Soviet Motor Torpedo Boats of World War II

48 pages

Chris O’Flaherty

Through tracing the origins of Russian motor torpedo boat design to the August 1919 Royal Navy raid on Kronshtadt [sic], the striking similarities between British Coastal Motor Boats (CMBs) and Soviet MTBs shine throughout this book.

The technological combination of high-rotation petrol engines, flat-bottomed planning hulls and the self-propelled torpedo, melded with the emerging sport of fast-boat racing, had led to the development in 1916 of Royal Navy CMBs. These had a distinctly turtle-back hull form, with equally distinct stern-launched torpedoes necessary to achieve weight distribution for a sustainable trim. Used in 1919 to raid the Bolshevik port of Kronshadt, CMB.62 had been sunk during this raid and the wreck abandoned. It was raised one month later, on 13 September 1919, and its technological secrets were duly revealed to the Soviets.

The Revolutionary War Soviet set themselves an objective of replicating the British boat, but they could not source the same materials – especially mahogany for the hull. Their Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute stepped up to the task, with Soviet decision makers viewing a combination of aircraft and naval solutions as ‘progressive’. Working alongside a German aircraft factory which was ‘in exile’ near Moscow (due to the constraints of the Versailles Treaty), the advantages of all-metal aircraft construction were duly translated to Russian Motor Torpedo Boats. Duralumin was used for both framing and hull, giving a light weight, strength, speed, but also corrosion issues. 54 knots was achieved on trials of the first production vessel – a remarkable speed which exceeded that of all other CMBs and MTBs of the era.

The trials success of the first indigenous design led to instructions in 1926 for a more tactically useful MTB with two torpedo troughs on the stern. The combined aviation and naval design teams then used stress equations for flying boats as they refined the structural elements, but this proved to be a flawed decision. With series production already in full flow, in December 1930 the dozen new boats of the 1st MTB Flotilla were subject to inspection – 10 of them had serious structural damage, attributed to “their skipper’s crazy riding”; in contrast to the air force who nurtured their flying boats, Soviet MTBs were being driven in a cavalier manner, almost always at top speed regardless of the sea state.

As prospective warfighting machines, these MTBs were building for themselves a good reputation. Mass production, high speed, and their significant weight-to-armament ratio made them stand out as fleet assets, despite their shortfalls in structural strength and corrosion.  This high regard led to an order for 450 MTBs as part of the 1933-1937 ‘five year plan’, preparing the Soviet Navy for war.

The realities of combat saw Soviet MTBs fail to live up to expectations. They were unusable in the Northern Fleet due to the predominantly high sea states, and in the Baltic and Black Seas the firing of torpedoes from excessive distances led to a lack of effect. (Despite claims to the contrary, it is likely that the stern-launch torpedo design only achieved a sinkings total in a single digit).  Lend-Lease of over 100 UK and US designed MTBs, and also a Soviet thrust to build MTBs from wood, led to some improvements which drove Russian MTB war sinkings to a total of “no more than 30”. In contrast to this lack of primary effect, probably the most significant design ‘improvement’ was the Project 213 fitting in MTBs of rocket-launchers to provide an MLRS-esq fire support solution to landing forces, which required the plating over of the torpedo troughs!

Overall, this is a delightful yet short glimpse into the evolution of Soviet MTBs up to the end of the Second World War, with a useful focus on how designs of aeroplanes and fast planning vessels have been interlinked. It can be firmly recommended as an informative background read for all members interested in Soviet/Russian and general MTB evolution.