Pr.123-bis

Pr.123-bis

MPK-163

Pr.123K

Pr.123-bis

MPK-163

Pr.123K

USSR

II Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
2.3	2.3	2.3

Class:

Motor torpedo boat

Boat

Research:14 000

Purchase:32 000

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Description

The Pr.123-bis is a rank II Soviet motor torpedo boat with a battle rating of 2.3 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced during Update 1.79 "Project X" when the Soviet fleet was implemented into the game.

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

Primary armament composes of two, dual mounted DShK heavy machine gun turrets with one located at the stern and the other at the centre of the vessel just above and behind the bridge. Note that the turret at the stern is obstructed when pointed towards the bow due to the other turret therefore somewhat restricting fire coverage. The turret just behind the bridge has near 360° though it is slightly obstructed by the mast when pointing towards the bow.

The DShK 12.7 mm guns provide good firepower and rate of fire against similarly sized ships and somewhat larger ships thanks to its heavy calibre. They have an ammunition capacity of 1000 rounds with reloads taking ~4.7 seconds. Available belts to research include the high explosive incendiary (HEI) and armour piercing incendiary tracer (APIT) rounds.

Torpedo armament

The Pr. 123bis carries two 450mm wet-heating 45-36NU torpedoes. They have a range of 3 km at a speed of 78 km/h or a range of 6 km at 73 km/h with the Torpedo Mode module installed. They are placed at the bow of the boat and fired out already at speed, so you can surprise your opponents with your torpedoes, unlike early American boats, which simply throw the torpedoes to their sides.

Be careful with your torpedoes! Due to torpedoes being fired out of their tubes at an upwards angle, this means that your torpedoes might over-shoot (literally) any boats which are passing right in front of the Pr. 123bis.

Special armament

Depth charges, mines, rocket launchers and missiles are also effective in skilled hands and can be an unexpected surprise for an opponent. Evaluate the ammunition of this type of armament and rate its performance in combat.

Usage in battles

The Pr. 123bis strikes a balance between speed and weaponry. At its low battle rating, the two dual 12.7 mm machine guns reliably destroy all light boats, experiencing difficulty only in a full up-tier. For the most part, the Pr. 123bis should be used as a flanker. Your machine guns destroy compartments with 3-5 bursts, and if you get the first shot on most of your opponents, they are most likely going to die very soon after. However, if you meet tougher opponents, it is viable to simply cross the map around the flank, (ignoring the lighter boats) while the opponents are focused on their front, and fire your torpedoes at their sides (best done when up close and personal).

As a rule of thumb, you should never remain stationary. The Pr. 123bis doesn't have any armour, and all other boats at its battle rating can kill it, so to make it much more difficult for the opponents, try to stay at your top speed and avoid head-on encounters. Although, you can still handle some threats from the sides because your guns' rotation speeds are very fast.

Pros and cons

The Pr. 123bis is one of the first Russian boats that gets decent firepower, which can destroy its opponents very quickly. Moreover, it gets two torpedoes, which are fired forwards at speed (can be an advantage, but also a disadvantage). All of that weaponry is placed on a motor boat which can reach very high speeds. It's a boat that will help you grind out USSR Tier I navy.

Pros:

• Decent firepower, with effective turret placement
• Quick turret rotation speeds
• Great mobility and speed

Cons:

• Easy to destroy with any gun at its battle rating
• Only 2 torpedoes, which fire forwards

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 big, take it to a separate article, taking a link to an article about the vehicle and adding a block "/ History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article.

Media

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See also

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• reference to the series of the ship;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

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• topic on the official game forum;
• encyclopedia page on ship;
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