Difference between revisions of "MGB-61"
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| − | MGB-61's primary armament | + | As a motor gun boat, MGB-61's primary armament is actually quite good, unlike many previous vessels in the tech tree. With four 12.7 mm Vickers Mk.V machineguns, the damage output is roughly comparable to two or three 20 mm cannons, and, with a belt capacity of 200 rounds each, they can sustain fire for much longer than most contemporary autocannons. Whereas most of her cannon-armed counterparts must reload after one or two kills, MGB-61 can easily take out multiple enemies in quick succession, which makes her well suited for aggressive playstyles. This firepower, however, comes at the cost of a long reload, anywhere between 13 and 10 seconds depending on the level of the crew. |
| − | + | In addition to a long reload, the primary armament's firing arcs are also somewhat restrictive. Both gun mounts are unable to fire in a ~117° arc in the direction of the other mount, and at rest, both are unable to fire at anything within ~275 m directly behind the boat. When on the move, the bow will lift out the water, eliminating the rear blind spot, but also creating a new one in front of the boat that extends for several hundred meters where one or both of the mounts are unable to depress far enough to get guns on target. | |
| − | MGB-61 | + | With all of this in mind, play MGB-61 aggressively, but always be aware of the limits of the guns and adapt your playstyle accordingly. Because of the long reload, be sure to fire off any remaining ammo after engagements if there isn’t much left in the belts, around 250 rounds or less between all four guns. Likewise, because of the poor firing arcs, keep enemies either directly in front or directly behind you so that all guns are able to fire, and speed up or slow down as needed to eliminate the blindspots as needed. MGB-61's survivability is rather poor and largely reliant on being able to destroy opponents before they can deal much damage in return, so not being able to fire for even just for a few seconds due to any of the aforementioned reasons, or any other reason for that matter, will often result in your own destruction. |
| − | + | Lastly, if you come across any armoured targets that the 12.7 mm machineguns fail to penetrate, switch to the secondary 40 mm 2pdr Rolls Royce cannon. This gun is more than capable of punching through any armour MGB-61 might come across, and it also has a higher effective range, which makes it useful for long-range engagements. However, its damage output is noticeably lower than the four machineguns, so always be prepared to switch to it at a moment’s notice, but only if you have to. | |
| − | ;Ammunition | + | ;Ammunition |
| − | For the 12.7 mm Vickers Mk.V, the 12.7 mm I belt | + | For the 12.7 mm Vickers Mk.V machineguns, the 12.7 mm I belt has a noticeably higher damage output than both the Universal and 12.7 mm API belts, both of which are about the same in terms of damage. Because it lacks the AP round, the 12.7 mm I belt has slightly less armour penetration than the other two belts, but in general, anything that can stop the incendiary round will also stop the armour-piercing round. Take only the 12.7 mm I belt and switch the 40 mm 2pdr Rolls Royce cannon to deal with armoured targets. |
| − | For the 40 mm 2pdr Rolls Royce cannon, the best ammunition | + | For the 40 mm 2pdr Rolls Royce cannon, the best ammunition for general use is the 40 mm HE magazine because it has the highest ratio of HE rounds to AP rounds, which means that it's the most effective against both aircraft and the vast majority of surface targets. This should be the main round for the AI gunners to use while you're not directly controlling the gun. In addition, take a substantial amount of 40 mm AP as well for use against armoured targets. Another option is to take only Universal if you want to avoid the reload between switching ammunition types at the cost of lower damage efficiency. |
;Depth Charges | ;Depth Charges | ||
| − | + | There is no practical reason to use depth charges on any naval vessel in the game. Although they usually result in a one-hit kill if used properly, they are extremely situational and are actually a liability in most cases. This is because, unless they're dropped, they essentially act as exposed ammo racks. | |
| − | + | With some luck, sailing up right next to a slower target and dropping a depth charge can lead to some success. If attempting this, remember the depth charge drop order and that there is no reason to set the depth charge delay above the minimum 3 seconds, since a higher delay time means that the depth charge will only sink further, and thus away, from the target. Again, this is extremely situational. | |
| + | |||
| + | The recommended loadout is: | ||
| + | |||
| + | * Without load | ||
=== Modules === | === Modules === | ||
Revision as of 15:43, 5 November 2020
Contents
Description
The 70 ft MGB-61 is a rank I British motor gun boat
with a battle rating of 1.7 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.83 "Masters of the Sea" as part of the British fleet closed beta test.
