MAS 441
Contents
Description
The MAS 441 of the Baglietto type was one of four Italian gunboats constructed between 1934 and 1935 by Cantieri Baglietto shipyard in Varazze. Initially classified as training vessels, they had a displacement of 40.5 tonnes and were capable of reaching a maximum speed of 32 knots with the use of two 230 HP engines originally intended for MAS-ELCO motorboats. The design of the MAS 441 followed the dimensions and external layout of earlier MAS boats but introduced a new hull shape. Armed with five depth charges and a 13.2 mm machine gun, the armament was later upgraded to a 40 mm cannon and an 8 mm machine gun. During the Second World War, she served primarily in anti-submarine duties. On 1 June 1943, they were reclassified as "MAS a Efficienza Ridotta" (MAS with reduced efficiency) and renamed ME 41. The MAS 441 survived the war but was decommissioned and scrapped on 1 July 1950.
Introduced in Update "Dance of Dragons", the MAS 441 features an extremely capable 40 mm main gun, able to easily dispose of most of her counterparts. However, she is best described as a glass cannon, being an easy target to destroy, even by reserve boats. Overall, she is a very dangerous enemy that should not be underestimated.
General info
Survivability and armour
In a fashion typical of small wooden boats, MAS 441 has poor survivability, being easily destroyed by any high-calibre autocannon (>20 mm). She has identical hull thickness and crew to the MS-53, an earlier boat in the research tree at a lower BR. The one significant difference is how her crew is distributed, with MAS 441 having five sections in a smaller hull, while the MS-53 has three sections in a larger hull. This, in effect, makes her more survivable against heavy machine guns, especially those using various types of HE belts.
Mobility
Unlike most small wooden gunboats, MAS 441 has very poor mobility, especially when stock, where in Arcade battles her speed is just 32 km/h, which is insufficient to avoid artillery strikes. This makes her fight more like barges than a typical motor gunboat, such as the MV-611.
| Mobility Characteristics | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Game Mode | Upgrade Status | Maximum Speed (km/h) | |
| Forward | Reverse | ||
| AB | Stock | 32 | 12 |
| Upgraded | 43 | 17 | |
| RB/SB | Stock | 27.8 | 11 |
| Upgraded | 32 | 13 | |
Modifications and economy
| Seakeeping | Unsinkability | Firepower | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Armament
Primary armament
Her primary weapon is an impressive 40 mm autocannon. A single self-destroying high-explosive fragmentation shell is enough to destroy a section of any boat from lower BRs, making it possible to eliminate them with as few as three hits. Thicker hulls make it a bit trickier, but given the outstanding rate of fire of about 200 rounds per minute, she is able to destroy almost any boat within seconds.
Where the gun will struggle is against armoured targets (such as the AF D1) or targets that can sacrifice the bow section but still maintain substantial firepower (such as Type T-51b). Additionally, the spread of the gun makes engaging targets beyond 2 km challenging, but this is a common issue among vessels in this BR range.
| Penetration statistics | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm) | |||||
| 10 m | 100 m | 500 m | 1,000 m | 1,500 m | 2,000 m | ||
| HE-F | HEF* | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Shell details | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Velocity (m/s) |
Projectile mass (kg) |
Fuse delay (m) |
Fuse sensitivity (mm) |
Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g) |
Ricochet | |||||
| 0% | 50% | 100% | ||||||||||
| HE-F | HEF* | 610 | 0.9 | 0 | 0.1 | 55 | 79° | 80° | 81° | |||
Secondary armament
The aft-mounted 8 mm secondary machine gun with AP belt is unlikely to cause any significant damage, but, despite being labelled as a pure AP belt, it does have tracers, which makes it decent for discouraging enemy aeroplanes from engaging the boat. Additionally, players can switch from the primary autocannon to the 8 mm, allowing AI gunners to take over and engage enemy aeroplanes with a much more potent weapon. This might be a preferable option for engaging distant targets, at over 2 km range.
Additional armament
The 50 kg depth charges can inflict significant damage on large vessels, but due to the inherently poor mobility of the platform, they are unlikely to ever be successfully used to destroy enemy vessels. Instead, they pose an explosion risk, making it preferable to avoid equipping them for combat.
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
Pros:
- Extremely powerful main gun with excellent explosive filler, high rate of fire, and large magazine
- When switching to the secondary gun, AI gunners can take over the primary weapon, making it a capable medium-range anti-air platform
Cons:
- Poor survivability, typical for unarmored wooden boats
- Slow
- 8 mm secondary gun has a small clip size
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
Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:
- topic on the official game forum;
- other literature.
| Cantieri Navali Baglietto | |
|---|---|
| Motor Torpedo Boats | |
| MAS 500-class | MAS 561 · MAS 569 |
| Submarine Chasers | |
| MAS 438-class | MAS 441 |
| VAS Type I | VAS 201 |
| Italy boats | |
|---|---|
| Motor torpedo boats | MC-490 · Freccia P-493 · MAS 555 · MAS 561 · MAS 569 |
| MS-15 · MS-53 · MS-472 · Stefano Turr · VAS 201 · GIS 811 · MS 444 · MC 485 | |
| Motor gun boats | MAS 441 · MS-473 · MV-611 · Alano · Sparviero |
| Motor torpedo gun boats | Saetta P-494 |
| Gunboats | Albatros · Alcione |
