- 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 RP 132!
HNLMS RP 133 in 1947. Don’t let the rear machine guns fool you, that is not a twin mount, it’s two single mounts with one on either side of the ship
Source: Foto's
History
Spoiler
A couple crew members of the HNLMS RP 133 posing for a photo whist showing of their weapons
Source: Foto'sIn 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 RP 133 started of it’s carreer as the HNLMS P4. She was made in the Soerabaja dockyard and finished in 1939.
When the war broke out in the Dutch East Indies the HNLMS P4 would remain in service untill 1942. On the 8th of March 1942 she would be sunk by her own crew in South-West Java. She would then be raised by the Japanese again who would put it back into service as a patrol vessel. The ship would be found again in 1945 and returned to Dutch service under the “Dienst van Scheepvaart” fleet (This was an civilian organization).
In July of 1947 she was taken over by the Dutch Navy and put back into military service as the HNLMS RP 133. The ship was given a new 3,7cm gun at the front and would be used for patrol duties untill 1950. We’ve got quite a few photos and a painting of her actions during the Indonesian National Revolution.
In 1950 the ship was taken out of service and given to the Indonesian Navy.
A crew member of the HNLMS RP 133 looking at a list they’ve made of all the targets they have engaged
Source: Foto's
Design
Spoiler
HNLMS RP 133 firing shells at the shoreline
Source: Foto'sHNLMS RP 133 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.
The main weaponry of the ship consisted was a single 3,7cm Semi-automatic AAC cannon mounted on the front of the ship. This gun was made by the American Armament Corp and was more famously used on the Dutch Marmon Herrington CTMS and MTLS tanks. Whilst the 3,7cm gun used on the tanks suposedly used a clip feed mechanism that gave it a very high rate of fire, the Naval version of this gun has gotten rid of this, and the gun is simply fed by a loader that puts the shells into the breach.
The gun itself was crewed by three men. Two sat to the sides of the gun and controlled it’s aiming and firing. And a third crew member stood behind the the other two men and was the loader for the gun. Sadly I do not know the max firerate for this gun. As for protection the mount seen on HNLMS RP 133 has a gunshield at the front, but unlike her sister ship HNLMS RP 132, the shield on HNLMS RP 133 is shorter. So the two crew members sitting behind the shield are less protected.
A photo taken of a 3,7cm Semi-automatic AAC onboard a Dutch HDML boat
Source: Foto'sThe secondairy weapons onboard 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 RP 133 I do not know which exact type it used.
The two machine guns were located on the rear of the ship, with one on either side of the boat.
The bridge of the HNLMS RP 133
Source: Foto's
Ingame
Spoiler
The HNLMS RP 133 is just one of those weird gunboats that every navy seems to have atleast one of. Ingame it would be a pretty bad boat let’s be honest. I would imagine the 3,7cm gun has a good firerate, but the ship is just too small to take any kind hits from enemy fire. So ingame this boat would simply be a BR 1.0 gun boat. There are some other ships that could fill that spot for the Dutch Navy, so maybe the HNLMS RP 133 could be a fun premium or event boat.
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.
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:
1 x 1 3,7cm Semi-automatic AAC cannon
2 x 1 7,7mm No. 1 machine guns (Lewis machine gun)
A beautifull paiting of HNLMS RP 133 whilst fighting against motorboats of the Indonesian revolution forces
Source: Maritiem Digitaal NL
And there you have it! I hope you enjoyed reading about this little boat.
See you on the battlefield!
Sources