New Battlepass Season! Premium MTB-422 [War Thunder Devblog]

New Battlepass Season is upon us already! The first announced prize will be the MTB-422 motor torpedo boat. Check it out!

The link: https://warthunder.com/en/news/7520-development-battle-pass-vehicles-mtb-422-en

The MTB-422 was a motor torpedo boat built by the United States and utilized in service by the Royal Navy. Originally commissioned as PT-92 in December 1942, the PT-92 was destined to be sent to the Russians as lend-lease. However, the convoy that would have carried this boat to the Russians was canceled. Britain took over the boat and recommissioned it as MTB-422 in April 1943. Little is known about this specific boat except that it served primarily in the Meditteranean Sea. By late 1945, the boat was returned to the US Navy. Per the devblog, it was finally decommissioned in 1985.

If you are looking for a typical Higgins 78' boat to compare to, the PT-71 in game is the same class. A typical Higgins 78 footer comes in at 78 ft 6 inches long, 20 feet 1 inch abeam, 5 foot 3 inch draft and displaces 103,000 pounds. It would be powered by 3 engines, typically Packard 5M-2500 V12 engines generating 1,850 shaft horsepower each which would drive it to a maximum speed of about 47 miles per house. The crew complement was 2 officers and 14 enlisted.

The MTB-422 will be armed with a 40mm BOFORS as primary armament, a 20mm Oerlinkon Mk. II secondary cannon and what looks like four 12.7mm guns in two twin-mounts. Two torpedo tubes are mounted, though the boat is too small to carry any spare torpedos.

In War Thunder, the MTB-422 will be joining the British Rank III premium coastal fleet, likely around BR 2.3 or 2.7.