HNLMS TM 3, the steel Motor Torpedo Boat prototype

Suggestions Naval
1
Would you like to see the HNLMS TM 3 ingame?
  • Yes.
  • No.
0 voters
In what techtree would you like to see this boat be added in?
  • In a future Dutch/BeNeLux techtree.
  • In the French BeNeLux sub-tree
  • Other (Please explain in the comments).
  • I said “No” in the first question.
0 voters

Today I’m going to suggest a one-of Motor Torpedo Boat used by the Dutch Navy.

This is the HNLMS TM 3!

image
image1920×1352 149 KB

HNLMS TM 3 going at full speed
Source: Foto's

Quick explanation about the name of the boat:

Around 1930 the Netherlands Navy accepted four Motor Torpedo Boats into service. These were the TM I-class boats, HNLMS TM I, HNLMS TM II, HNLMS TM III and HNLMS TM IV.
In 1933 one of the boats, HNLMS TM III, was already put out of service after it got heavily damaged. This freed up the HNLMS TM III name.
When the boat I'm suggesting here was getting constructed in 1938, it was given the name HNLMS TM 3 since that TM number name was free. But you will notice that they have switched from using the Roman III to the Western Arabic 3 number. 
Online I've found that the two different HNLMS TM III / 3 boats get confused a lot, but I want to make it clear that the one I'm suggesting here is not the TM-I-class boat, but instead it's the one-of steel boat.

Lastly, on a very few sources the name of the boat I'm suggesting is referrred to as the HNLMS TM 3 (II). The II bit meaning it's the second boat of that name.

History & Design

Spoiler

The origins of this Motor Torpedo Boat are quite the mystery. We know that the boat was made in 1938 by the Marine Establishment in Surabaya, Java. The boat was of an all steel construction unlike the previous older TM I-class Motor Torpedo Boats which were of an all wooden design.

Whilst the TM 3 looked a little different from the prvious TM I-class boats, it does seem like it’s base design was copied from them. The TM I-class were Thornycroft, so called, Coastal Motor Boats (CMB’s). These were small 55 foot boats armed with two torpedoes, two machine guns and up to four depth charges.

The TM 3 seems to differ from the TM I-class in it’s bridge and bow. The bridge is much less sloped and is more of a straight square shape. And the bow of the boat is more rounded instead of pointy.

The weaponry was also copied over. That being two 45cm torpedoes, a twin 7,7mm machine gun mount, and whilst I can’t confirm it on the single photo we have of the boat, it might also have a few depth charges.

The torpedoes used were the Whitehead Type XII and Whitehead Type II 150 (Also known as Type II 45). These torpedoes were taken of the old Wolf-class destroyers that were taken out of service by then. The TM 3 did not have torpedo tubes, Instead the torpedoes were loaded on the rear of the boat, and when launched they would be shot backwards out of the boat. The ingame Russian G-5 boat has the exact same system.

  • The Whitehead Type XII torpedo has a warhead of 60kg of Wet guncotton, and a range of 1.000 meters at 30,8 knots.
  • The Whitehead Type II 150 torpedo has a warhead of 85kg of TNT, and a range of 1.000 meters at 30 knots, and 2.000 meters at 24 knots.

As for the machine guns, we can see on the photo that these were mounted near the front of the boat. And this mounting was the exact same one used on the later TM 4-class boats. The machine guns used were the 7,7mm No. 1 dubbel. This is a twin Lewis machine gun mounting.

image
image1920×1177 166 KB

The 7,7mm No. 1 dubbel mounting as seen on HNLMS TM 5, this is the same mounting used on HNLMS TM 3
Source: Foto's

In the end only one boat was ever made of this design, and it’s carreer was very uneventfull. The only thing we do know for sure is that the boat was destroyed by her own crew on the 2nd of March 1942 to avoid capture by the Japanese.

Ingame

Spoiler

With the most recent changes made in the Major Update “Hornet’s Sting”, this boat would no longer be viable as a reserve boat ingame. In the “Hornet’s Sting” update many of the weaker, only machine gun armed, reserve boats have been hidden and replaced by more powerfull counterparts.

HNLMS TM 3 is just like the boats that have been hidden in this update.

The only thing this boat has going for it is it’s all steel construction. Most of the reserve boats are just made of wood, so the TM 3 stands a chance. But with the future of Coastal Boats constandly changing I don’t know if Gaijin will ever go back to adding these smaller Motor Torpedo Boats.

Now where should this boat go to? As usualy with my Dutch vehicle suggestions, I ofcourse want to see this ingame in a Dutch or BeNeLux techtree. Ofcourse the BeNeLux has been added to France, so this is now the only option where Dutch vessels will go to. But it must be said that the Netherlands and France have nothing in common, and do not make sense to combine together ingame.

As for the exact placement of this boat I think it would work best as a cheap BR 1.0 premium. It was a one-of boat that saw pretty much no action, so that makes it a perfect premium to me.

Specifications

Spoiler

image
image1920×776 82.2 KB

The blueprint of a MODEL of the HNLMS TM 3, note that the bridge and bow seen on this blueprint do not match with that of the actual boat. I’m guessing this blueprint was the first iteration of the TM 3 design, and it would change slightly over time
Source: | Nationaal Archief

Displacement: 16 tons
Length: 18.60 m
Beam: 3.80 m
Draft: 1.90 m
Powerplant: 3 x 450 hp Lorraine Dietrich 12E engines
Maximum speed: 38 knots (70,38 km/h)
Crew: 6 men

Armament:
1 x 2 7,7mm No. 1 dubbel machine guns
2 x 450 mm torpedo launchers firing Whitehead Type XII or Type II 150 torpedoes
Possibly also a few depth charges

And there you have it! I hope you enjoyed reading about this little boat.

See you on the battlefield!

Sources

Spoiler

Main sources:

Photos:

Blueprints:

1 Like