I pull the string, and «a href="http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/ap20040819_790.html"»John Kerry says«/a»:
«BLOCKQUOTE»In his speech, Kerry employed a wartime metaphor. "More than 30 years ago I learned an important lesson. When you're under attack the best thing to do is turn your boat into the attack. That's what I intend to do today."«/BLOCKQUOTE»Is it the best thing to turn your boat into the attack?
In an infantry squad, you charge the ambush. You don't muck about running into cover, that's not the best of ideas, especially if the ambush has been planned. (Two kinds of ambush, the hasty ambush and the prepared ambush. Hasty just means they saw you first and got down to shoot at you with minimal set up. You know, like that "ambush" in G.I. Jane. A prepared ambush is one where you set claymores/punji sticks and grenades in the trees.) If you duck into that ditch, you might find some suprises there, because that was exactly what they wanted you to do, run for cover. So charging the ambush lets you close with the enemy and most importantly gets you out of the kill zone.
Does that apply with Swift boats? I have to admit that turning into gunfire doesn't seem like the proper thing to do. First off, while it might reduce your aspect, the size of the target you present to your attackers, it also reduces your relative...hell, there's a word for it, but if I were shooting at a boat heading towards me, it's only growing bigger in my sights and not moving laterally. In a sense, it becomes stationary. To me, a target that is not moving is a dead target.
Also, turning into the attack masks half the armament. The forward mount had twin .50 M2 Brownings (useful things, the .50 cal) while the rear mount held an 81mm mortar and I think another .50 cal. And then you had all the other small arms that the crew, M16s and M60s I would suppose. (Hey, here's a «a href="http://swiftboats.net/extras/boat_specifications.htm"»page about 'em«/a») So turning head on allows only the forward mount to fire.
Also, if you turn into the attack, you run out of maneuvering room in a hurry. As I understand it, Swift boats are river and coastal patrol units, so if you are trolling along in the middle of the river, and the attack come from the bank, why kick it to flank speed and head for the beach? Isn't that...dumb?
I'm just a grunt, but I am also curious. I'm under the impression that speed is your friend, and taking a course of action that doesn't make you faster and harder to hit isn't too bright. Then again, the rules for patrol boats sure aren't the ones for line grunts on a muddy trail.