History
MTBs were designed for high speed, operating at night, low speed ambush (to keep noise low and to produce no wake)and manoeuvrability on the water; this was to enable them to get close enough to launch their torpedoes at enemy vessels. With next to no armour, the boats relied upon surprise and their agility at high speed to avoid being hit by gunfire from bigger ships.
The British and Italian navies started developing such vessels in the early 20th century, shortly before the beginning of World War I. Italian MAS boats were comparatively small, at 20-30 tons displacement. MAS 15 was the only Motor Torpedo boat in history to sink a battleship, the Austro-Hungarian vessel Szent István in 1918.
British torpedo boats of the First World War were small at only around 15 tons and were known as Coastal Motor Boats.
In the Second World War, British MTBs were operated by Coastal Forces.
A similar size boat with a different role in the Second World War was the BPB 63 ft High Speed Launch used by the RAF.
The last MTBs in the Royal Navy were the two Brave class fast patrol boats of 1958 which were capable of 50 knots (93 km/h).
Read more about this topic: Motor Torpedo Boat
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