The Cruiser Mk IIA was designed in 1937, manufactured by Vickers Armstrong based on the existing fully tracked A9 and was in use from 1939 to 1941.
General Details
Specifications
Operational Date(s)
1939 - 1941
Ordnance classification
A10
Quantity Produced
162
Weight
13.75 tonne
Crew
5
M.G's small
2
M.G's large(>10mm)
n/a
Length
5.60 mtr
Width
2.56 mtr
Height
2.62 mtr
Engine Details/Performance
Max Road Speed
16 mph
Max Cross Country Speed
8 mph
Range Road
100 miles
Range Cross Country
40 miles
Fuel Type
Petrol
Fuel Capacity
117 gal
Horse Power
150 hp
Power/Weight
10 hp/tonne
General Information
The Cruiser Mk IIA was designed in 1937, manufactured by Vickers Armstrong based on the existing fully tracked A9 and was in use from 1939 to 1941.
The vehicle was powered by Associated Equipment Company(AEC) 'AEC Type A179' petrol powerplant producing 150 HP which could drive the vehicle on roads at up to 16 mph with a range of about 100 miles before refuelling. Its cross country performance was good providing a max speed of about 8 mph and a range of about 40 miles.
It was armed with 2 light machine guns which were BESA Machine Gun 7.92mms. Its main armament consisted of an Ordnance Q.F. 2pdr which could penetrate 67 mm of flat plate at 200 metres
The Cruiser tank MkII(A10) was a redesigned Mk I(A9) which had upgraded armour and the two auxilliary turrets removed this version also had a hull mounted machine gun.
The turret had power traverse with a 2pdr A/T gun. The vehicle had the two auxilliary machine gun from the Mk I removed , and replaced by one hull mounted machine gun. The armour was upgraded hence the speed reduction over the A9.
Armour Details
Turret
Front
30mm
@
20°
(32mm)
Side
26mm
@
20°
(28mm)
Rear
30mm
@
20°
(32mm)
Top
7mm
@
90°
(7mm)
Superstructure
Front
22mm
@
45°
(31mm)
Side
22mm
@
0°
(22mm)
Rear
12mm
@
0°
(12mm)
Top
7mm
@
90°
(7mm)
Hull
Front
22mm
@
30°
(25mm)
Side
22mm
@
0°
(22mm)
Rear
12mm
@
0°
(12mm)
Top
7mm
@
90°
(7mm)
Armour (x)mm @ (y)° (Effective mm @ 0°)
Effective Armour - Maximum 32 mm - Minimum 7 mm
Weapon Details
BESA Machine Gun 7.92mm
History
Developed by BSA from the Czechoslovak ZB vz.53 heavy machine gun which used the German 7.92×57mm Mauser ammunition. It was mostly used as the main armament of the Light Tank Mk VIC and Armoured cars such as the Humber Mk I to Mk III.
This 7.92mm gun was used in the armoured divisions as their supply lines were separated from the infantry who used .303 bullets. Once the British started capturing German ammunition this could be immediately used in these tank machine guns.
Manufactured
1939 - 1966
Calibre
7.92mm
Length
L/93
Rate of Fire
450 rpm
Number of Rounds
2000
Ammunition Details
Name/Id
Calibre Weight MVelocity
Explosive Content
Cartridge SA, 7.92(AP)
7.92mm 0.012Kg 785M/Sec
Range(Mtr)
100
200
400
800
1200
1600
2000
2400
Flight Time(Secs)
0.15
Penetration(mm@30°)
2
Penetration(mm@0°)
3
Hit Probability(%)
98
Weapon Details
Ordnance Q.F. 2pdr
History
Used both as an Anti Tank gun and as a Tank gun the 2pdr was first used in Belgium in 1939. The majority of the British guns were captured by the Germans at Dunkirk and given their designation of 4.0 cm Pak 192(e) or 4.0 cm Pak 154(b). However the 2pdr manufacture was continued but was slowly replaced by the 6pdr from 1942.
Manufactured
1936 - 1944
Calibre
40mm
Length
L/50
Rate of Fire
22 rpm
Number of Rounds
100
Ammunition Details
Name/Id
Calibre Weight MVelocity
Explosive Content
AP(AP)
40mm 1.08Kg 792M/Sec
Quoted Penetration 53mm@455m
Range(Mtr)
100
200
400
800
1200
1600
2000
2400
Flight Time(Secs)
0.13
0.27
0.56
1.26
2.17
3.37
5.06
7.58
Penetration(mm@30°)
64
58
51
41
33
25
19
13
Penetration(mm@0°)
74
67
59
48
39
30
22
16
Hit Probability(%)
98
98
98
93
60
25
6
2
Hit probability is based on a static 2 x 2.4 metre panel at 0 degrees(vertical) at the range specified.
The data that has been used to create these records has come from Wikipedia, The Lone Sentry, The Bundes Archive
and numerous books and websites that have provided the detailed information that has not been available anywhere else. The
information we use to calculate the penetration tables, flight times and the hit probability comes from the Gun Calibre,
the Shell Mass(Kg) and the muzzle velocity, plus range reductions to allow for gravity and wind resistance. This calculation
originally came from a pre-war Krupp calculation which has been modified, and seems to fit the actual test results.