General info
Survivability and armour
MGB-61 has the following armour layout:
- 40 mm 2pdr Rolls Royce gun shield: 12.7 mm hardened armour
- Hull: 40 mm, wood
- Superstructure: 15 mm, wood
While the gun shield may stop low-calibre machineguns, heavy machineguns and cannons will have no trouble with them at any range. The hull and superstructure will not stop any sort of gunfire.
MGB-61 can be hull-broken by any gun that is greater than 4 inches (102 mm) in diameter. Hull-break is triggered when any such gun hits and destroys any hull compartment — or in some cases, the bridge — with a high-explosive round, upon which the rest of the boat will be destroyed. At MGB-61's battle rating, there is only one gun capable of hull-breaking her:
- the 114 mm 8cwt QF Mk I, found on Dark Adventurer.
The hull is split into three compartments. The first compartment starts at the bow and ends in front of the bridge; the second ends between the fuel tanks and the engines; the third ends at the stern.
MGB-61 has two ammunition storages. The first is located just above the waterline in front of the aft 40 mm 2pdr Rolls Royce cannon, and it holds the ammunition for the primary armament. The other ammunition storage is located just above the waterline directly underneath each of the two twin 12.7 mm Vickers Mk.V machinegun mounts, and it holds the ammunition for the secondary armament. Destroying either will instantly destroy the boat.
With a crew complement of 12, MGB-61's overall survivability is below-average.
Mobility
| Mobility Characteristics | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Game Mode | Upgrade Status | Maximum Speed (km/h) | Turn Time (s) | Turn Radius (m) | |
| Forward | Reverse | ||||
| AB | Stock | 73 | 20 | ~23.21 | ~42.07 |
| Upgraded | 99 | 27 | ~15.41 | ~26.57 | |
| RB/SB | Stock | 64 | 17 | ~25.64 | ~47.61 |
| Upgraded | 74 | 20 | ~21.18 | ~38.39 | |
MGB-61 has a displacement of 34 tons.
When moving forwards at high speeds, the bow will lift out of the water. This creates a blind spot at close ranges in front of the boat where , depending on the angle, one or both of the twin 12.7 mm Vickers Mk.V mounts won't be able depress far enough to get the guns on target.
Armament
Primary armament
The primary armament consists of four 12.7 mm Vickers Mk.V machineguns in two twin mounts, one on either side of the bridge. There are 4,000 rounds of ammunition available for each mount, 2,000 rounds per gun, for a total of 8,000 rounds. Stock, the mounts can traverse horizontally and vertically at a rate of 64°/s; with the "Primary Armament Targeting" modification installed, this is increased to 75°/s. Each gun has a belt capacity of 200 rounds and a stated cyclic rate of fire of 600 rounds/min, though in actuality, they fire at slightly different rates: for the starboard mount, the gun on the gunner's right side fires at a faster rate, around 685 rounds/min, firing all 200 of its rounds in the time it takes the left side gun to fire about 175 rounds; for the port mount, the opposite is true. With a stock crew, the guns can be reloaded in 13 seconds; with an aced crew, they can be reloaded in 10 seconds.
