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Description

Ported to OBJ from the fan created model included with the Russian language Soviet Waterway mega-mod for Silent Hunter 4 Gold Edition (SH4G or SH4 1.5) by Ubisoft. Preview picture posed in XNALara XPS. NO MODEL DOWNLOAD.

Soviet motor torpedo boats (MTBs) often get overlooked whenever naval experts and naval fans alike make up their respective lists of who had the best MTBs of the war, given the relative obscurity of the naval wars in the Baltic, Black Sea, and along other parts of the Soviet coast in comparison to all the action everywhere else during the rest of the war. That said, there is one Soviet MTB that was and still is eyecatching, and if it rarely makes anybody's Top Five MTBs of the war list then it almost always gets either an honorable mention or a place high in the second tier in everyone's Top Ten MTBs list. That would be the Soviet G5 MTB, created by noted aircraft designer Andrei Tupelov and without any doubt the most unique-looking MTB of the war. Its unusual profile combined a single-step hydroplaning hull with "whaleback" topsides for a very aerodynamic MTB that in prototype form hit 63.5 knots during its sea trials. Damn, but that's fast for a warboat of the era!!! Production models were considerably slower, and were officially rated at 53 to 56 knots top speed depending on variation but this was more like their top burst speed. 45 knots maintained top speed was frequently the norm whenever a G5 didn't need to go all-out on a torpedo run or the like. They were fitted with high-performance aircraft engines instead of normal naval diesels, which is what gave them that speed burst capability but meant lots of maintenance and a maintained minimum speed of 18 knots all the time or the engines would stall. That caused a lot of problems right there, especially whenever coming into port was involved, and made the G5 a very delicate and tricky MTB to handle -- but once you mastered it, nobody else's MTB in any other navy could match its maneuverability. In other words it had a very steep learning curve, and that's one of the reasons why it doesn't make the Top Five lists. Another was its duraluminum hull, shaped like a seaplane float, which was a weight saver but was especially prone to quick salt water corrosion. The average G5 could only stay in the water for a week or two at a time before it had to be removed and have its hull replaced with a new one. That factor too counts against it being in the Top Five MTB lists. Given its unique design its twin torpedoes had to be carried in a rear-rack launching system that required special training to use and extra precautions when multiple G5s in formation would make massed torpedo attacks, so that one of them wouldn't get hit by another's rear-launched torpedoes, and that too was a factor against it. Despite its multiple special issues and, shall we say, "delicate" handling it was an incredible MTB once you got the hang of it - provided you lived that long (wink) - and that's why it always gets at least an honorable mention, special mention, or the like whenever people talk about the best MTBs of World War II.

By the end of the war 300 or so G5s in almost a half-dozen different variations had been built for and used by the Soviet Navy. Four were exported to Spain during the war and continued to be used by them well into the Cold War, and North Korea also wound up with a bunch of well-used G5s in one of its later Cold War era weapons technology deals with the Soviet Union. Finland captured three of them during World War II but had to turn right around and given them back once the war was over, so their time with them was short. The G5 was gradually phased out of Soviet naval service during the 1950s as its early missile boat classes began to join the fleet in numbers. Only one original G5 survives today (although some argue it may actually be its smaller prewar predecessor, the SH-4). It was scuttled in the harbor during the Siege of Sevastopol to keep it out of German hands, but it was later found and raised by a Russian salvage team in 2020. At last report it had been deposited on the shore of Quarantine Bay near Sevastopol. To find out more about the Soviet G-5 class motor torpedo boats of World War II, follow the links below:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G-5-clas…

naval-encyclopedia.com/ww2/sov…

skip down to Type G5 (1934-44)

laststandonzombieisland.com/20…

This is a straight port with no changes by me.

While I am no longer making my OBJ ports of Silent Hunter series models available for public download, you can get this yourself in one of two ways. You can extract it piecemeal from the game data using the free SKWAS/s3ditor model utility and rebuild it in your preferred 3D modeling software, or you can rip it directly from the game after installing any necessary mods or mod packs noted above using any good 3D model ripper (3D Ripper DX or NinjaRipper recommended).

For non-profit, non-commercial use only.

TRIVIA - The Soviet Navy had the much slower and more conventional D3 class available for its MTB crews who couldn't handle the tricky performance of the G5, as well as a number of US-built Vosper and Higgins MTBs (the Soviet A1 and A2 classes) obtained via Lend-Lease. It also developed the more conventional Komsomolec class MTB in 1941 as the G5's even faster successor, but numerous production issues meant that it didn't enter Soviet naval service until 1945, the last year of the war, and thus it had practically no impact on the naval side of World War II -- although it would have one in the early Cold War era. I hope to cover both the D3 and Komsomolec classes in future C21VN entries once suitable CG models becomes available to me.

ASIDE - This model can also probably be used "as is" or modified appropriately to cover for the similar-looking but somewhat smaller prewar SH-4 class in your Russian World War II era war gaming and fantasy fleet exercises, and until such time as a proper SH-4 model becomes available. It was the predecessor to the wartime G5.

