There is much to be learnt by modern naval leaders and planners from this excellent little book. As recently developed weapons have shown in Crimea and the Red Sea, for example, things have changed considerably so that the days of expensive capital ships and their associated munitions are looking somewhat passé.
Compared with modern frigates and destroyers that are as big as World War II cruisers, the vessels that are the subject of the book are tiny. The American PT Boats were mostly less than 80 feet (24 metres) long and their opposing Japanese destroyers about 388 feet (116 metres) long but very narrow.
They were fast and heavily armed for their times. They fought vigorously but not notably successfully in the “Slot” in the Solomon Islands campaign of 1942-43 and, later, elsewhere.
However, while their potential was impressive and their costs comparatively low, their performance was generally less so.
This was due to several factors: the PT boats, for example, were generally handicapped by poor leadership, petrol engines, and inadequately experienced commanders. Worse, for their first couple of active years, their main offensive weapons – torpedoes – were generally hopeless. They were unreliable and inaccurate.
While the Japanese torpedoes were first rate, their ships suffered other problems in the form of poor leadership and the fact that they faced overwhelming force in the form of Allied – particularly American – ships and aircraft.
This book illustrates all of that very clearly and shows that if properly designed, built and equipped, and with properly trained crews, smaller vessels could still be useful in wider conflagrations. This is even more so when they are fitted with appropriate weapons.
Author: Mark Stille
Available from Osprey Publishing, Oxford, UK
Web: ospreypublishing.com