Britain Inf Tank Mk III (Valentine IX)

Tweet The Inf Tank Mk III was an Infantry Tank designed in 1938, it was based on the fully tracked Valentine chassis and was in use from 1943 to 1944. It was commonly called a Valentine IX. General Details (Infantry Tank) Specifications Operational Date(s) 1943 - 1944 Quantity Produced 0 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 90 miles Range Cross Country 36 miles Fuel Type Diesel Fuel Capacity 36 gal Horse Power 165 hp Power/Weight 10 hp/tonne General Information The Inf Tank Mk III was an Infantry Tank designed in 1938, it was based on the fully tracked Valentine chassis and was in use from 1943 to 1944. It was commonly called a Valentine IX. The vehicle was powered by GMC 'Diesel 166HP' diesel powerplant producing 165 HP which could drive the vehicle on roads at up to 15 mph with a range of about 90 miles before refuelling. Its cross country performance was adequate providing a max speed of about 8 mph and a range of about 36 miles. It was armed with 1 light machine gun. Its main armament consisted of an Ordnance Q.F. 6pdr 7cwt MKI-III which could penetrate 105 mm of flat plate at 100 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 Valentine IX was the up gunned Valentine V which had a larger turret to accomodate a extra crew member, and had the GMC engine. 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 Weapon Details Ordnance Q.F. 6pdr 7cwt MKI-III (Anti Tank Gun) History The 6pdr Mk II—differed from the pre-production Mk I in having a shorter L/43 barrel, because of shortage of suitable lathes. The subsequent Mk IV was fitted with an L/50 barrel, with muzzle brake. Manufactured 1942 - 1945 Calibre 57mm Length L/43 Ammunition Details Name/Id Calibre Weight MVelocity Explosive Content Shot, AP, Mks 1 to 7 (AP Armor Piercing) 57mm 2.86Kg 853M/Sec Quoted Penetration 68mm@915m Range(Mtr) 100 200 400 800 1200 1600 2000 2400 Flight Time(Secs) 0.12 0.24 0.5 1.09 1.78 2.61 3.61 4.86 Penetration(mm@30°) 90 83 74 63 53 44 35 28 Penetration(mm@0°) 105 96 86 73 62 51 41 33 Hit Probability(%) 98 98 98 98 77 41 22 8

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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