ITALERI 1/35 SCHNELLBOOT TYPE S-100 PRM EDITION
Among the consequences of the Treaty of Versailles was a severe limitation on German naval construction. Light shipping circumvented these limitations, so the development of motor torpedo boats began already at the end of the 1920s, with a design based on a civil yacht, but adapted for the transport of two torpedoes: it was the S-1. The evolution continued until reaching, in the most advanced models, 35m in length and 100 tons: the secondary armament was also progressively increased. The construction was composite, with aluminum beams and wooden planking. With the S-100 series the characteristic armored deckhouse appeared, which became a necessity due to the strengthening of Allied air superiority and the intensification of low-altitude air attacks. The main use was in attacks on Allied shipping in the coastal waters around the British Isles, but there was no shortage of operations in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea: in any case, these were mainly nocturnal activities. Starting from 1943, with the destruction or immobilization of all the major units of the Kriegsmarine, these motor torpedo boats remained among the few surface units capable of operating: this exposed them to progressively more complex scenarios, resulting in serious losses.