Were Armed Tugboats really used that much?

Thefroglord · 11-09-22, 02:41 PM

As I have been playing Silent Hunter 3 I have seen that there are a lot of armed tugboats? From what I know there were only 4 active and only one was really in the Atlantic while the rest were in the pacific. I also did some digging and from what I found they had no depth charges or sonar either. If they were used in such a manner I would love to know!

bstanko6 · 11-09-22, 11:33 PM

No they weren’t. The game adds them in for flavor!

Thefroglord · 11-10-22, 11:13 AM

That's what I thought but thank you for answering!

Hooston · 11-17-22, 05:26 PM

I think the US armed tugboat in SH3 is a placeholder for several different classes of tugs.
The USN (and RN) had a lot of ocean going tugs, generally just over 1000 tons and armed with a 3 inch gun plus some light AA. Wikipedia mentions that USS Navajo's depth charges went off as she sank and I would guess that implies they also had sonar. They sometimes sailed with convoys and were especially useful during beach landing operations, for example HMS Warspite was saved by a couple of large US Navy tugs at Salerno.

Take a look here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherokee-class_tugboat or here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abnaki-class_tugboat
Am I missing something?

edit - I've just found a 1943 USN tug called the "Gay Head". Be careful when googling that one...

11-09-22, 02:41 PM	#1
Thefroglord Seaman Join Date: May 2022 Location: United States Posts: 32 Downloads: 103 Uploads: 0	Were Armed Tugboats really used that much? As I have been playing Silent Hunter 3 I have seen that there are a lot of armed tugboats? From what I know there were only 4 active and only one was really in the Atlantic while the rest were in the pacific. I also did some digging and from what I found they had no depth charges or sonar either. If they were used in such a manner I would love to know!

11-09-22, 11:33 PM	#2
bstanko6 Admiral Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: Murwik Naval Academy Posts: 2,122 Downloads: 390 Uploads: 13	No they weren’t. The game adds them in for flavor! __________________ [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC] BSTANKO6'S SH5 NAVAL ACADEMY http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPbe...W2NArCA/videos DISCORD https://discord.gg/6tFeTSUmVc

11-17-22, 05:26 PM	#4
Hooston Soundman Join Date: Jun 2020 Posts: 145 Downloads: 15 Uploads: 0	I think the US armed tugboat in SH3 is a placeholder for several different classes of tugs. The USN (and RN) had a lot of ocean going tugs, generally just over 1000 tons and armed with a 3 inch gun plus some light AA. Wikipedia mentions that USS Navajo's depth charges went off as she sank and I would guess that implies they also had sonar. They sometimes sailed with convoys and were especially useful during beach landing operations, for example HMS Warspite was saved by a couple of large US Navy tugs at Salerno. Take a look here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherokee-class_tugboat or here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abnaki-class_tugboat Am I missing something? edit - I've just found a 1943 USN tug called the "Gay Head". Be careful when googling that one... Last edited by Hooston; 11-17-22 at 06:22 PM.

11-10-22, 11:13 AM	#3
Thefroglord Seaman Join Date: May 2022 Location: United States Posts: 32 Downloads: 103 Uploads: 0	That's what I thought but thank you for answering!