Motor Torpedo Boat MTB - VOSPER

There is something very cool about torpedo boats. They are fast and nimble with a hell of a sting. They are truly the wasps of the sea and as such present a really awesome modelling subject. 

 Italeri have gained quite the reputation with their line of 1/35 scale torpedo boats, many of which I confess to having in the stash. Various incarnations of the American Patrol boats as well as the Italian M.A.S and the formidable Schnellboot are on offer, but the subject of this review is the Vosper MTB. RC guys love the line because they are big enough to power and modellers love them because of the opportunities the scale presents to paint and weather them.

 Italeri’s attempt at the Vosper came in 2011 when it released kit #5610. Then in 2014 they released the first boxing of MTB74, and finally we have essentially the same kit but with the figure set included (or at least that is my understanding of the difference)

So, what makes MTB74 so special ? MTB74 was a boat that was part of one of the most ambitious raids of all time, the raid on ST Nazaire.

The Raid on Saint Nazaire

On March 1942, a British amphibious attack was undertaken by Royal Navy and Commandos against the large dry dock at Saint Nazaire, in German occupied France. “Chariot” was the codename of the combined operation. The French harbor was in fact an important logistic point for the German Kriegsmarine in the Atlantic. The raid was conducted by some destroyers and by a motor launches flotilla that provide the transport duties of British Commandos. The operation was successful done and the dry dock was damaged and unusable until the end of the war. A key role was assigned to the MTB 74. It had been specifically modified by Royal Navy shipyards to house torpedo tubes on its foredeck and to adopt specific engine silencers to reduce the noise. MTB 74 duty was to hit the anti-submarine nets and then to launch its torpedoes   to block the lock gate. The MTB achieved its targets but on the way back it was hit and sank.