explosive motor boats

explosive motor boats (EMBs) were operated by the Germans, Italians, and Japanese, all with heavy losses. The one-man crew of the 5 m. (17 ft.), 51 km/h (32 mph) Italian MTM (Motoscafi da Turismo Modificati, or modified touring motorboats) and the German 5.75 m (19 ft.) Linse (lentil) bailed out before the impact of the boat hitting its target triggered a fuze which detonated the explosives. The MTM's rudder was locked before it was abandoned, but the Linse was guided by radio on to its target by a control boat (see also guided weapons). MTMs sank the British cruiser York in Suda Bay, Crete, in March 1941 and they were also used to attack Valletta harbour during the siege of Malta, and in the Anzio landings. Linsen were claimed to have sunk twelve ships off the Normandy beachhead (see OVERLORD), but elsewhere EMBs rarely sank anything.

The Japanese Navy's Shinyo (sea-quake), with different marks varying between 5.1 m. (16.7 ft.) and 6.5 m. (21.3 ft.) in length, and the Japanese Army's 5.6 m. (18.4 ft.) Maru-ni (capacious boat) which employed depth charges (see anti-submarine weapons), were both suicide craft. They had limited success when US forces invaded the Philippines (see Philippines campaigns), and when they were employed at Okinawa, and elsewhere. See also Tenth Light Flotilla and Germany, 6(e).

Bibliography

O'Neill, R. , Suicide Squads (London, 1981).