Britain Inf Tank Mk III (Valentine VI)

World War 2 Tank and Gun Database

The Inf Tank Mk III was an Infantry Tank designed in 1939, it was based on the fully tracked Valentine chassis and was in use from 1942 to 1945. It was commonly called a Valentine VI.

General Details (Infantry Tank)

Specifications
Operational Date(s)	1942 - 1945
Quantity Produced	612
Weight	16 tonne
Crew	4
M.G's small	1
M.G's large(>10mm)	n/a
Length	5.46 mtr
Width	2.65 mtr
Height	2.31 mtr
Engine Details/Performance
Max Road Speed	15 mph
Max Cross Country Speed	8 mph
Range Road	0 miles
Range Cross Country	unknown
Fuel Type	Diesel
Fuel Capacity	unknown
Horse Power	165 hp
Power/Weight	10 hp/tonne

General Information

The Inf Tank Mk III was an Infantry Tank designed in 1939, it was based on the fully tracked Valentine chassis and was in use from 1942 to 1945. It was commonly called a Valentine VI.

The vehicle was powered by GMC '6004' diesel powerplant producing 165 HP which could drive the vehicle on roads at up to 15 mph with a range of about 0 miles before refuelling. Its cross country performance was adequate providing a max speed of about 8 mph and a range of about 0 miles.

It was armed with 1 light machine gun. Its main armament consisted of an Ordnance Q.F. 2pdr weighing 0.860 kg and with a maximum range of 5,900 metres.

The Infantry tank MkIII the Valentine was a redesigned A10 to provide an infantry support tank which could move slowly with the infantry to provide AT and machine gun support.

The turret had power traverse with a 2pdr A/T gun. The armour was good for this size of vehicle. The Valentine VI was as per the Valentine II but with the GMC diesel engine, external fuel tanks and studded tracks and were made in Canada.

Armour Details

Turret
Front	65mm	@	0°	(65mm)
Side	60mm	@	0°	(60mm)
Rear	60mm	@	0°	(60mm)
Top	10mm	@	90°	(10mm)

Superstructure
Front	30mm	@	68°	(80mm)
Side	60mm	@	0°	(60mm)
Rear	60mm	@	0°	(60mm)
Top	10mm	@	90°	(10mm)

Hull
Front	60mm	@	21°	(64mm)
Side	60mm	@	0°	(60mm)
Rear	60mm	@	0°	(60mm)
Top	10mm	@	90°	(10mm)

Armour (x)mm @ (y)° (Effective mm @ 0°)

Effective Armour - Maximum 80 mm - Minimum 10 mm


Ordnance Q.F. 2pdr (Anti Tank Gun)

	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. 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

Ammunition Details
Name/Id	Calibre Weight MVelocity					Explosive Content
AP/T Mk I (AP Armor Piercing)	40mm 1.08Kg 792M/Sec
Quoted Penetration 53mm@455m
Range(Mtr)	100	200	400	800	1200	1600	2000	2400
Flight Time(Secs)	0.13	0.26	0.54	1.16	1.85	2.61	3.44	4.32
Penetration(mm@30°)	58	55	49	40	32	26	20	16
Penetration(mm@0°)	68	64	58	46	37	30	24	20
Hit Probability(%)	79	79	76	71	55	30	20	6

Range(Mtr)	100	200	400	800	1200	1600	2000	2400
HE/T Mk II after 1942 (HE High Explosive)	40mm 0.86Kg 792M/Sec					0.085Kg explosive
Maximum Range not shown as gun elevation is limited
Flight Time(Secs)	0.13	0.26	0.54	1.16	1.85	2.61	3.43	4.31
lateral dispersion means the side to side variation of the shell from the aiming point
50%(CEP) of shells land within +/- (mtr)	0.12	0.12	0.12	0.21	0.32	0.43	0.53	0.64
80% of shells land within +/- (mtr)	0.15	0.15	0.15	0.27	0.41	0.55	0.68	0.82
95% of shells land within +/- (mtr)	0.24	0.24	0.24	0.41	0.63	0.84	1.04	1.25
range dispersion means the back to front variation of the shell from the aiming point
50%(CEP) of shells land within +/- (mtr)	0.15	0.15	0.15	0.27	0.40	0.53	0.67	0.80
80% of shells land within +/- (mtr)	0.19	0.19	0.19	0.35	0.51	0.68	0.86	1.02
95% of shells land within +/- (mtr)	0.29	0.29	0.29	0.53	0.78	1.04	1.31	1.57
Direct Fire
Range(Mtr)	100	200	400	800	1200	1600	2000	2400
Flight Time(Secs)	0.13	0.27	0.56	1.21	1.96	2.79	3.69	4.66
Hit Probability(%)	79	79	76	71	55	30	12	6
Blast/Fragmentation Effects
Burst radius Infantry in open 99% kill	1 mtr	Burst radius Infantry in open 66% kill						3 mtr
Burst radius Infantry in open 33% kill	9 mtr	Armour Penetration inc roof at 1 mtr						0 mm
An explosion within 1 mtr of infantry in the open will cause 99% casualties - lethal.
An explosion within 3 mtr of infantry in the open will cause > 66% casualties and could damage some AFV's.
An explosion within 9 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 not cause any significant armour damage.

About Penetration Figures

All penetration figures in this database are calculated to a common standard based on German WWII testing criteria (complete penetration with functioning fuze). This allows direct comparison between all nations' guns.

Original national test figures would be higher for some nations due to different criteria:

German: 1.00? (baseline - strictest)
British: 1.02? (slightly looser)
American: 1.05? (50% mass through plate)
Soviet: 1.10? (75% mass through plate)

For example, a Soviet gun showing 159mm here would be published as ~175mm in Soviet documents, and a German gun showing 120mm would be published as 120mm in German documents. The 159mm figure is directly comparable to the German 120mm - the Soviet gun really was more powerful.

National Testing Standards
German:	1.00? - Complete penetration, fuze functions (strictest)
British:	1.02? - Complete penetration
American:	1.05? - 50% of shell mass through plate
Soviet:	1.10? - 75% of shell mass through plate
All database figures are normalized to German standard for direct comparison. Multiply by the factor above to see original national test figures.

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.