British tanks. English tanks of the First and Second World Wars, modern tanks. British light tanks

The pioneers in world tank building are the British, for this we must thank W. Churchill. As you know, it quickly developed into a positional war. To give it at least some dynamics, in October 1914, the secretary of the defense committee, Colonel E. Swinton, proposed creating an armored tracked vehicle that could break through defense lines: cross trenches, trenches and barbed wire. The Minister of War did not react to the idea in any way, but the First Lord of the Admiralty (Naval Minister) W. Churchill supported the idea, and some time later the Land Ships Committee was created under the Naval Department.

The history of the development of British tanks by models

The commander of the British troops in France, General J. French, impressed by the unfolding battles, formulated the basic requirements for the "land dreadnought":

• Relatively small dimensions.
• Bulletproof armor.
• Caterpillar mover.
• Ability to overcome funnels up to 4 m and wire fences.
• Speed ​​not less than 4 km/h.
• The presence of a cannon and two machine guns.

In fact, these were the world's first requirements for the characteristics of tanks. And in January 1916, the committee presented the world's first tank capable of taking part in battles. So, with the light hand of Churchill, tank building began in Britain, and a few years later all over the world.

The first tanks were created exclusively to break through the defense and suppress enemy machine guns, which was facilitated by the special shape of the hull. It was a parallelogram with tracks along the outer contour to overcome vertical obstacles. It was like that.

Even after tangible successes from tanks in battle, the English military leadership considered their use to be of little promise, and only thanks to the real successes of the high-speed French Renault, the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bmass production of tanks captured the minds of military leaders. J. Fuller, later a well-known tank theorist, for example, advocated the mass creation of high-speed tanks.

English tanks of the First World War

There were several tank qualifications in the British forces of that time.

The first is weight: up to 10 tons - light, from 10-20 tons medium and about 30 tons heavy. As you know, preference was given mainly to heavy tanks.

The second qualification concerns weapons: tanks with exclusively machine-gun armament were called "females", with guns - "males". After the first oncoming battles with German tanks, which showed the failure of machine-gun models, a combined type appeared with cannons and machine guns, such tanks were called "hermaphrodites".

As for the doctrine of the use of tanks in battle, then the opinions of the military were divided into two halves. One half wanted to create and use purely "infantry" tanks, the second "cruising".

Infantry type - used for close support of infantry, had low mobility and was well armored.

The cruising type is a kind of "armored cavalry", quite fast, and in comparison with the infantry, lightly armored. On their shoulders, together with the cavalry, fell the task of quickly breaking through the defense, girths and raids on the rear of the enemy. The armament of both types was the same, mostly machine guns.

This concept of using tanks from the British survived until the start of World War II. If you delve deeper into it, you can see that tanks play an auxiliary role, the main tasks are solved by cavalry and infantry.

Until the end of World War I in England, after the heavy MK-I, its modifications were produced up to Mk VI and Mk IX and medium ones: Mk A (unofficially "Whippet"), Mk B and Mk C.

Of course, the quality of the first production tanks was pretty low.

In the diaries of German soldiers and in official reports, there are many interesting facts. For example, due to the gas content inside the tanks, there were frequent cases of strangulation of the entire crew. Through the primitiveness of the suspension, the tanks created such a rumble that, in order to mask the movement of tank units, the British accompanied them with artillery cannonade. Because of the narrow tracks, there were cases when the tanks got muddy in the ground right in front of the enemy trenches.

One case speaks about security.

In November 1917, in the battles near Cambrai, on the outskirts of the village of Flesquières, one German officer remained at the cannon abandoned by the servants, he, slowly, loading and shooting himself, destroyed 16 English tanks in order.

It seemed that even then it was necessary to think about strengthening the reservation, but not one of the tank manufacturers did this until the conflict in Spain.

Be that as it may, the British with their tanks gave a new round of warfare, they transferred them to other speeds. Until the end of the war, they were the first in the world to create amphibious tanks and communication tanks.

Tanks between the great wars

the first World England finished as a leader in tank building, but very soon all the advantages came to naught.

Firstly, due to the fact that the types of tanks and their use were strictly separated: the British continued to build "infantry" and "cruising" types.

Secondly, due to its geographical location, the command gave priority to the development of the fleet, rather than the land army.

The implementation of one of the tactical ideas of J. Fuller, by the way, almost all countries “got sick” with it, was the creation of mechanized infantry. For these purposes, the Cardin-Lloyd MkVI tankette was ideal. She, in her mass, according to the plan of the strategist, was supposed to play the role of an "armored skirmisher". Despite the fact that the tankette did not receive recognition in its homeland, although reconnaissance tanks and tractors, it was purchased by 16 countries, and Poland, Italy, France, Czechoslovakia and Japan acquired licenses for their production. In the USSR, it was produced as the T-27.