|
Turrets are named sequentially, clockwise, starting at the bow |
| Primary Armament Guidance | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No.1 Turret (starboard) | No.2 Turret (port) | ||||||
| Horizontal | Vertical | Horizontal | Vertical | ||||
| ±180° | -10°/+70° | ±180° | -10°/+70° | ||||
There are three ammunition choices available:
- Universal: T · AP · I
- 12.7 mm I: T · I · I · I · I
- 12.7 mm API: T · AP · I · AP
| Penetration Statistics | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm) | |||||
| 10 m | 100 m | 500 m | 1,000 m | 1,500 m | 2,000 m | |
| Universal | 24 | 24 | 21 | 18 | 16 | 15 |
| 12.7 mm I | 20 | 19 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 11 |
| 12.7 mm API | 24 | 24 | 21 | 18 | 16 | 15 |
Secondary armament
The secondary armament consists of a single 40 mm 2pdr Rolls Royce cannon mounted aft, with 1,200 rounds of ammunition available for it. Stock, the mount can traverse horizontally at a rate of 38°/s and vertically at a rate of 47°/s; with the "Auxiliary Armament Targeting" modification installed, this is increased to 45°/s and 55°/s respectively. The gun has a magazine capacity of 4 rounds and a cyclic rate of fire of 231 rounds/min. With a stock crew, the gun can be reloaded in 1.7 seconds; with an aced crew, it can be reloaded in 0.85 seconds.
| Secondary Armament Guidance width="25%" | |
|---|---|
| Horizontal | Vertical |
| ±151° | -12°/+60° |
There are three ammunition choices available:
- Universal: HEF · AP-T · HEF · AP-T
- 40 mm HE: HEF · HEF · HEF · AP-T
- 40 mm AP: AP-T · AP-T · AP-T · HEF
| Penetration Statistics | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm) | |||||
| 10 m | 100 m | 500 m | 1,000 m | 1,500 m | 2,000 m | |
| Universal | 60 | 57 | 50 | 43 | 38 | 34 |
| 40 mm HE | 60 | 57 | 50 | 43 | 38 | 34 |
| 40 mm AP | 60 | 57 | 50 | 43 | 38 | 34 |
Special armament
MGB-61 has two possible loadouts:
- 2x Mk.VII depth charge
- Without load
The Mk.VII depth charges are carried amidships in front of the aft gun, one on each side. They are dropped one at a time in the following order:
- Starboard
- Port
Before spawning, the detonation time delay can be set anywhere between 3 seconds and 10 seconds.
| Depth Charge Characteristics | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Mass (kg) | Explosive Type | Explosive Mass (kg) | TNT Equivalent (kg) |
| 196 | TNT | 130 | 130 |
Usage in battles
As a motor gun boat, MGB-61's primary armament is actually quite good, unlike many previous vessels in the tech tree. With four 12.7 mm Vickers Mk.V machineguns, the damage output is roughly comparable to two or three 20 mm cannons, and, with a belt capacity of 200 rounds each, they can sustain fire for much longer than most contemporary autocannons. Whereas most of her cannon-armed counterparts must reload after one or two kills, MGB-61 can easily take out multiple enemies in quick succession, which makes her well suited for aggressive playstyles. This firepower, however, comes at the cost of a long reload, anywhere between 13 and 10 seconds depending on the level of the crew.
In addition to a long reload, the primary armament's firing arcs are also somewhat restrictive. Both gun mounts are unable to fire in a ~117° arc in the direction of the other mount, and at rest, both are unable to fire at anything within ~275 m directly behind the boat. When on the move, the bow will lift out the water, eliminating the rear blind spot, but also creating a new one in front of the boat that extends for several hundred meters where one or both of the mounts are unable to depress far enough to get guns on target.
With all of this in mind, play MGB-61 aggressively, but always be aware of the limits of the guns and adapt your playstyle accordingly. Because of the long reload, be sure to fire off any remaining ammo after engagements if there isn’t much left in the belts, around 250 rounds or less between all four guns. Likewise, because of the poor firing arcs, keep enemies either directly in front or directly behind you so that all guns are able to fire, and speed up or slow down as needed to eliminate the blindspots as needed. MGB-61's survivability is rather poor and largely reliant on being able to destroy opponents before they can deal much damage in return, so not being able to fire for even just for a few seconds due to any of the aforementioned reasons, or any other reason for that matter, will often result in your own destruction.
