Originally posted by Nifty in the General Discussion Forum thread The Last Panzer IV thread I'm ever making
remember, in AH if your pilot gets killed, your ride (plane, GV or PT) will instantly explode.
I think almost every PT boat "explosion" is the result of a pilot kill as the people in the boat are completely unprotected. Same thing with the M-16. They are basically out in the open.
One issue is that with GVs and PTs, if the pilot/driver dies, you shouldn't lose the vehicle. The rest of the crew can still fight with the pilot being dead. The vehicle just isn't going anywhere.
I respond in this thread so as not to hijack
Urchin's thread about the Panzer IV in the General Discussion Forum.
In my case almost every PT boat "explosion" is the result of my trying to get close to the beach, so I can bring rockets to bear on a town or factory.
Weighing in at a little over 50 tons, fully equipped, PT boats were the smallest, fastest, most maneuverable, and most heavily armed (based on armament vs. displacement) of all fighting craft in WW II.
Plywood was used in construction of the combat PT boat, but the hull itself was two layers of mahogany planking laminated over wood frames. A layer of airplane fabric, impregnated with marine glue, was ironed in between the two layers. The laminate hull of the PT boat could apparently absorb considerable reef "damage" to the hull beneath the forward berthing compartment, head, and chain locker. It seems highly unlikely that the fuel tanks, located beneath the day cabin and abaft the superstructure, would rupture and ignite when the hull made low-speed contact with a sand beach or coral reef. There is historical evidence to support this-
During an attack on a Japanese freighter PT 33 ran aground and had to be destroyed (burned) by her own crew to prevent capture.
PT 168 ran aground off the Sepik River in New Guinea and was pulled off by PT 163.
PT 193 ran aground on a coral reef off Bani Point, Noemfoor, Indonesia. The crew was taken aboard by PT 331. PT 193 was scuttled by her own crew to prevent capture.
PT 347 ran aground on a reef close to Cape Lambert, New Guinea. PT 350 made an unsuccessful attempt to pull PT 347 off the reef. During this attempt the two boats defended themselves for 45 minutes when mistakenly attacked by a flight of Corsairs. The boat crews shot down one of the attacking aircraft.
In the examples above, three of four boats were destroyed by the USN
after running aground, not by the act of grounding itself.
Originally posted by Batz in the General Discussion Forum thread The Last Panzer IV thread I'm ever making
the pt was made of wood; while it should explode like it does (nothing in ah should) any amount of moderate strafing would be enough to kill it.
Originally posted by Nilsen10 in the General Discussion Forum thread The Last Panzer IV thread I'm ever making
define that if you will Batz
PT boats came under enemy fire as a matter of routine. There are many well-documented cases of PT’s sustaining moderate to heavy damage in battle and not only continuing to fight, but returning to base. PT 109, arguably the most famous PT boat, is a good example: on night patrol on January 14-15, 1943, PT-109 was patroling northwest of Savo for Japanese destroyers. Before dawn,
shore batteries at Cape Esperance ranged the 109 and
punched three holes in her hull. PT 109 withdrew, but made an unsuccessful attempt to pull PT-72 off a reef southwest of Florida Island before returning to base.
During a battle around Savo Island on the night of February 1-2, 1943, both PT-115 and PT-38 beached themselves on the western side of Savo Island and were pulled off by PT-109.
