Vickers 6-ton
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Vickers 6-ton tank | |
---|---|
John Valentine Carden | |
Designed | 1928 |
Manufacturer | Vickers |
Specifications | |
Mass | 7.3 tonnes (7.2 long tons; 8.0 short tons) |
Length | 4.88 m (16 ft 0 in) |
Width | 2.41 m (7 ft 11 in) |
Height | 2.16 m (7 ft 1 in) |
Crew | 3 |
Armour | 19 to 25 mm (0.75 to 0.98 in) |
Main armament | Type A 2 machine guns Type B 3-pdr (47 mm) gun (with 50 rounds) |
Secondary armament | Type B 1 Vickers machine gun |
Engine | Armstrong Siddeley petrol 80–98 hp (60–73 kW) |
Power/weight | 11–13 hp/t (8.2–9.7 kW/t) |
Suspension | leaf spring bogie |
Operational range | 160 km (99 mi) |
Maximum speed | 22 mph (35 km/h) |
The Vickers 6-ton tank or Vickers Mark E, also known as the "Six-tonner", was a British light tank designed in 1928 in a private project at Vickers. Though not adopted by the British Army, it was picked up by several other armed forces, and licensed by the Soviet Union as the T-26. It was also the direct predecessor of the Polish 7TP tank.
History
The first Mark E was built in 1928 by a design team that included the famed tank designers
Its suspension used two axles, each of which carried a two-wheel
The tank was built in two versions:
- Type A with two turrets, each mounting a Vickers machine gun.
- Type B with a single two-man turret mounting a single machine gun and a short-barreled 47 mm OQF 3-pdr gun.
The Type B proved to be a real innovation: it was found that the two-man turret dramatically increased the rate of fire of either weapon, while still allowing both to be fired at the same time. This design, which they referred to as a duplex mounting, became common on almost all tanks designed after the Mark E.
The
Experience with the Polish machines showed that the engine tended to overheat due to poor airflow over the air-cooled engine. This was addressed by the addition of large air vents on either side of the hull. For a new Belgian order the design was modified to use the Rolls-Royce Phantom II water-cooled engine instead. This engine would not fit in the rear, and had to be mounted along the left side of the tank, requiring the turret to be moved to the right and rearward. One example of the resulting Mark F was tested by Belgium, but rejected. Nevertheless, the new hull was used, with the older engine, in the sales to Finland and Siam.
The Mark E was also developed as a cargo vehicle, and purchased by the British Army in small numbers as artillery tractors to haul their large BL 60-pounder (127 mm; 5 in) field guns. Twelve were ordered by the Army as the Dragon, Medium Mark IV, while China purchased 23 and India 18.
Poland purchased 38 Type A tanks, spare parts and license for the local production.[4] The Poles modified their vehicles with larger air intakes, their own machine guns, 360-degree Gundlach periscopes,[5] and five or more with added two-way radios, before deciding to make their own tank that would address the shortcomings of the original Vickers design. This resulted in the 7TP, which was nearly 10 tons in weight. The Poles also, besides the aforementioned telescope, added a liquid-cooled diesel engine as well as better armour protection, better ventilation, two-way radios, a 37 mm (1.46 in) Polish version of the Bofors anti-tank gun, and a bigger crew compartment. Out of 38 original two-turreted tanks, 22 were later converted to single turret version with a modified turret and the 47 mm (1.85 in) main gun (Type B standard). The tanks were in bad shape by 1939 because they were used in the training units over a period of five years. However, they did perform well and better than the Renault R35, amongst others, as part of the Polish 10. Cavalry Brigade during the Invasion of Poland in 1939.
