Is this the correct term E-Boot or is it S-Boot? I have read that the "E" was given by the Allies for "Enemy" and that the "S" for Schnell Boot is more accurate. Of the pictures that I've seen so far I can't help but wonder why the Kriegsmarine would arm such small boats with "only" large caliber weapons like the 4 and 2 cm guns and, besides torpedoes and depth charges/mines, an occassional 7.92 mm weapon. How could they have possibly imagined that such slow firing large caliber weapons would be more benificial than 13 mm weapons down for AA? Of the American and British PT boats (and I know that the need for AA protection was steadily decreasing as the war progressed) I've seen a very wide assortment of weapons - mortars, hedgehogs, rockets, torpedoes, mines, depth charges, 40 mm, 37 mm, 20 mm, .50 cal, .30 cal, etc.. Why did German boats have such a comparably less (albeit large caliber) assortment of weapons?

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S-boote is more correct as this is the German term for them.

As for weapons, the Germans correctly saw that small fast boats like these (and the same goes for Allied PT-type boats) was that their primary, and virtually only effective, weapon was the torpedo. The various machineguns and light cannon mounted on these boats were virtually worthless as weapons. These boats at any kind of speed are so unstable as weapons platforms as to turn the weapons mounted into little more than bullet hoses spraying rounds like a shotgun. Hitting anything is far more a matter of luck than skill with them.
So, the Germans mounted full sized torpedoes on theirs with reload systems. The US went for lots of guns and light weight torpedoes as did the British. The result was that Allied torpedo boats were relatively to totally ineffective. Their biggest contribution was more often than not being armed rescue craft for downed pilots and the like. Note at Surigao Strait in the Philippines in 1944 something like 30 PT boats attacked a Japanese task force with 2 battleships, several cruisers, and several destroyers and out of like 100 torpedoes fired did NOTHING.
The same can be said more often than not in the Mediterrainian later in the war off Italy where Allied PTs were less than effective.
The S-boats were hit and miss but on the whole being primarily torpedo attack craft were a bit more effective than Allied PTs.

Thanks TA for that information as it made me think of anouther question I always was curious about, even though it has little to do with this thread.

In the early seasons of McHail's Navy they were in the Pacific but in the last seasons they moved to Italy. Do you know the reason for the switch ? I recall they took Fuji with them.

In the movie McHail's Navy Joins the Air Force I think they were back in the Pacific again without McHail.

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well let me give ya some other options done up by inovative KM crews.

Mg 131's MG 151 15mm Drilling which were quite effective and used in the med and in the Baltic.
Flakvierling 2cm and late war 30mm's as well

remember the S-booten arm depended on their speed to hit and run at night, the forward arms were removed, 2cm flakzwilling even had the shield removed for a weight consideration and then the 3.7 or 4cm as standard but sometimes a single Flakvierling in 2cm was used and with disastrous effect on Soviet low flyers who were not expecting such a mirage of pumped rounds coming their way. Many times single MG 42's on either side of the armored cabin were installed during a pre-engagement late war

Seems to me that pairs of MG 81Z would have been a most effective AA arrangment as "bullet hoses." The cyclic rate of this combination, it seems, would have been enough to put up an effective wall of lead. Exactly how effective was the double .50 caliber guns on U.S. PT Boats? Would the Germans have fared better with double 13 mm weapons?

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MG 81z or the equivalent did not have the range. The Germans good or no were stuck on the useage of cannons and the 2cm was an excellent rapid fire weapon and with the later war ammo incredibly lethal

The Type V Acoustic torpedo was their best weapon for attack. Second was mines put in places thought to be clear... overnite.
The BMC 1430 lb charge (1943/44)
The EMF influence fire (1939/41/42)
The FMC 90 lb charge , with sinker box to determine exact depth.
All guns were classified as anti-aircraft guns (not ship to ship) and came in 20, 30, 40, and 37 mm depending on model and type (S-80/S-100).
Their biggest enemy was aircraft, and their best defense was speed/darkness.

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"Danger Will Robinson!"

T.A., could the German T3d have been the reason behind the success of S-Boots when compared to PT Boats in the Pacific? I can't see how 100 torpedoes fired at two Japanese battleships would have yielded NO results unless none of them hit their target.

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There were actually 34 boats present at Surigao Strait carrying a total of 136 torpedoes. Most of the boats launched all four carried. None scored a hit. The Japanese with 4 destroyers, 2 battleships, and 2 cruisers present hit 10 of the boats and sank one (PT 493). There were lots of actions with these kind of results. I suspect the Germans likewise had alot of nights were the hunting didn't go as well as it might too.
The basic problem here is one of fire control. Nobody's torpedo boat had any sort of torpedo fire control computer system like destroyers had. This meant that setting the spread, lead, course, etc., on the torpedos was basically a wet finger in the air sort of thing. A really hot boat captain might get decent results. One with limited experiance would not.

actually the S-booten kill rate was not really that good compared to the amount of ocean sorties involved.....this of course by what they claimed in my files found in the RM personal files at Freiburg for each S-Flottilla.

yes many times at night they did not find their quarry. But on the other hand the S-booten were effective in the mine laying game in the estuarys of England

The S-boats were much larger and had a crew about twice that of other MTBs, so they had a lot more gunners. They also had the advantage of diesel engines, which made them a lot safer. What was impressive was they started doing around 42 mph, and by the end of the war, the newer models were doing over 45.

