Britain
Cruiser Mk V (Covenanter C.S.)
Ordnance classification - A13 MkIII

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The Cruiser Mk V was designed in 1939, manufactured by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway based on the existing fully tracked A13 and was in use from 1940 to 1943.

General Details Specifications Operational Date(s) 1940 - 1943 Ordnance classification A13 MkIII Quantity Produced 0 Weight 18 tonne Crew 4 M.G's small 1 M.G's large(>10mm) n/a Length 5.85 mtr Width 2.65 mtr Height 2.26 mtr Engine Details/Performance Max Road Speed 31 mph Max Cross Country Speed 17 mph Range Road 100 miles Range Cross Country 40 miles Fuel Type Petrol Fuel Capacity unknown Horse Power 300 hp Power/Weight 16 hp/tonne General Information The Cruiser Mk V was designed in 1939, manufactured by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway based on the existing fully tracked A13 and was in use from 1940 to 1943. The vehicle was powered by Meadows 'Flat-12' petrol powerplant producing 300 HP which could drive the vehicle on roads at up to 31 mph with a range of about 100 miles before refuelling. Its cross country performance was good providing a max speed of about 17 mph and a range of about 40 miles. It was armed with 1 light machine gun , a BESA Machine Gun 7.92mm. Its main armament consisted of an Ordnance Q.F. 3inch Howitzer which could penetrate 96 mm of flat plate at 400 metres The vehicle was not used operationally due to serious overheating of the front mounted engine. The Covenanter C.S. was the close support version of either the Covenanter I,II,III or IV. Armour Details Turret Front 40mm @ 20° (43mm) Side 16mm @ 20° (17mm) Rear 16mm @ 20° (17mm) Top 4mm @ 90° (4mm) Superstructure Front 40mm @ 45° (57mm) Side 14mm @ 0° (14mm) Rear 14mm @ 0° (14mm) Top 4mm @ 90° (4mm) Hull Front 40mm @ 30° (46mm) Side 14mm @ 0° (14mm) Rear 14mm @ 0° (14mm) Top 4mm @ 90° (4mm) Armour (x)mm @ (y)° (Effective mm @ 0°) Effective Armour - Maximum 57 mm - Minimum 4 mm

Weapon Details BESA Machine Gun 7.92mm (Machine Gun) 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   Ammunition Details Name/Id Calibre Weight MVelocity Explosive Content Cartridge SA, 7.92 (AP Standard Small Arms) 7.92mm 0.011Kg 785M/Sec Quoted Penetration 11mm @ 1000mtr/0° Range(Mtr) 100 200 400 800 1200 1600 2000 2400 Flight Time(Secs) 0.16 0.37 1.1 Penetration(mm@30°) 10 8 5 Penetration(mm@0°) 12 10 6 Hit Probability(%) 98 98 98 Cartridge SA, 7.92 (BALL Standard Small Arms) 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. 3inch Howitzer (Field Gun) Manufactured unknown - 1945 Calibre 76.20mm Ammunition Details Name/Id Calibre Weight MVelocity Explosive Content 3 inch howitzer AP (HE High Explosive) 76.20mm 6.3Kg 650M/Sec 0.600Kg explosive Range(Mtr) 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 Flight Time(Secs) 1.77 4.17 7.61 12.96 22.39 43.45 132.43 Direct Fire Range(Mtr) 100 200 400 800 1200 1600 2000 2400 Flight Time(Secs) 0.16 0.32 0.65 1.38 2.19 3.12 4.17 5.39 Hit Probability(%) 98 98 98 90 60 25 15 6 Blast/Fragmentation Effects Burst radius Infantry in open 99% kill 3 mtr Burst radius Infantry in open 66% kill 6 mtr Burst radius Infantry in open 33% kill 15 mtr  Armour Penetration inc roof at 1 mtr 1 mm An explosion within 3 mtr of infantry in the open will cause 99% casualties - lethal. An explosion within 6 mtr of infantry in the open will cause > 66% casualties and could damage some AFV's. An explosion within 15 mtr of infantry in the open will cause 33% casualties. The blast effect of this shell exploding within 1 mtr of an armoured vehicle will penetrate 1 mm of the tank armour including the roof.

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.

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