Another tank that was not appreciated by compatriots was the Vickers - 6 tons. In world tank building, he played no less a role than Renault FT at one time. Lightweight and cheap to manufacture, with a machine gun in one turret and a cannon in the other, it was the embodiment of the idea of ​​World War I tanks: machine gun tanks act against manpower, while cannon tanks support them.

Among the tanks put into service in the late 20s and early 30s were:

• medium Mk I "Vickers-12 tons",
• heavy A1E1 "Independent",
• various modifications of the Vickers-Karden-Loyd Mk VII and Mk VIII.

In anticipation of a big war, headquarters ground forces back in the late 20s, insisted on the creation and production of infantry tanks, but due to the economic crisis in the country, funding was not allocated.
After the conflict in Spain and the Italian attack on Ethiopia, the British leadership, anticipating the approach of the "big conflict" and understanding the inconsistencies in the time of the equipment they had previously created, urgently financed the creation and production of new tanks.

Appear: “cruising Mk I (A9), Mk II (A10), Mk III, Mk IV and Mk VI Crusader (A15).

Mk IV and Mk VI implemented on the well-known wheeled-tracked base of the American inventor Christie, but using one propulsion unit.

In 1939, the production of the first (!) tank with anti-cannon armor began - the infantry A11 Mk I Matilda, later another tank would be called by this name. The speed of 13 km / h and machine gun armament made him a laughingstock. In general, during the period between the "great" wars, the designers of England created more than 50 real models of tanks, 10 of which were put into service.

British tanks of World War II

At the time of the start, the armored vehicles of England were noticeably outdated. Neither in quality nor quantity could it equal the technology of the USSR and Germany. The total number of all tanks in the British army was about 1000 pieces, in greater mass lungs. The lion's share of which was lost in the battles for France.

During the war, British manufacturers were never able to satisfy the demands of the army, during the period 1939-1945 only 25 thousand units of armored vehicles were produced, the same number came from the USA and Canada.

All new technology was rather mediocre, it was one step behind the German and Russian.

Mostly cruising and infantry tanks were produced, and a small number of light airborne ones.

After the famous post-war phrase of Churchill, the tanks of the whole world joined the arms race, and their development, in general, is similar to each other. Conqueror is being created to counter our IS. After the adoption in the world of the concept of the main battle tank released "Chieften". The third generation tank in England is the Challenger.

In addition to the main ones, after a long break, in 1972 they began to produce light tanks "Scorpion".

Hello fellow tankers! Today we will look at British branch tank development(V game world of Tanks), or rather, I will describe to you all its pros and cons in as much detail as possible from my point of view and, perhaps, help you decide on the choice of a nation.

The popularity of British tanks in World of Tanks

Advantages and disadvantages of British tanks

A bit of history

And now back to the advantages and disadvantages, based on historical significance.

• A definite plus you can call it that in the "cruising" meaning, the British achieved their goal: Covenanter, Crusader, Cromwell, Comet are ideal for entering the rear at speed and carving out enemy artillery. The advantages include frontal armor some vehicles (such as Black Prince, Matilda, Valentine and almost all British anti-tank self-propelled guns). Medium tanks have worse armor, but a certain slope gives a chance of non-penetration, and the turret can traditionally take a good hit. The British also have good guns: they have good armor penetration, fast aiming and not too long reload. Some machines have mobility, speed and maneuverability. British tanks have good visibility.
• By cons applies one-time damage per shot, because it is very small (except for high-explosives and the FV215b (183) top tank destroyer). Some vehicles have poor hull armor. The huge disadvantages of heavily armored tanks in Britain are speed, maneuverability and extensive “soft” points that are easily accessible for penetration.

General

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"Cruising" light tanks

Light tanks (up to heavy tanks)

medium tanks

Outcome

On July 28, 1914, a cannonade thundered over Europe new war. At that time, no one imagined that this conflict would become a global struggle for attrition. All participants planned to defeat their opponents in a few months of a decisive offensive. But more and more new states got involved in the fight, the armies suffered huge losses, and in the end Europe turned out to be crossed out by lines of trenches from northern to southern seas. The offensives brought less and less results: tens, or even hundreds of thousands of dead, were paid literally for a few kilometers recaptured. In an attempt to somehow reverse the stalemate, the participants in the war invented more and more new means of destruction. It was during these years that poison gases, flamethrowers appeared, and a fighter aircraft was first used. And it was then that the tank was invented in Britain.

For the first time, tanks participated in the battle on September 15, 1916 on the Somme River. Armored monsters broke through the German defenses, but the result was achieved only on a tactical, not operational level. In general, tanks did not play a decisive role in the First World War. More than two decades had to pass before the new military equipment unleashed its full potential. Over the years, it was necessary not only to improve the design of tanks, but also to learn how to use them correctly. Surprisingly, the British - the pioneers of tank building - had problems with both the first and second aspects.

