SGB Grey Fox
Contents
Description
The SGB Grey Fox (S304) is a rank IV British motor gun boat with a battle rating of 3.0 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.83 "Masters of the Sea" as part of the British fleet closed beta test.
The SGB (Steam Gun Boat) Grey Fox, pennant number S304, was a gun boat built for the Royal Navy's coastal forces during the early stages of World War II. While limited in historical quantities, the Grey Fox is a formidable boat within the game. This is thanks to a plentiful variety of armaments covering the steam-powered boat from prow to stern.
With few cons, this SGB engages with ease most boats that are equally sized and smaller than her. Although, the large hull and not excellent top speed makes her the perfect target for destroyers, frigates and gunboats. After learning how to handle these limitations, captains are likely to master this well-armed boat.
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 armaments separately. Don't forget to mention the size of the crew, which plays an important role in fleet mechanics. Save tips on preserving survivability for the "Usage in battles" section. If necessary, use a graphical 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 and reverse speed.
| Mobility Characteristics | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Game Mode | Upgrade Status | Maximum Speed (km/h) | |
| Forward | Reverse | ||
| AB | |||
| Upgraded | 74 | 26 | |
| RB/SB | |||
| Upgraded | 55 | 19 | |
Modifications and economy
| Seakeeping | Unsinkability | Firepower | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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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. Add a link to the main article about the weapon: {{main|Weapon name (calibre)}}. 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 armaments are defined as weapons chosen with the control Select secondary weapon. Evaluate the secondary armaments 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 any anti-air armament, even heavy calibre weapons, belong in the next section. If there is no secondary armament, remove this section.
Anti-aircraft armament
An important part of the ship's armament responsible for air defence. Anti-aircraft armament is defined by the weapon chosen with the control Select anti-aircraft weapons. Talk about the ship's anti-air cannons and machine guns, the number of guns and their positions, their effective range, and about their overall effectiveness – including against surface targets. If there are no anti-aircraft armaments, remove this section.
Additional armament
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Usage in battles
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Pros and cons
Pros:
- Adequate top speed for a steam-powered gun boat
- 2 sets of 40 mm 2pdr guns, a 76 mm gun and 20 mm Oerlikons cannons are great firepower
- Wide variety of auxiliary firepower (12.7 mm Vickers MGs, mines and torpedoes)
- Armour plates protect the engine compartment quite effectively from HE and Shrapnel
- Above-average crew count becomes an advantage versus smaller crafts
Cons:
- Speed is no match to other vessels at the rank as Sparviero, Pr.183, or PG 02
- Large size; easy to target and difficult to manoeuvre around shores
History
In 1940, the Admiralty issued a set of requirements for a new gunboat design that would incorporate features from both motor torpedo boats and gunboats. The primary task of this new vessel would be to counter the German S-boat threat and to protect the British coastline in areas where larger vessels, such as destroyers, couldn't operate.
With WW2 already in full swing, the need for this kind of vessel was considered high and an emphasis was put on ease of mass-production, in order to manufacture as many ships as quickly as possible.
The Denny company was tasked with designing a vessel around the Admiralty's specifications. They armed the vessel, similar in design to the contemporary Fairmiles, with cannons, machine guns and torpedo tubes, decided to construct it from steel so as to make it fit for mass-production, but soon ran into a serious problem.
The conventional power supply of the time came from either petrol or diesel engines, neither of which was readily available in wartime Britain. Thus, the decision was made to outfit the new vessel with two steam turbines, producing 4,000 horsepower each.
The Admiralty approved the design and ordered an initial nine vessels to be produced, whilst a total of sixty were planned. However, these plans were soon dropped and out of the nine vessels that were laid down, seven actually saw completion.
Nonetheless, the seven ships that did come out of the shipyards proved themselves in combat, despite some endurance and efficiency problems presented by the steam propulsion system. Thanks to their heavy armament, they quickly gained respect from German S-boat captains, who often tried to avoid encountering an SGB.
Only a single SGB was lost in combat during WW2, with the majority serving into the Cold War before being decommissioned from service.
- From Devblog
Media
Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.
See also
Related development
- SGB (S309) (Same class)
- Fairmile D (601)
- Fairmile D (697)
Shared operational history
External links
| Britain boats | |
|---|---|
| Motor torpedo boats | Brave Borderer · Dark Aggressor · Dark Aggressor TD · Fairmile D (617) · Fairmile D (697) · Fairmile D (5001) · HMS Gay Archer |
| MTB-1(1) · MTB-1(2) · MTB Vosper · MTB Vosper(2) · MTB-422 | |
| Motor gun boats | Dark Adventurer · Fairmile A (ML100) · Fairmile B (ML345) · Fairmile C (312) · Fairmile C (332) · Fairmile D (601) · Fairmile H LCS(L)(2) |
| HMAS Arrow · HMAS Fremantle · MGB-61 · MGB-75 · ML 1383 · SGB Grey Fox · SGB Grey Goose | |
| Gunboats | HMS Spey |