Lastly, if you come across any armoured targets that the 12.7 mm machineguns fail to penetrate, switch to the secondary 40 mm 2pdr Rolls Royce cannon. This gun is more than capable of punching through any armour MGB-61 might come across, and it also has a higher effective range, which makes it useful for long-range engagements. However, its damage output is noticeably lower than the four machineguns, so always be prepared to switch to it at a moment’s notice, but only if you have to.
- Ammunition
For the 12.7 mm Vickers Mk.V machineguns, the 12.7 mm I belt has a noticeably higher damage output than both the Universal and 12.7 mm API belts, both of which are about the same in terms of damage. Because it lacks the AP round, the 12.7 mm I belt has slightly less armour penetration than the other two belts, but in general, anything that can stop the incendiary round will also stop the armour-piercing round. Take only the 12.7 mm I belt and switch the 40 mm 2pdr Rolls Royce cannon to deal with armoured targets.
For the 40 mm 2pdr Rolls Royce cannon, the best ammunition for general use is the 40 mm HE magazine because it has the highest ratio of HE rounds to AP rounds, which means that it's the most effective against both aircraft and the vast majority of surface targets. This should be the main round for the AI gunners to use while you're not directly controlling the gun. In addition, take a substantial amount of 40 mm AP as well for use against armoured targets. Another option is to take only Universal if you want to avoid the reload between switching ammunition types at the cost of lower damage efficiency.
- Depth Charges
There is no practical reason to use depth charges on any naval vessel in the game. Although they usually result in a one-hit kill if used properly, they are extremely situational and are actually a liability in most cases. This is because, unless they're dropped, they essentially act as exposed ammo racks.
With some luck, sailing up right next to a slower target and dropping a depth charge can lead to some success. If attempting this, remember the depth charge drop order and that there is no reason to set the depth charge delay above the minimum 3 seconds, since a higher delay time means that the depth charge will only sink further, and thus away, from the target. Again, this is extremely situational.
The recommended loadout is:
- Without load
Modules
| Tier | Seakeeping | Unsinkability | Firepower | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | Dry-Docking | Tool Set | 40 mm HE | 12.7 mm I | ||
| II | Rudder Replacement | Fire Protection System | Smokescreen | 40 mm AP | 12.7 mm API | Auxiliary Armament Targeting |
| III | Propeller Replacement | Improved Rangefinder | Depth Charges | Primary Armament Targeting | ||
| IV | Engine Maintenance | New Pumps | Artillery Support | |||
Pros and cons
Pros:
- 12.7 mm Vickers Mk.V: high rate of fire, large belt capacity, good damage output, can rotate 360°
- 40 mm 2pdr Rolls Royce: very quick reload, high penetration with AP rounds, good firing arcs
- Good mobility
Cons:
- Blind spot directly in front when moving at high speeds
- 12.7 mm Vickers Mk.V: long reload, poor firing arcs
- 40 mm 2pdr Rolls Royce: cannot fire directly forwards, small magazine capacity, cannot rotate 360°
History
Over the course of the Second World War, British Power Boat Company (BPB), based at Hythe, manufactured three motor anti-submarine boat (MASB) designs which were essentially three differently sized versions of the same overall design, as follows: a 60-foot version, consisting of MASBs 1-5; a 63-foot version, consisting of MASBs 22-45; and a 70-foot version, consisting of MASBs 6-21, 46, and 50-67). These boats were originally designed as motor torpedo boats (MTBs), but with the increasing threat of German U-Boats, those ordered by the Royal Navy were ordered as MASBs, their torpedo tubes replaced with depth charge racks and ASDIC equipment.
