MAS 555
| This page is about the Italian motor torpedo boat MAS 555. For other versions, see MAS 500 (Family). |
Contents
Description
The MAS 555 was a torpedo motor torpedo boat (Motoscafo Armato Silurante) of the MAS 500 class whose purpose was to attack enemy ships, anti-submarine and escort operations. Built in 1941 with the others of the 3rd Series, it was armed with a single 20 mm/65 Breda cannon, two 450 mm torpedo launchers for surface targets, and six depth charges for enemy submarines. The MAS 555 was used both by the Regia Marina until 1943, and by the Italian Co-Belligerent Navy after the armistice, eventually to be sunk in the German landing at Rhodes, Greece in the same year.
Introduced in Update "Starfighters", the MAS 555 is an excellent torpedo boat capable of rapid attacks on enemy bluewater ships with torpedoes and depth charges, while the main armament consisting of a 20 mm Breda cannon is capable of causing good damage to enemy coastal boats. However, it can only survive a few hits from enemy ships and is also very vulnerable to attack from the air.
General info
Survivability and armour
The MAS 555's hull is protected only by 40 mm of wood with the superstructure featuring 15 mm of wood. It does not have any kind of external or internal armour this means that the ship is more vulnerable to ammunition. The survivability of the MAS 555 in general is poor because the ship only has 13 crew members, which makes it an easy target to destroy in combat.
Comparable options to the MAS 555 are the LS 3, the G-5, or the PT-6, they however have more survivability and can resist more shots.
Mobility
The MAS 555 is a very fast ship up to 80 km/h in RB, 112 km/h AB. It is very manoeuvrable, this makes it very fast and agile. Providing the ability to reach the enemy quickly to initiate a first strike by launching its torpedoes and allowing sneak attacks with its use of depth charges to destroy enemy boats easily with a few drops. Thanks to its agility, it can dodge shots and make surprise/lateral attacks.
| Mobility Characteristics | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Game Mode | Upgrade Status | Maximum Speed (km/h) | Turn Time (s) | Turn Radius (m) | |
| Forward | Reverse | ||||
| AB | Stock | 82 | 33 | ~20 | ~41.56 |
| Upgraded | 112 | 45 | ~13 | ~25.29 | |
| RB/SB | Stock | 68 | 28 | ~22 | ~46.69 |
| Upgraded | 80 | 32 | ~19 | ~39.48 | |
Modifications and economy
| Seakeeping | Unsinkability | Firepower | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Armament
Primary armament
The primary armament, in fact the only armament, is a Breda 20 mm cannon. It has a rate of fire of 240 shots/min and a 12-shot magazine before reloading for a minimum of 1.8 seconds. The cannon is unable to shot in front of the ship, it is necessary to locate broadside or turn your ship 180 degrees.
Three different belts containing two different shells are available:
- Universal: API-T · HEFI-T*
- HE belt: HEFI-T* · HEFI-T* · HEFI-T* · API-T
- AP belt: API-T · API-T · API-T · HEFI-T*
| Penetration statistics | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm) | ||||||
| 10 m | 100 m | 500 m | 1,000 m | 1,500 m | 2,000 m | ||
| HEFI-T* | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | |
| API-T | 38 | 36 | 27 | 19 | 14 | 10 | |
| Shell details | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Velocity (m/s) |
Projectile mass (kg) |
Fuse delay (s) |
Fuse sensitivity (mm) |
Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g) |
Ricochet | ||||||
| 0% | 50% | 100% | ||||||||||
| HEFI-T* | 830 | 0.14 | 0 | 0.1 | 3 | 79° | 80° | 81° | ||||
| API-T | 832 | 0.14 | 0.001 | 1 | 1.7 | 47° | 60° | 65° | ||||
These belts are mostly the same, the HEFI-T belt is slightly more suitable against wooden boats, like PT-6 and the MTB 1, as well as low flying aircraft, while the API-T belt is slightly more suitable against component damage and steel boats, like the LS 3 and the G-5.
Additional armament
Two 450 mm steam turbined W.200/450X5,75 torpedoes on the left and on the right of the ship are a useful tool against larger sub chasers and gunboats when being able to sneak up. They have a maximum speed 81 km/h, a range of 3 km, and an explosive filler of 200 kg, enough to destroy any ship at the battle rating.
The MAS is one of the reserve boats able to carry six B TG depth charges with an explosive filler of 50 kg. These however are extremely situational and most of the time defensive in nature, as you have to drive in front of the enemy ship, or wait for the enemy to pass you, to utilize these weapons. Furthermore, 50 kg of explosives is very weak for a depth charge, as most others have around 100-140 kg of TNT, limiting effective use even further.
But despite the drawbacks, making a kill with these is one of, if not the most, satisfying ways to destroy an enemy player and equally humiliating for those who are on the receiving end.
Usage in battles
The MAS 555 is a rather strange boat, despite being the reserve boat equipped with the largest calibre, its slow rate of fire and small magazine, as well as the inability to fire directly forwards drastically limits its potential. However, it can still be a significant threat to other ships.
The best strategy whilst using the cannon is not to drive forward into battle, but to turn your rear to the enemy, and sailing in reverse. This way you can negate the limiting firing arcs at the front and still only reveal a small part of the hull, which extends your life expectancy by a few crucial seconds. The best way is to stay behind cover and move only rearwards when engaging and then back into cover. A one on one fight against almost any other PT boat will not go in your favour, therefore the element of surprise is most important.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Good top speed forwards and backwards
- Good turn time
- Equipped with 2 torpedoes
- Good acceleration.
Cons:
- The 20 mm cannon can't shoot in the front of the ship, angle of fire is only 270°
- The cannon has small magazines and a slow rate of fire
- Very unstable gun platform, can be very difficult to make precise shots
- Although it a good armament for a reserve boat, the 20 mm does not consistently inflict damage
- No anti-aircraft protection
- Poor survivability: no armour and low crew count
- Aircraft can strafe the ship and knock it out with a few well placed shots.
History
After the armistice of 8 September 1943, the MAS 555 was used by Co-Belligerent Italy, in particular it was used together with two British motor boats against a German landing convoy on 12 November 1943, after a few hours the MAS 555 was sunk during the German landing at Rhodes in Grecce.
Media
- Skins
- Images
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See also
Links to 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;
- other literature.
| Italy boats | |
|---|---|
| Motor torpedo boats | MC-490 · Freccia P-493 · MAS 555 · MAS 561 · MAS 569 |
| MS-15 · MS-53 · MS-472 · Stefano Turr · VAS 201 · GIS 811 · MS 444 · MC 485 | |
| Motor gun boats | MAS 441 · MS-473 · MV-611 · Alano · Sparviero |
| Motor torpedo gun boats | Saetta P-494 |
| Gunboats | Albatros · Alcione |
