Some years ago i found this:
http://www.combatsim.com/memb123/htm/2001/03/yearafter/
This is a review of December 1942 issue of Mechanix Illustrated magazine. It describes some interesting weapon concepts including an advanced concept for a torpedo boat:
"The best article was on the proposed seven-man torpedo boat being designed by F. M. Bellanca of Bell P-39 fame. It is unorthodox even by today's standards. A fuselage, reminiscent of a B-25, sat above two hugs pontoons and steam turbine drove two contra-rotating pusher props. The multi-compartmented pontoons housed the fuel, boiler's water condensers and two torpedoes each that were catapult-launched by a hydraulic arm. The pontoon design kept it afloat even if compartments took in water due to damage. In that case self-bailers went into operation. The size of them made it un-swamp-able in rough seas.
What A Great Concept!
Further armament included two-twin .50 caliber power turrets up top and side blisters each with a fifty. The nose gunner had a 37mm cannon.
Drawing only nineteen inches of water, enemy torpedoes would pass under the craft. The robust power plant was secretly developed by Woodruff Warren and was thirty percent more efficient than comparable designs. The boilers were a variation of naval inventor Walter LaMont that built up high power to weight ratios and ran on a non-volatile equivalent of home heating oil. The system was closed circuit and the craft's boiler water recycled to the condensers for infinite use. No steam escaped from the machinery and the engine ran silently, save for the whir of the props.
This baby could hit 100 mph with an 8,000-mile range meaning it could leave a Pacific coast port and be off Japan in forty-eight hours. It could hit European targets in even less time.
Pictured was an actual 65 mph landing boat of conventional hull design being tested so the potential was real. Superlatives such as innovative, lethal, or efficient just can't describe it. It was just too damned cool!"
Was this a real project or was it just attempt to scare the enemy?
http://www.combatsim.com/memb123/htm/2001/03/yearafter/
This is a review of December 1942 issue of Mechanix Illustrated magazine. It describes some interesting weapon concepts including an advanced concept for a torpedo boat:
"The best article was on the proposed seven-man torpedo boat being designed by F. M. Bellanca of Bell P-39 fame. It is unorthodox even by today's standards. A fuselage, reminiscent of a B-25, sat above two hugs pontoons and steam turbine drove two contra-rotating pusher props. The multi-compartmented pontoons housed the fuel, boiler's water condensers and two torpedoes each that were catapult-launched by a hydraulic arm. The pontoon design kept it afloat even if compartments took in water due to damage. In that case self-bailers went into operation. The size of them made it un-swamp-able in rough seas.
What A Great Concept!
Further armament included two-twin .50 caliber power turrets up top and side blisters each with a fifty. The nose gunner had a 37mm cannon.
Drawing only nineteen inches of water, enemy torpedoes would pass under the craft. The robust power plant was secretly developed by Woodruff Warren and was thirty percent more efficient than comparable designs. The boilers were a variation of naval inventor Walter LaMont that built up high power to weight ratios and ran on a non-volatile equivalent of home heating oil. The system was closed circuit and the craft's boiler water recycled to the condensers for infinite use. No steam escaped from the machinery and the engine ran silently, save for the whir of the props.
This baby could hit 100 mph with an 8,000-mile range meaning it could leave a Pacific coast port and be off Japan in forty-eight hours. It could hit European targets in even less time.
Pictured was an actual 65 mph landing boat of conventional hull design being tested so the potential was real. Superlatives such as innovative, lethal, or efficient just can't describe it. It was just too damned cool!"
Was this a real project or was it just attempt to scare the enemy?