Description

Ported to OBJ from the fan created model included with the Russian language Soviet Waterway mega-mod for Silent Hunter 4 Gold Edition (SH4G or SH4 1.5) by Ubisoft. Preview picture posed in XNALara XPS. NO MODEL DOWNLOAD.

Soviet motor torpedo boats (MTBs) often get overlooked whenever naval experts and naval fans alike make up their respective lists of who had the best MTBs of the war, given the relative obscurity of the naval wars in the Baltic, Black Sea, and along other parts of the Soviet coast in comparison to all the action everywhere else during the rest of the war. That said, there is one Soviet MTB that was and still is eyecatching, and if it rarely makes anybody's Top Five MTBs of the war list then it almost always gets either an honorable mention or a place high in the second tier in everyone's Top Ten MTBs list. That would be the Soviet G5 MTB, created by noted aircraft designer Andrei Tupelov and without any doubt the most unique-looking MTB of the war. Its unusual profile combined a single-step hydroplaning hull with "whaleback" topsides for a very aerodynamic MTB that in prototype form hit 63.5 knots during its sea trials. Damn, but that's fast for a warboat of the era!!! Production models were considerably slower, and were officially rated at 53 to 56 knots top speed depending on variation but this was more like their top burst speed. 45 knots maintained top speed was frequently the norm whenever a G5 didn't need to go all-out on a torpedo run or the like. They were fitted with high-performance aircraft engines instead of normal naval diesels, which is what gave them that speed burst capability but meant lots of maintenance and a maintained minimum speed of 18 knots all the time or the engines would stall. That caused a lot of problems right there, especially whenever coming into port was involved, and made the G5 a very delicate and tricky MTB to handle -- but once you mastered it, nobody else's MTB in any other navy could match its maneuverability. In other words it had a very steep learning curve, and that's one of the reasons why it doesn't make the Top Five lists. Another was its duraluminum hull, shaped like a seaplane float, which was a weight saver but was especially prone to quick salt water corrosion. The average G5 could only stay in the water for a week or two at a time before it had to be removed and have its hull replaced with a new one. That factor too counts against it being in the Top Five MTB lists. Given its unique design its twin torpedoes had to be carried in a rear-rack launching system that required special training to use and extra precautions when multiple G5s in formation would make massed torpedo attacks, so that one of them wouldn't get hit by another's rear-launched torpedoes, and that too was a factor against it. Despite its multiple special issues and, shall we say, "delicate" handling it was an incredible MTB once you got the hang of it - provided you lived that long (wink) - and that's why it always gets at least an honorable mention, special mention, or the like whenever people talk about the best MTBs of World War II.

By the end of the war 300 or so G5s in almost a half-dozen different variations had been built for and used by the Soviet Navy. Four were exported to Spain during the war and continued to be used by them well into the Cold War, and North Korea also wound up with a bunch of well-used G5s in one of its later Cold War era weapons technology deals with the Soviet Union. Finland captured three of them during World War II but had to turn right around and given them back once the war was over, so their time with them was short. The G5 was gradually phased out of Soviet naval service during the 1950s as its early missile boat classes began to join the fleet in numbers. Only one original G5 survives today (although some argue it may actually be its smaller prewar predecessor, the SH-4). It was scuttled in the harbor during the Siege of Sevastopol to keep it out of German hands, but it was later found and raised by a Russian salvage team in 2020. At last report it had been deposited on the shore of Quarantine Bay near Sevastopol. To find out more about the Soviet G-5 class motor torpedo boats of World War II, follow the links below:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G-5-clas…

naval-encyclopedia.com/ww2/sov…

skip down to Type G5 (1934-44)

laststandonzombieisland.com/20…

This is a straight port with no changes by me.

While I am no longer making my OBJ ports of Silent Hunter series models available for public download, you can get this yourself in one of two ways. You can extract it piecemeal from the game data using the free SKWAS/s3ditor model utility and rebuild it in your preferred 3D modeling software, or you can rip it directly from the game after installing any necessary mods or mod packs noted above using any good 3D model ripper (3D Ripper DX or NinjaRipper recommended).

For non-profit, non-commercial use only.

TRIVIA - The Soviet Navy had the much slower and more conventional D3 class available for its MTB crews who couldn't handle the tricky performance of the G5, as well as a number of US-built Vosper and Higgins MTBs (the Soviet A1 and A2 classes) obtained via Lend-Lease. It also developed the more conventional Komsomolec class MTB in 1941 as the G5's even faster successor, but numerous production issues meant that it didn't enter Soviet naval service until 1945, the last year of the war, and thus it had practically no impact on the naval side of World War II -- although it would have one in the early Cold War era. I hope to cover both the D3 and Komsomolec classes in future C21VN entries once suitable CG models becomes available to me.

ASIDE - This model can also probably be used "as is" or modified appropriately to cover for the similar-looking but somewhat smaller prewar SH-4 class in your Russian World War II era war gaming and fantasy fleet exercises, and until such time as a proper SH-4 model becomes available. It was the predecessor to the wartime G5.