- Yes.
- No.
- 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.
Today I’m going to suggest a rather weird and funny looking patrol boat.
This is the P1-class patrol vessel, HNLMS P3!
The only photo I could find of HNLMS P3
Source: https://www.tracesofwar.nl/articles/7471/Nederlandse-Patrouilleboten-van-de-P-1-klasse-1939.htm
History
Spoiler
In the late 1930’s the Dutch Navy didn’t have any dedicated patrol vessels. Instead older minelayer or similar larger vessels were used for this purpose, and they got the job done but something smaller and specific for the patrol role was desired.
That’s when the Navy decided to built four different classes of patrol boats. These were the P1, P5, P9 and P17-class boats. Each class was a little bigger and better armed then the previous. The P1-class turned out to be too small and too weak for the Navy. It being the first ever class of dedicated patrol boats for the navy, it makes sense that there was much to learn and the P1-class was simply the first stepping stone.
HNLMS P3 was made in the Soerabaja dockyard and finished in 1939.
When the second world war broke out in the Dutch East Indies the exact location of the HNLMS P3 was unknown. Her actual carreer at this time is also unknown, and it’s very likely that she was sunk by her own crew to avoid capture. The same had been done for most of her sister ships to.
Design
Spoiler
HNLMS P3 was 15,85 metres long, had a beam of 4 metres and a draft of 1,32 metres, and displaced 23 tons. She had a crew of 10 men and was able to reach a top speed of 12 knots.
[u]The main weaponry of the ship consisted of two single 7,7mm No. 1 machine guns.** These were Lewis machine guns. There were a few sub variants of the gun in service, such as a faster firing one too, but for the HNLMS P3 I do not know which exact type it used.
Whilst the exact location of the guns on the ship is unknown to me, the two machine guns were most likely located on the rear of the ship, with one on either side of the boat.
One more cool feature we see on the boat is the large searchlight on top of the bridge. It being a patrol boat means that ofcourse it would have one, but because the boat is so small it looks kinda funny on it.
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 P3 is honestly worse then the boats that have been hidden in this update.
The whole reason I wanted to suggest this one is because the HNLMS P3 is the only boat of the P1-class I could find a photo of in her original pre-war layout. Ingame it would simply be the worst boat ever, so this suggestion is more here to show something cool.
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.
Specifications
Spoiler
Displacement: 23 tons
Length: 15,85 m
Beam: 4 m
Draft: 1,32 m
Powerplant: 1 x 110 hp Werkspoor diesel engine
Maximum speed: 12 knots (22,22 km/h)
Crew: 10 menArmament:
2 x 1 7,7mm No. 1 machine guns (Lewis machine gun)
And there you have it! I hope you enjoyed reading about this little boat.
See you on the battlefield!
Sources