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Author: Vaakai Via: Thesaththinkural magazine, 03/2022 ------------------------------------- A Stealth boat is a type of vessel that is especially used as a war vessel, and it employs Stealth technology construction techniques in an effort to ensure that time is hard to detect by one or more radar, visual, sonar, and infrared methods. The main detectors that find out whether a Navy vessel of an enemy is in the oceanic water are the sander, the radar, and the infrared. Stealth boats are designed in such a way that they are invisible, but unlike a Navy ship, which is not, it gives a very big boost and advantage to the stealth boat to launch an attack. These techniques borrow from stealth aircraft technology. The earliest known Ship to incorporate stealth technology is the US Navy Sea Shadow. It was completed in the mid-80s, but the public got its first view in 1993. Which was eventually scrapped in 2006. Our Tamil leaders, the Honourable P.V. Prabhakaran and Brigadier Soosai, were attracted by the F117A stealth fighter and decided to build their own stealthy speedboat with a low profile. The Mangai boatyard, which was founded in 1993 and established under the direct observation of the LTTE Leader and the direct guidance of the Sea Tiger leader, In early 1998, the Mangai boat yard's design and model/plug building yard started the construction of a stealth 16‘ in the Vanni jungle, several miles away from the sea. The major feature that is taken into account while constricting a stealth boat is the right angle, which is designed in such a way that it deflects and reflects the radar, and the infrared rays that hit this reflecting surface are known as the radar cross-section. By not constricting the boat with any right angles, such deflection and emerging are avoided, making the vessel a stealth boat. Distinctive low and wide wing-like structure designed to help lift the heavy bow section out of the water during high speed; the upper surface is angular with a ridge along the bow, lending to an open-topped cockpit. The important thing is the stealth, which is designed, and the plug or model construction is done without any mechanical aids or devices. The sea tiger women have done freehand boat line drawing with their master‘s instruction. 8" model of a stealth 16‘ built out of plywood, checked the angles manually, and corrected them, then its final blueprint is ready for plug building. The stealth 16‘ Hull is designed with Montego's patented Tunnel hull or tri-V hull. This design provides unusual comfort and excellent stability at high-performance speeds. When it comes to hull design, the most important concern is: i. The centre of gravity is the point in a body where the gravitational force may be taken to act. ii. The centre of buoyancy is the centre of gravity for the volume of water that a hull displaces. When the hull is upright, the centre of gravity and centre of buoyancy are on the same vertical line, and the hull is stable. When the hull line drawings are ready, plug builders will check each line by drawing in the original measurements. After the corrections, the hull line drawings and blueprint will be finalised. Building a boat plug is the first major step in fibreglass boat construction. The boat-designed construction of the plug or model calls for the traditional skills of a boat builder; wood and plywood are the principal materials for construction. Though traditional skills are required, if carpenters will be made in terms of accuracy and quality of workmanship and require constant encouragement by an experienced technician, our sea tiger women who did with their Mastery (Mestiri//master carpenter) Building the plug upside-down is normal, but in LTTE boat yards, they don‘t have a permanent place, so they have to build it strong and firm so it can be easily transported. A Stealth 16‘ plug constructed together with the upper surface, canwall, and hull, which is an exact duplicate of the real boat, will be used once and thrown away. It resembled an F117A stealth fighter. The next step is to build the main structure of the fibreglass boat, which is the mould. From here, all the construction was done by women only. The plug will receive hand-sanding several times to make sure it is smooth enough to receive a layer of hard tooling gel coat, which eventually gives the polished surface when the mould is lifted. When the time comes to make the mould, the process is a faithful reproduction of the plug surface. The mould thickness is up to twice the finished hull thickness. This layout gives the required dimensional stability once the mould has cured, with extra stability added and a mounting caste to allow it to be moved. All this is done, the mould is released or removed from the plug, and then final hand sanding and polishing are done. The Mother mould will be ready to be used for boat construction. Once all the major construction is done, building a boat is not a big deal for the Mangai boatyard ladies. The same team that built the mould also built the first stealth 16-foot boat. They consider it a small boat, which makes them construct it in just 25 days. The only struggle when joining the canwall and hull is that of its unusual wing-like structure; they have to expose themselves to fibreglass mixtures that produce adhesive vapours. When inhaled, these fumes can lead to various respiratory issues. The first stealth boat was named Thanikai (தணிகை) to honour Black Tiger captain Thanikai. On top of the gel coat, the Thanikai stealth boat is painted with a lookalike eagle. Then the Sea Tigers outboard motor technicians did the wiring, fixed the gearbox, and attached a single 200-hp outboard engine at the stern. Mangai Boat Yard always gave an awesome send-off for their boats; they did the traditional Tamil Pongal, gave it a turmeric water bath, and put a garland on the bow. Before it was dispatched, our honourable LTTE Leader visited, congratulated them, and appreciated the hard work of these lady fighters. Speaking to their Leader gave them confidence and made them feel empowered. A stealth 16-foot Thanikai boat casts off in the Vadduvakal Sea. This super-stable speed hull design calculates the speed at 45–50 knots when it reaches its highest speed of 50–55 knots. The centre of gravity and the centre of buoyancy are on the same vertical line, and their stability never vanishes at any point when making a sudden turn. The stealth technology of their construction and their inherent low profile make them difficult to spot. Stealth 16‘ was used as an explosive black tiger boat for many battles until the last war. This is one successful stealthy design boat of LTTE, Which is 90% women-built boats.