I have to suspect that the PT boats may have suffered from the same stupidity that affected the early submarines with the dud torpedo detonators. There were numerous configurations fo weapons on the PT boats. Besides the .50 cals, there were models with 20mm and 40mm cannon. Three PT boats were stripped down and made into gun boats. PT 59(?) was one of them that was commanded by JFK before PT109.

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Right you are Seadog, kinda going off the track here, but U.S. PTs came in as many configurations as there were Skippers.
The torpedo problem was the vintage Mark VIII WW1 destroyer torpedo 20 ft 6 in long, slow, weak, and unreliable. Only thing available in the beginning.
Later on the Mark XIII aircraft torpedo, 13 ft 6 in, more performance, reliability, and hitting power. Not to mention they could now carry 4 instead of 2. (As the boats stretched out)
A factory installed (as the war progressed) Army P-39 fighters 37mm cannon was forward on the 80 ft Elco boats. Sometimes a 20mm behind that (still forward). In the rear either a 40mm Bofors, or a single (or up to) a Quad 20mm (copied from S-Boats). "Home-Jobs" included 2-3 Rocket launchers forward (only good against land targets), Six Bazookas (contrived together) center to give a fighting chance against F-lighters.
F-lighters were shallow draft diesel powered supply barges used in the Mediterranean. (the Japanese had the same only different)(throughout the Pacific islands) When heavily armored and heavily armed, with as many guns as could be bolted on up to 88mm, renamed Flak-lighters.
A nasty suprise, same look, but one hit and you're done!
The 109 (JFK) had an 80 ft Elco 2 twin 50s, a 20mm aft, and he added a 37 up front.
Crew sizes for S-Boats
S-80...16, 36 kts
S-100...23, 42 kts

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"Danger Will Robinson!"

Note that the S boats were larger than the Brit MTB, making them a marginally more stable gun platform. Combine this with the larger number of guns and given similar training they were able to get more gun hits on the MTB that the reverse. This seems to have led to the reputation of the S boat being dealier in gun combat. Of course they still missed 98% of the time vs 99% so 'better' is relative here.

Excellent point Carl

Shooting from a little boat either/both bobbing up and down or speeding around (possibly Zig-Zagging), at another (same-same), on an Ocean (there-abouts) where 10 ft swells (higher than your deck) is considered a calm sea, and hitting virtually anything would be a miracle in itself !

I believe your numbers are close.

The barges shooting back at you have the advantage...no doubt. Your best shot may be in scaring them into running aground, wait for daylight, and call in the airplanes.

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"Danger Will Robinson!"

remember that on S-booten the arms were for AA fire not for ship to ship nor ship to land but of course it did happen. Only when fitted with mg 34's as hand held but limited range and the mg 151 15mm's

In answer to TA152s question

I've taken the tour of Universal Studios and saw the 73. The guy giving the tour laughed when he said that (the little pond it was sitting in) this was the only water McHails Navy ever saw.
Something else from that show..."Washing-machine Charlie"
Originally from Europe as a way to identify German planes (I'm told)(Erich could tell you more).
Germans didn't bother to synchronize motors on multi-engined (mostly 2s) planes like the Allies did. A waste of unnessary polish/time in war-time, So a Whroom-Whroom-Whroom would be heard (as you heard each engine at "close but not the same" rpm, instead of a steady roar.
Hence the nic-name.

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"Danger Will Robinson!"

A bit more on the MTO usage: The Allies termed F-Lighter is really an AFP ([i]AritllerieFahrPrahame) that was a gunboat version of the MFP landing craft much like the Allied LCM or LCI conversions to LCG of various sorts.
Typically these had 2 8.8cm or 10.5cm guns and about a dozen 2 cm and several 3.7cm along with machineguns and some armor. They were too shallow draft to be torpedoed using the torpedoes carried on PT boats in anything but virtually still water (they draw about 8 feet of draft at most).
Of course PT crews found these boats dangerous opponets. You are an armed cork (the PT) bobbing about in the ocean taking on a 200 ton barge that is relatively stable with several times your armament not to mention you get 3/4" plywood for armor they have 3/4" steel plate. See who wins that match up.
What the Allies needed to do was back their PT boats up with a destroyer or two on a regular basis in this theater but, Allied naval commanders in the Med were generally risk adverse from 1943 on not allowing any major Naval units to regularly go in harm's way if it could be avoided.

Synchronising the motors was a simple job, done in flight by fiddling with the throttles. The Luftwaffe pilots deliberately left their bomber engines unsynchronised (at least, early in the war) because this was believed to confuse the huge acoustic detectors which the British had built to detect approaching aircraft (before the advent of radar of course, which the Luftwaffe didn't initially know about). These were massive concrete "mirrors" of various types, curved to focus the sound onto a microphone. Some of them still exist.

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Tony Williams: Military gun and ammunition website

Just know what the guys in the 354th group I've talked to told me about the (usually alone)(mostly Ju-88s) that used to harass their bases at night.
These guys weren't engineers, just troops. At night, the sound of an airplane, any airplane is fear until you know who it is. I guess this gave them comfort in being able to identify ... who's comming ?
Thanks for the information.

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"Danger Will Robinson!"