but the turning agility is somewhat reduced because the Dark-class had a more narrow beam and was able to turn tightly because of their small and nimble size.

Ironically, the Brave Borderer perhaps will face some trouble coasting and manoeuvring tightly over archipelagos and reduced strait's borders. But the speed does provide great open-sea performance, where it can rule the tides providing fast support with her torpedoes.

Her capacity to fire while cruising at high-speeds or in heavy seas is adequate. This is possible thanks to a stabilization system of electro-hydraulic flaps located at the bottom of the transom that "cushion" the ship's slamming during rough seas.

Armament

Primary armament

The Brave Borderer is armed with two 40 mm QF (Quick-Firing) Mark VII guns.

One located at the Bow of the boat, another located at the stern of the boat.

The only guns available offer really good rate of fire (0.4 seg), seemingly infinite fire, and with a rare overheating presence. The amount of ammunition is 1,500 rounds per gun. They are highly mobile gun-mountings and can be rotated 360° in a few seconds, thanks to their 34°/s rotation. This is great to not only fight sea-based threats but to fend off enemy aviation with 40°/s in vertical targeting. They have also good elevation angles, 88°. This allows to engage enemy aircraft and continue the fire not only thanks to the rate of fire, but the disponibility of mountings to target the plane above the Borderer.

Bow turret's firing angle

The ballistics of the guns are adequate for the calibre. Very precise fire capable to effectively target specific areas in enemy vessels. They have an astounding firing range of approximately 5,000 m. This range value is only at the discretion of the player's ability to land the shots at such distances; with the proper horizontal leading calculations. In regular combat conditions (high speed, waves and constant directional changes), this range can be reduced to some 3,500 m, where the aiming is more effective no matter the motion of the Brave-class and the target.- Since Borderer can effectively out-range many other patrol boats in gunnery duels thanks to the dual 40 mm guns, is not needed to bring the Brave-class point-blank range with the target.

The 40 mm QF Mark VII cannons can fire for 1 minute 20 seconds until overheating or jamming. Firing with the Ranging shot key would likely double this time; this is more than enough to destroy any fast craft or correct the fire.

Stern turret's firing angle

A combat flaw important to note is that despite the guns can horizontally rotate 360°, the horizontal firing arc is actually limited. The superstructure of the bridge in the centre of the boat creates a big dead zone on both of the guns. This unable the aft and forward guns to fire frontally and backwardly, respectively. This dead zone will hinder the Borderer's ability to defend against enemies in the front of the boat, or behind the boat. Only 1 gun will fire against the enemy, and the damage will be reduced. Hence mobility and smart positioning take an important part in how well the Brave-class can use both of the guns.

Torpedo armament

Torpedo launchers are standard equipment on many ships and boats. Torpedoes are a significant means of defeating an opponent. Evaluate the position of the torpedo launchers, discuss the ammunition available, firing specifics such as dead zones, features of the torpedoes themselves, etc. If there is no torpedo armament, remove this section.

Special armament

Depth charges, mines, rocket launchers and missiles are also effective in skilled hands and can take an off-guard opponent by surprise. Evaluate the ammunition of this type of armament and rate its performance in combat. If there are no special armaments, remove this section.

Usage in battles

Bow turret manned by a two men crew.

In rank 2 arcade battles, the basic version of the craft really underwhelms. Essentially appearing to be a more deadly version of the FPB1102 as it possess a second primary armament on the back of the boat, which enhances its ability to deal damage when strafing enemies.

However, even with this addition in armament, it lacks the firepower to engage larger craft at its new higher matchmaking bracket that you are forced to fight against. Coupled with a lack of an AI turret to provide some anti-air coverage and increased module research time, players should weigh the cost and benefit before dedicating their time to grind this vehicle.

Modules

Tier	Seakeeping	Unsinkability		Firepower
I	Dry-Docking	Tool Set		40 mm HE clips
II	Rudder Replacement	Fire Protection System	Smokescreen	40 mm AP clips
III	Propeller Replacement			Improved Rangefinder	Primary Armament Targeting	Depth Charges
IV	Engine Maintenance	New Pumps		Artillery Support	Torpedo Mode

Pros and cons

Pros:

• 2 x 40 mm cannons offer almost unlimited damage, thanks to the rate of fire
• Standard number of torpedoes with decent properties
• Depth charges are available as special weaponry
• Superiorly fast, currently the fastest vessel in the British coastal tree
• Extremely adequate range of fire of the 40 mm guns on skilled hands, around 5,000m
• AP belt easily takes out armoured naval targets such as the Soviets MBK-161 (1943)

Cons:

• Expensive price once all modifications have been researched; this mimics her real-life expensiveness
• Both 40 mm guns cannot fire directly backwards or frontally
• Very low combat endurance against bigger vessels due to minimal crew size
• Large for a Motor Torpedo Boat; easily targeted at low speeds and close ranges
• Sluggish in low speeds turns
• No auxiliary armament or anti-air, only manually guided guns

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

• X-rays view of the HMS Brave Borderer
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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

• [Wikipedia] Brave-class patrol boat
• Jane's Fighting Ships 1971-72, Raymond V. B. Blackman, p. 371.
• Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1947-1995, Gardiner, Robert, Chumbley, Stephen, Budzbon, Przemysaw, p. 79.