PT-71

PT-71

PT-103

PT-314

PT-71

PT-103

PT-314

USA

II Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
2.0	2.0	2.0

Class:

Motor torpedo boat

Boat

Research:11 000

Purchase:22 000

Description

The Higgins 78 ft PT-71 is a rank II American motor torpedo boat with a battle rating of 2.0 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.79 "Project X" as part of the fleet closed beta test.

General info

Survivability and armour

Talk about the vehicle's armour. Note the most well-defended and most vulnerable zones, e.g. the ammo magazine. Evaluate the composition of components and assemblies responsible for movement and manoeuvrability. Evaluate the survivability of the primary and secondary armament separately. Don't forget to mention the size of the crew, which plays an important role in fleet mechanics. Tips for preserving survivability should be saved for the "Use in battle" section.

If necessary, use a graphic template to show the most well-protected or most vulnerable points in the armour.

Mobility

Write about the ship’s mobility. Evaluate its power and manoeuvrability, rudder rerouting speed, stopping speed at full tilt, with its maximum forward speed and reverse speed.

Armament

Primary armament

Provide information about the characteristics of the primary armament. Evaluate their efficacy in battle based on their reload speed, ballistics and the capacity of their shells.

Broadly describe the ammunition available for the primary armament, and provide recommendations on how to use it and which ammunition to choose.

Secondary armament

Some ships are fitted with weapons of various calibres. Secondary armament is defined by the weapon chosen with the control Select secondary weapon. Evaluate the secondary armament and give advice on how to use them. Describe the ammunition available for the secondary armament. Provide recommendations on how to use them and which ammunition to choose. Remember that anti-air armament, even heavy calibre weapons, belong in the next section.

Torpedo armament

Many ships are armed with torpedo launchers, and for some vessels such as boats, torpedoes are an extremely important means of defeating an opponent. Evaluate the position of the torpedo launchers, discuss the ammunition available, firing specifics such as dead zones, features of the torpedoes themselves, etc.

Usage in battles

Describe the technique of using this ship, the characteristics of her use in a team and tips on strategy. Abstain from writing an entire guide – don’t get try to provide a single point of view, but give the reader food for thought. Talk about the most dangerous opponents for this vehicle and provide recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of playing with this vehicle in various modes (AB, RB, SB).

Pros and cons

Summarize and briefly evaluate the vehicle in terms of its characteristics and combat effectiveness. Mark its pros and cons in the bulleted list. Try not to use more than 6 points for each of the characteristics. Avoid using categorical definitions such as "bad", "good" and the like - they have a substitution in the form of softer "inadequate", "effective".

Pros:

Cons:

• The ammunition explodes often in battles due to being large enough to be hit

History

PT-71 was layed down on December 2, 1941 by Higgins Industries, in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was launched on May 4, 1942, and was completed on July 20, 1942. It was commissioned on April 27, 1943 as the USS PT-71, and it was assigned to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron FOUR (MTBRon 4) under the command of Lt. Comdr. William C. Specht, USN. MTBRon 4 was the training squadron for motor torpedo boat crews, based at MTB Squadrons Training Center, at Melville, Rhode Island.

PT-71 was transferred to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron SIXTEEN (MTBRon 16) under the command of Lt. Comdr. Russell H. Smith, USN, on January 20, 1943. MTBRon saw action during the Aleutian Campaign.

On March 13, 1943 PT-71 was transferred to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron SEVENTEEN (MTBRon 17) under the command of Lt. Comdr. Russell B. Allen, USN. MTBRon 17 was assigned to the Hawaiian Sea Frontier. On April 16, 1943 the PT-71 was transferred back to MTBRon 4.

On March 18, 1944 the ship was transferred to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron TWO - (MTBRon 2) under the command of Comdr. John D. Bulkeley, USN. MTBRon 2 was assigned to the Office of Strategic Services, and was located in the English Channel. Between May and October of 1944 the squadron carried out 20 missions, landing supplies and personnel in enemy occupied territory. On October 11, 1945 PT-71 was struck from the Naval Register. It was stripped and destroyed on October 21, 1945 at Samar, in the Philippines.

PT-71 had a displacement of 56 t, a length of 71 ft, a beam of 20 ft 8 in, and a draft of 5 ft 3 in. It was powered by three 1,500 shp Packard W-14 M2500 gasoline engines, and had three shafts. The armament consisted of four 21" torpedoes, one 40mm mount, and two twin .50 cal. machine guns. The crew complement was 17 sailors and officers, and it had a maximum speed of 40 knots.

Media

An excellent addition to the article will be video guides, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the series of the ship;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• encyclopedia page on ship;
• other literature.

Bibliography

• Radigan, Joseph M. PT-71. NavSource Naval History. http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/05071.htm