The 70-foot boats, in particular, had a standard displacement of around 30 tons, with a full displacement of up to 38 tons, depending on the boat. They had a length of 70 feet (21.3 m), a beam of 16 feet 7 inches (5.05 m), and a draught of around 3 feet (~1 m) depending on the boat. The boats were powered as follows:
- MASBs 6-21: ordered by the Royal Navy as MASBs, all completed throughout 1940 and 1941. These were originally planned to be powered by Rolls Royce petrol engines. However, these engines became reserved only for Hurricane and Spitfire fighter aircraft by the time the boats were built. Instead, they were powered by two weaker Napier Sea Lion petrol engines driving two shafts and could only achieve 23 knots. In 1942, they received stronger Packard petrol engines and could achieve 38 knots.
- MASB 46: ordered by the Royal Netherlands Navy as an MTB. With the capitulation of the Netherlands in May 1940 before her completion, she was requisitioned by the Royal Navy in July 1940 and completed as a MASB on 13th July 1941. MASB 46 was powered by three Rolls Royce petrol engines driving three shafts and could achieve 42.5 knots.
- MASBs 50-67: ordered by the French Navy as MTBs. With the capitulation of France in June 1940 before the completion of most of the boats, they were requisitioned by the Royal Navy in July 1940 and completed as a MASB throughout 1940 and 1941. MASBs 50-67 were powered by three Isotta-Fraschini engines driving three shafts and could achieve 40 knots.
Around 1941, to counter the more heavily armed German E-Boats, the Royal Navy converted most of their MASBs, including all of the BPB 70-foot MASBs, into motor gun boats (MGBs). During this time, the BPB 70-foot boats were redesignated MGBs 6-21, 46, and 50-67 and were refitted with a standardized armament consisting of 2-pdr aft gun and two twin .50 calibre machine gun mounts on either side of the bridge.
MASB-61 was one of the ex-French BPB 70-foot boats. She was completed on 12th April 1941, but with the capitulation of France, she was requisitioned by the Royal Navy in July 1940 and converted into an MASB. In January 1941, she was refitted as a motor gun boat and redesignated as MGB-61. MGB-61 was commanded by the following:
- Lt. P.N. Howes, RN: December 1940 to August 1941
- Lt. I.R. Griffiths, RN: August 1941 to December 1941
- T/Lt. D.P. James, RNVR: December 1941 to July 1942
- T/Lt. J. Collins, RNVR: July 1942 to August 1943
MGB-61 served as part of the 6th MGB Flotilla with HMS Beehive at Felixstowe from 1941 to 1943. She was disposed of in February 1945.
Media
 |
See also
External links
- Coastal Forces Veterans - Boat Database
- unithistories.com - Royal Navy Coastal Forces 1940-1945
- naval-history.net - British vessels lost at sea in World War 2 - MGB, MTB, SGB, ML, etc - originally published in British Vessels Lost at Sea, 1935-45, His Majesty's Stationary Office, 1947
- NAVYPEDIA - MGB6 motor gun boats (35, 1939 - 1941)
- uboat.net - BPB 70 feet-type (ex: French) class
- D-Day Revisited - MASB 27 Restoration
- yalumba.co.uk - British Power Boat Co Page 4
- Coastal Forces Heritage Trust - Boats
References
Bibliography
- Konstam, Angus (2010). British Motor Gun Boat 1939–45. Osprey Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-1-84908-077-4.
| Britain boats | |
|---|---|
| Motor torpedo boats | Brave Borderer · Dark Aggressor · Dark Aggressor TD · Fairmile D (617) · Fairmile D (697) · Fairmile D (5001) · HMS Gay Archer |
| MTB-1(1) · MTB-1(2) · MTB Vosper · MTB Vosper(2) · MTB-422 | |
| Motor gun boats | Dark Adventurer · Fairmile A (ML100) · Fairmile B (ML345) · Fairmile C (312) · Fairmile C (332) · Fairmile D (601) · Fairmile H LCS(L)(2) |
| HMAS Arrow · MGB-61 · MGB-75 · ML 1383 · SGB Grey Fox · SGB Grey Goose | |
| Gunboats | HMS Spey |