As usual, main reason of these problems was the human factor. Let's start with the fact that in the British War Office there were many outspoken opponents of the development of armored forces. Historian D. Brown wrote that the attitude of military officials towards the tank corps was marked by a spirit of displeasure and envy. The extreme degree of hostility were statements that tanks were a waste of the military budget.

In the camp of supporters, too, not everything was smooth. Here they could not reach a consensus on what role the tank should play on the battlefield in the future. Two points of view stood out clearly. According to the first, the tank was supposed to advance along with the infantry, cover it with armor and help fight enemy infantry. Artillery was supposed to fight the fortified points, tanks and cannons of the enemy. Supporters of the second point of view were inclined to believe that tanks should be used in the same way as cavalry. In their opinion, the tanks had to quickly break through behind enemy lines, strike at communications, warehouses, attack units that were on the march and were not ready for an effective rebuff.

Ultimately, the British decided, figuratively speaking, to sit on two chairs at once. A division into infantry and cruiser tanks was created. The former were slow and well armored, while the latter were distinguished by high speed, but thin armor. At the same time, their weapons were approximately the same. Although at first it was planned to equip infantry tanks only with machine guns. Then, nevertheless, they came to equipping combat vehicles with guns. But both the infantry and cruiser tanks gun caliber was for a long time limited, and high-explosive fragmentation shells were not included in the ammunition load.

Let's take a closer look at both "families" of British tanks in the initial period of World War II.

Infantry tanks, as already mentioned, at first did not have cannon weapons. A typical example of such a machine was the Matilda I, which began production in 1937. It was a clumsy but well armored tank. When the British first fought the Germans in 1940, it turned out that German anti-tank weapons were often unable to penetrate this tank. Unfortunately, the advantage in defense was completely erased by the very low firepower of the vehicle.

In 1939, the production of the Matilda II infantry tank began, which became the most heavily armored British tank at the beginning of the war. Its 60 mm armor was guaranteed to penetrate only 88 mm anti-aircraft guns and 76 mm German guns anti-tank installations Marder II. Unlike its namesake of the previous modification, the Matilda II was armed with a 2-pounder gun. In principle, this was enough for the very beginning of the war. But by the middle of 1942, Matilda II had ceased to be any significant in the role of a gun tank. And it was not possible to install a more powerful gun on it due to the small size of the turret and the diameter of the shoulder strap.

Valentine was recognized as the most successful infantry tank at the beginning of the war. This machine received a baptism of fire in 1941 in North Africa. The release of "Valentines" was carried out until 1944, although already in 1942 the tank was considered hopelessly outdated. Its unambiguous shortcomings were low speed and a weak gun. Unlike the Matilda II, it was possible to strengthen the armament of the Valentine: in 1942, a turret was developed for a 57-mm (6-pound) gun. The tower was cramped and could accommodate only two people, which had a negative effect on the efficiency of the crew. Speaking of Valentine tank, it should be noted that about half of the cars built were sent under Lend-Lease to the USSR.

As for the cruiser tanks of Great Britain, by the beginning of the Second World War they were still far from perfect and were extremely unreliable. And it was typical for all equipment of this class. The ancestors of cruiser tanks were the machines of the American engineer Walter Christie.

The Vickers Mk I, produced in small series since 1934, became the first cruiser tank. He practically did not participate in the war, although a small number of these vehicles remained in the army until 1941. The rest were withdrawn to the rear and used as training.

An attempt to correct this deplorable situation was the Vickers Mk IV tank. The thickness of his armor was able to bring up to 30 mm. This was done by welding additional sheets on the tower and other weak spots. This additional armor gave the Mk IV's turret an unusual hexagonal shape, later adopted by the Covenanter cruiser tank. In addition, minor work was carried out to improve the chassis. The Mk IV became more combat-ready than its predecessors, but still broke down unacceptably often.

In 1940-1941, the British suffered serious defeats on almost all fronts. France, North Africa, Greece - everywhere British tanks lost to their opponents. Sometimes this was due to technical imperfection, sometimes due to incompetent commanders. I had to draw conclusions and take action.

In the second part of the article, we will tell you how the armored weapons of Britain developed further.

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Also in the "Media" section of our portal you can watch a video dedicated to British tanks.

Traditionally, the new research tree appears in the game not completely, but in small portions. First of all, the British will acquire the main branches of research: heavy tanks up to the tenth level and medium tanks up to the ninth.

