[Sailor Steve]

A note on who fought whom: US PT-boats in the Pacific battled Japanese destroyers on several ocassions. The fighting was done at night, and the boats were not much faster than the DDs, especially in any kind of weather. The real advantage is maneuverability - the boat can turn faster and is a very small target. Once he gets out from under the searchlights he is gone, which is a good thing because one 4-inch shell can bring a PT-boat to it's knees. The Schnellboot is bigger, and with a steel frame, but the problem is still there.

In the Channel, most of the fighting was also at night. The Germans ran small convoys from Seebruge to Wilhelmshaven, mostly escorted by flakleiters and S-boats. The British would attack them with Vosper PT-boats, and the F-lighters would defend while the S-boats counter-attacked. Most of the fighting was done with machine guns. These battles took place a lot, and would be the most likely scenario for this kind of command.