The Soviets were also happy with the design and licensed it for production. However, in their case local production started as the
During the Spanish Civil War the Soviet Union sent the T-26 to the Republican Army. The Italians, after suffering losses from Republican T-26s during the
In 1939, during the Soviet-Finnish
At the Battle of Honkaniemi on 26 February 1940, the Finns employed their Vickers tanks for the first – and only – time against Soviet armour during the Winter War. The results were disastrous. Of the thirteen available Finnish Vickers 6-ton tanks only six were in fighting condition and able to participate in the first assault on the Soviet lines – to make matters worse, one of the tanks was forced to stop, unable to cross a wide trench. The remaining five continued onwards a few hundred metres but ran into dozens of Soviet tanks in the village of Honkaniemi. The Finnish tanks managed to knock out three Soviet tanks but were soon themselves knocked-out.[7] In the skirmishes that followed, the Finns lost two more Vickers tanks.[8]
In 1941, the Finns rearmed their Vickers 6-ton tanks with Soviet 45 mm guns and re-designated them as T-26Es. These tanks were used by the Finnish Army during the Continuation War. Nineteen rebuilt Vickers tanks, along with 75 T-26s continued in Finnish service after the end of the Second World War.[9] Some of these tanks were kept as training tanks until 1959, when they were finally phased out and replaced by newer British and Soviet tanks.[10]
Operators
- Bolivia – used one twin-turret tank Type A and two single-turret tanks Type B. The Bolivian Vickers tanks were the first to see combat service, also the first tanks to see combat in the Americas—in 1933 they were used in the Chaco War against Paraguay. All of them were destroyed or captured by Paraguayan forces. See Tank warfare in the Chaco War.
- Kingdom of Bulgaria – bought eight single-turret Mk.E Type B tanks, used by the 3rd Armoured Company.[11]
- 37 mm Bofors anti-tank guns as their main gun with a coaxial turret MG and a "tank SMG" in bow plate. They were used in the Winter War with the USSR. After this war, the Finns rearmed Mark E tanks with captured Soviet long 45 mm guns and DT MGs as used in the T-26. The Finns designated the rebuilt Vickers tanks logically as: T-26Es. They were used in combat from 1941 to 1944 and remained in service as training tanks until 1959.
- Carden-Loyd tankettes formed the first armoured battalion of the Hellenic Army, but were mostly used for training.
- M13/40light and medium tanks.
- Type 95 Ha-Go.
- Paraguay – One double-turret Vickers Mk.E Type A tank captured from Bolivia, later used as monument, returned to Bolivia in 1994.
- Second Polish Republic – used 38 tanks since 1932: 22 Type B and 16 Type A tanks. Polish tanks had large air intakes behind the crew compartments as a significant feature. Poland also bought a license and developed an own improved model 7TP. Vickers Mk.E (Vickers E) tanks fought in the invasion of Poland.
- Portugal – two tanks for tests
- Soviet Union – the first buyer of Vickers Mk.E tanks. In 1931 bought 15 twin-turret tanks Mk.E Type A, and a license. The Soviets next started building and developing own improved tanks T-26 (about 12 000 made).
- Spanish Republic – one ex-Bolivian single-turret Vickers Mk.E Type B tank bought from Paraguay, and a number of Soviet-made T-26s.
- French-Thai War in French Indochina.
- Turkey – used 16 Type A tanks since 1940.[13]
- United Kingdom – used four tanks for training
- Kingdom of Romania – at least 19 captured from the Red Army[14]
See also
- List of tanks
Comparable vehicles
Notes
- ^ GB 324841
- ^ U.S. patent 2019654A
- ^ "Vickers E: Bestselling Export".
- ISBN 9788372193223.
- ^ 7TP vol.II, Janusz Magnuski, Militaria 317, Warszawa 2009.
- ^ Kantakoski, p. 257
- ^ Kantakoski, p. 267
- ^ Muikku, p. 18
- ^ Muikku, Suomalaiset Panssarivaunut 1918–1997, p. 191
- ^ Muikku, p. 191
- ISSN 1765-0828.
- ^ Takizawa, Akira (1999–2000). "Chinese Nationalist Armour in World War II". Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941–1942.
- ISSN 1765-0828.
- ^ Axworthy, p. 221
References
- Kantakoski, Pekka (1998). Punaiset panssarit – Puna-armeijan panssarijoukot 1918–1945 (Red tanks – the Red Army's armoured forces 1918–1945) (in Finnish). Hämeenlinna: Ilves-Paino Oy. p. 512. ISBN 951-98057-0-2.
- L, Klemen (2000). "Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941–1942".
- Muikku, Esa; Jukka Purhonen (1998). Suomalaiset Panssarivaunut 1918–1997 (The Finnish Armoured Vehicles 1918–1997) (in Finnish and English). Jyväskylä: Apali. p. 208. ISBN 952-5026-09-4.
- Tank Medium, Vickers Armstrongs Mark E, Type B (E1952.28), Tank Museum, archived from the original on 6 January 2019
External links
- Derela, Michał. "The Vickers 6-Ton Tank (Mark E)". Archived from the original on 25 May 2018.
- Canadian Army Early History section