- 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 class of Canadian Power Boats operated by the Netherlands Navy.
This is the TM 22-class!
HNLMS TM 29 going at full speed during initial testing
Source: Foto's
History
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HNLMS TM 22 and 31
Source: Foto'sDuring the 1930’s the Dutch navy in the Dutch East Indies started to expand their Motor Torpedo Boat fleet. The first of these boats to enter service were the TM I-class boats. Soon after followed the TM 4-class. Both these classes were made by the Dutch. But for the next class of Motor Torpedo Boats it was decided to look abroad.
In 1941 the Canadian Power Boat company was chosen, and then would make what would be known as the TM 22-class Motor Torpedo Boat.
These boats were just like any other Power Boat. Four torpedoes, two machine gun turrets and room for depth charges.
A line up of a few TM 22-class boats, including HNLMS TM 30 with the shark mouth paintjob
Source: Foto'sIn total 16 TM 22-class boats would be made. However due to delivery issues the last four would be sold to the US Navy, so only twelve would enter service with the Dutch Navy. These were the HNLMS TM 22 up to TM 33.
The boats were planned to be used in the Dutch East Indies. But sadly for the Dutch Navy the boats would arrive to late to see action during the Japanese invasion of the Dutch East Indies. The boats would be delivered to Curaçao in 1942, where they would see their final weaponry fitted and be made ready for service.
The rest of the service careers for these boats are rather odd. The torpedo tubes fitted to the boats worked, but the torpedoes they were meant to fire never arrived in time to see use. And when they finally did arrive most of the torpedo tubes were not fit for use anymore, or they had been removed already to make room for depth charges.
In the end the boats served as patrol and rescue boats. And some were also sold to Britain later on in the war. In the end a pretty sad end for these cool boats.
Had they arrived on time in the East Indies they might have seen more active use.
HNLMS TM 29 during initial trials
Source: Foto's
Design
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A TM 22-class boat during construction
Source: Foto'sThe TM 22-class boats were 21,3 metres long, had a beam of 6,1 metres and a draft of 1,2 metres, and displaced 32 tons. They had a crew of 12 men and were able to reach a top speed of 48 knots.
The boats were powered by three 1.400 hp Packard engines.
The weaponry I’m about to list here is what was planned/used on the base class. individual boats of the class tended to differ in weaponry due to improvised modifications or wartime needs.
The TM 22-class were armed with four 450mm torpedoes. The torpedoes planned to be used on these boats in unknown since they were never delivered on time. My best guess is that the later so called “150 series” 45cm Whitehead torpedoes would be used. This torpedoes had a TNT warhead size of around 85 - 180 kg, and a range of 1.000 - 3000 meters at 40 knots, and a range of 2.000 - 8000 meters at roughly 26 knots.
The boats were armed with two twin 12,7mm AN-M2 machine gun turrets located just behind the bridge. However these machine guns were not fitted right away. When the boats were send away from the Canadian Power Boat Company the machine gun turrets were empty. On the photo below we see that at least one of the TM 22-class boats had improvised Lewis machine guns fitted into the turrets. I believe this was done as a temporary solution untill the 12,7mm machine guns arrived.
A TM 22-class boat fitted with a Lewis machine gun instead of the twin 12,7mm machine guns
Source: Foto'sBut this improvised machine gun setup was not done for all boats since we see on the photo below that the twin 12,7mm machine guns were also fitted to other boats of the class.
HNLMS TM 24 in service with full armaments fitted
Source: Foto'sThe final bit of weaponry onboard were two depth charge racks at the rear of the boat.
Ingame
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The TM 22-class would be an excellent addition to the game in my opinion. They are all round very good boats with nice armaments. Also they are an important step up for the Dutch Navy. Since the Motor Torpedo boats they operated before this were all armed with small machine guns, the TM 22-class would be a nice improvement with it’s 12,7mm machine guns.
Now where should these boats 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.
In the French tree the TM 22-class would actually be a very good addition. The reserve boats for France are a bit on the weaker side, and this TM 22-class would go a long way to make the Rank 1 experience a lot better. The American PT-20 is very similar to the TM 22-class so that’s a good ingame example to compare it to, however the PT-20 does have much better torpedoes.
Specifications
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Displacement: 32 tons
Length: 21,3 m
Beam: 6,1 m
Draft: 1,2 m
Powerplant: 3 x 1.400 hp Packard engines
Maximum speed: 48 knots (88,9 km/h)
Crew: 12 menArmament:
2 x 2 12,7 mm AN-M2 machine guns
4 x 450 mm torpedo launchers
2 x Depth charge racks at the rear
HNLMS TM 30 with a cool shark mouth paintjob
Source: Foto's
And there you have it! I hope you enjoyed reading about this little boat.
See you on the battlefield!
Sources
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History and information:
Extra sources:
- “Marine-torpedodienst 1875-2000” book, by J.M. Mohrmann
- TM-22 class MTB
Photos: