Britain Cruiser Mk VIII (Centaur III) Ordnance classification - A27L
The Cruiser Mk VIII was designed in 1941, manufactured by Leyland based on the existing fully tracked A24 and was in use from 1943 to 1945.
General Details
Specifications
Operational Date(s)
1943 - 1945
Ordnance classification
A27L
Quantity Produced
0
Weight
27.5 tonne
Crew
5
M.G's small
1
M.G's large(>10mm)
n/a
Length
6.40 mtr
Width
2.92 mtr
Height
2.49 mtr
Engine Details/Performance
Max Road Speed
27 mph
Max Cross Country Speed
14 mph
Range Road
165 miles
Range Cross Country
66 miles
Fuel Type
Unknown
Fuel Capacity
unknown
Horse Power
395 hp
Power/Weight
14 hp/tonne
General Information
The Cruiser Mk VIII was designed in 1941, manufactured by Leyland based on the existing fully tracked A24 and was in use from 1943 to 1945.
The vehicle was powered by Nuffield 'Liberty' powerplant producing 395 HP which could drive the vehicle on roads at up to 27 mph with a range of about 165 miles before refuelling. Its cross country performance was good providing a max speed of about 14 mph and a range of about 66 miles.
It was armed with 1 light machine gun , a BESA Machine Gun 7.92mm. Its main armament consisted of an Ordnance Q.F. 75mm which could penetrate 96 mm of flat plate at 400 metres
The Centaur was the Leyland version of the Cavalier and were mainly used for training or special purpose roles.
Armour Details
Turret
Front
76mm
@
0°
(76mm)
Side
63mm
@
0°
(63mm)
Rear
57mm
@
0°
(57mm)
Top
20mm
@
81°
(20mm)
Superstructure
Front
63mm
@
0°
(63mm)
Side
32mm
@
0°
(32mm)
Rear
32mm
@
0°
(32mm)
Top
20mm
@
90°
(20mm)
Hull
Front
57mm
@
0°
(57mm)
Side
32mm
@
0°
(32mm)
Rear
32mm
@
0°
(32mm)
Top
20mm
@
90°
(20mm)
Armour (x)mm @ (y)° (Effective mm @ 0°)
Effective Armour - Maximum 76 mm - Minimum 20 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
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. 75mm
History
This was a temporary fix to the problem of 6pdr guns not having a powerful enough HE shell. It was created by boring out the British 57mm 6pdr to take the American 75mm AP/HE shells, which reduced the Anti Tank performance but provided HE support.
Manufactured
1943 - 1945
Calibre
75mm
Length
L/32
Ammunition Details
Name/Id
Calibre Weight MVelocity
Explosive Content
AP(AP)
75mm 6.58Kg 618M/Sec
Range(Mtr)
100
200
400
800
1200
1600
2000
2400
Flight Time(Secs)
0.16
0.33
0.68
1.45
2.31
3.29
4.41
5.71
Penetration(mm@30°)
98
91
83
73
64
55
46
38
Penetration(mm@0°)
114
106
96
85
74
64
54
45
Hit Probability(%)
98
98
98
88
54
25
15
3
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.