At the second level, the research tree suddenly diverges in as many as three directions - which is also unusual for a "release" variant - two of which lead to light tanks. One of the "light" branches will eventually lead the player to a medium tank of the ninth level, and the tanks of the second will suddenly gain weight when moving from the fourth level (light Valentine) to the fifth - where the heavy tank Churchill I is already located.

Armament in English

This is the essence of British tank building: take one model and start consistently producing improvements and improvements on its basis, carefully marking them “Mk I”, “Mk II”, etc. New gun - new "Mk". New engine - perhaps a new "Mk", or sometimes a completely different name.

The situation with the armament of tanks is somewhat similar: the three- (light Tetrarch) and six-pounder (Churchill and medium Ram II, M7) guns already present in the game, we suspect, will pursue the player for a long time. But after that they will inevitably be replaced by something more lethal: for example, the famous 17-pounder, which was originally installed on tanks specifically to fight the German Tigers and Panthers.

Naturally, the UK tank research tree will not be limited to two and a half branches of technology. As expected, with some delay, self-propelled gunners will pull up on the battlefield - both artillerymen and anti-tank self-propelled guns. How can a virtual war do without such a recognizable and similar to the American "sloths" T28 and T95 tank destroyers A39 Tortoise, but simply "Turtles". The ranks of the Shermans will also be replenished, since the United States during the war supplied the UK with a sufficient number of these tanks of various modifications ...

british tanks british tanks

Tanks of England

The development of British armored vehicles in the prewar years was affected by the struggle of opinions regarding the nature of the future war. Supporters of the creation of mechanized armies, who believed that the second World War with their participation should end quickly, with a single strategic strike, which within a few days and even hours will decide the outcome of the battles and force the enemy to surrender, insisted on the creation of "cruising" tanks - lightly armored, with increased movement speeds and with 40 mm caliber guns. To test their views on a future war, they achieved the creation in the British armed forces in 1927 of the first experimental mechanized unit.

There was also a group of influential military men who relied on the headquarters ground forces England, who believed that the main destiny of tanks was the direct support of the advancing infantry. For this, low-speed, heavily armored tanks with 40-75 mm caliber guns - the so-called "infantry" tanks - serve. As a compromise, it was decided to have both cruising and infantry tanks in service. TO infantry tanks tanks such as "Matilda", "Valentine" and "Churchill" belonged, cruising - "Crusider", "Cromwell", "Comet". Thus, the inseparable combat qualities of the tank - armor protection and mobility were artificially divided between the two types of vehicles. The fallacy of this concept was revealed in the course of hostilities quite quickly, but during the war the British designers failed to create a single tank capable of performing the tasks of direct infantry support and operating as part of armored formations. That's why best tank English army became the American M4 Sherman.

Created in England before the war, light tanks quickly disappeared from the battlefield, as their armor and weapons were unsatisfactory. Therefore, the American light tanks M3 and M5 were widely used in the British army. In 1943, the production of our own light tank"Tetrarch", however combat characteristics were below specifications. German tanks. Self-propelled artillery, as in the US Army, was divided into field, anti-tank and anti-aircraft. However, the quantity self-propelled units, issued by the industry of England, was small and amounted to approximately 800 cars.

The characteristic features of British armored vehicles were:

• large overall dimensions and weight, low firepower and mobility of tanks;
• creation of field, anti-tank and anti-aircraft self-propelled installations based on tanks and vehicles;
• widespread use of the chassis of obsolete light tanks to create armored personnel carriers;
• the creation and widespread use of armored vehicles;
• use of outdated design solutions and technological methods: vertical arrangement armor plates, the frame structure of tanks, the connection of armor plates with bolts and rivets, the use of mainly carburetor engines, etc.

In total, during the Second World War, 25116 tanks were produced in England, another 23246 tanks and self-propelled guns came from the USA and Canada. The formation of armored formations in England was rather slow. By the end of the second year of the war, five armored divisions and five separate brigades.
The armored division consisted of two armored brigades, each of which had three tank regiments, as well as two motorcycle-rifle battalions, an artillery and a mixed anti-aircraft and anti-tank regiment. The division had about 300 tanks, but there was practically no motorized infantry. In addition, the structure of the division turned out to be cumbersome and did not allow for the operational management of units during the battle. Therefore, at the end of 1942, the divisions were reorganized. Of these, one armored brigade was excluded, but a brigade of motorized infantry was introduced, there were two artillery regiments, a regiment was introduced anti-tank artillery. The 1942 model division consisted of 18,000 personnel, 344 tanks, and more than 150 guns.

For joint action with infantry divisions separate armored brigades were formed as part of three regiments. Each brigade had 260 tanks. In total, during the Second World War, 11 armored divisions and 30 armored brigades were formed in Great Britain. Tank corps and armies were not created, however, at different stages of the war, army corps participated, which included 2-3 armored divisions each.