Type T-14
Contents
Description
The Type T-14 is a rank I Japanese motor torpedo boat
with a battle rating of 1.0 (AB/RB/SB). Announced back in Update 1.63 "Desert Hunters", the Type T-14 was introduced into the game in Update 1.89 "Imperial Navy".
General info
| Displacement full | 14.5 tons |
| Length | 15.0 m |
| Breadth | 3.65 m |
| Draught | 0.62 m |
| No of shafts | 1 |
| Engine type | 1 x 71-gata petrol engine |
| Power | 920 hp |
| Max speed | 33 kts |
| Fuel type | Petrol (gasoline) |
| Armament | 1 x 1 - 13.2/76 Type 93 machine gun |
| Crew complement | 7 |
Survivability and armour
The Type T-14 has no armour, just a wooden hull which is 40 mm thick along with a 15 mm thick wooden superstructure. With 7 crew members, it should be noted that the boat cannot take many hits despite its small profile and survive. The crew compartment is located on frontal half of the boat while the ammunition supply, engine and fuel compartment sits on the rear half of the boat where the area is slightly above the water level. This ship has 4 compartments, making it slightly more survivable than certain other reserve MBTs, it's espeically survivable against small caliber rounds at longer ranges, though this survivability is still nothing to rely on.
Mobility
The Type T-14 has a top speed of 61 km/h (38 mph) which can be reached within 10 seconds. The boat also can go from 0 km/h to its top speed in reverse (20 km/h or 12.5 mph) in 7 seconds when in full back throttle. It takes approximately 12 seconds to halt the boat from its maximum forward speed. Its top speed doesn't quite stack up when compared to the other low tier MTBs, as it's one of the slowest in game. However its ability to turn and its general agility is great, and can comfortably dodge torpedoes or hazardous terrain.
Armament
Primary armament
The Type T-14 is equipped with a single 13.2mm Type 93 machine gun, which is underwhelming to say the least. It has a 30 round magazine with a fairly long reload relative to the size of the gun, it doesn't do the most damage either and this combined with the reload means your overall damage output is comparatively poor. It gets access to three belts;
- Universal- A mix of AP, Tracer, and High explosive incendiary rounds
- AP-T- A predominantly armour piercing round belt
- HEIT- A predominantly High explosive incendiary belt
Overall, the HEIT belt consistently deals the most damage, it will still take a while to dispatch most enemy vessels but this belt is easily the most efficient. the HE content in the rounds can set off torpedoes and do moderate structural damage to unarmored vessels. It also has a full, 360 degree traverse which is very useful for fighting at close range, meaning you can be more adaptable when picking targets.
Torpedo armament
The Type T-14 is armed with two Type 2 torpedoes, they will easily destroy any large vessel at the lower tiers, but as the maximum range is only 3 kilometers you'll need to get a bit closer to the target or choke point than you would with other torpedoes.
Special armament
The boat can carry six Type 95 depth charges, which can be dropped to maim other naval targets, they have rather limited viability though as most MTBs will be able to outrun the explosion, however they are useful for sneaking up on the larger ships, as if you can reach them unnoticed one or two of these depth charges will sink the vessel.
Usage in battles
The T-14 is limited in it's play style mainly by it's main gun, it doesn't work well at range or deal a lot of damage, so at mid to close range is where it's going to have the most substantial impact. It's a good idea to play around your teammates, as in a one on one fight, an enemy will likely cause more damage to you than you will to them, so you'll need the support of friendlies to inflict a portion of the damage.
The T-14 is very reactive to your input, it accelerates well and comes to a stop fairly quickly, which makes fighting around the terrain a lot easier, you can use this cover to your advantage well by how easily you can traverse around it, popping in and out of sight to catch enemies unaware. You'll need to start firing on an enemy first to dispatch them before taking too much damage yourself, so playing cautiously and waiting around islands for vessels to come into sight is a good option.
If you see a larger vessel it's best not to engage it on your own, you wont be able to do enough damage to take it out if it's firing back at you, use your torpedoes to try and knock them out, and only engage with your main gun if you have the support of your friendlies.
Modules
| Tier | Seakeeping | Unsinkability | Firepower | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | Dry-Docking | Tool Set | 13 mm HEIT belt | |||
| II | Rudder Replacement | Fire Protection System | Smokescreen | AP-T | ||
| III | Propeller Replacement | Primary Armament Targeting | Depth Charges | |||
| IV | Engine Maintenance | New Pumps | Artillery Support | |||
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Maneuverable, and reactive to input
- Main gun is small, and hard to knock out
- 360 degree fire arc
Cons:
- Comparatively slow
- Low magazine size
- Main gun has very poor performance at range
- Main gun struggles to take out larger vessels
History
Design "Type T-14", officially the No.538 class Motor Torpedo Boat (第五百三十八号型魚雷艇), was the final production model of the Type Otsu Motor Torpedo Boat (乙型魚雷艇), and also the most produced Japanese MTB.
Before WW2, the Imperial Japanese Navy did not have any interest in small crafts, and such crafts were mainly built by the Army. However, during the Pacific War, the US navy began commerce raiding with PT boats. To counter them, IJN began to develop the Type Otsu MTB, based on a design taken from the Army's MGB Ka-Ro, and using a wide variety of spare aircraft engines.
But, old engines could not provide enough power, and using various types of engine caused problems with maintenance. To solve these issues, IJN developed the new "Kanhon-Type Mark 71 Model 6" (艦本式71号6型) engine. This engine was a copy of the Isotta-Fraschini W18 water-cooled engine mounted on MAS-451's imported from Italy.
At first, Type T-35 (No.468 class MTB) was equipped with two of these engines, but production of this engine was very difficult and production rate per month was only 3-4 (Later on, the rate was improved to around 20 per month). Because of this, they began to develop a Type Otsu MTB with a single engine. The Type T-25 (No.469 class) was created, designed to equip one Mk.71 Mod.6, however hull size was the same as former models so it couldn't get enough speed, and the hull was reworked to be smaller, forming the Type T-14 and T-15 (No.491 class MTB). The Type T-14 was chosen for mass-production, and eventually 83 were produced.
Media
Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, 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.
External links
- [Development] T-14 Class torpedo boat: Single-Engine Seafarer
- Navypedia website Japan Axuillary T-14
| Japan boats | |
|---|---|
| Motor torpedo boats | Type T-1 · Type T-14 · Type T-14 (mod. 1) · Type T-38 · Type T-51a · Type T-51b |
| PT-802 · PT-808 · PT-15 | |
| Motor gun boats | Ha-Go (mod. 1) · Type 4 (mod. 2) · Type 4 (Mod 4) |
| Asagao (YTE-01) · PG 02 | |
| Armoured gun boats | Soukou-Tei · Soukou-Tei No.4 |
| Gunboats | Chidori |
