Britain Beaverette MKIII (Beaverbug)

The Beaverette MKIII was designed in 1940, manufactured by Standard Cars based on the existing 4 x 2 drive commercial car and was in use from 1941 to 1945. General Details Specifications Operational Date(s) 1941 - 1945 Quantity Produced 0 Weight 2 tonne Crew 3 M.G's small 1 M.G's large(>10mm) n/a Length 3.60 mtr Width 1.70 mtr Height 2.10 mtr Engine Details/Performance Max Road Speed 35 mph Max Cross Country Speed 7 mph Range Road 180 miles Range Cross Country 36 miles Fuel Type Petrol Fuel Capacity unknown Horse Power 45 hp Power/Weight 22 hp/tonne General Information The Beaverette MKIII was designed in 1940, manufactured by Standard Cars based on the existing 4 x 2 drive commercial car and was in use from 1941 to 1945. The vehicle was powered by Standard '4-cyl petrol' petrol powerplant producing 45 HP which could drive the vehicle on roads at up to 35 mph with a range of about 180 miles before refuelling. Its cross country performance was poor providing a max speed of about 7 mph and a range of about 36 miles. It was armed with 1 light machine gun , a Bren Gun. This vehicle was based on a Standard commercial car chassis which was shortened to which armour of 11mm of steel backed by 3 inches of wooden planks was attached. The mark III had all round armour armoured top and was armed with a Bren gun or twin Vickers machine guns in a turret. Lord Beaverbrook who was the Minister of Aircraft Production ordered these vehicles which then became known as Beaverette Armour Details Turret Front 9mm @ 0° (9mm) Side 9mm @ 0° (9mm) Rear 9mm @ 0° (9mm) Top 5mm @ 0° (INFmm) Superstructure Front 9mm @ 0° (9mm) Side 9mm @ 0° (9mm) Rear 9mm @ 0° (9mm) Top 5mm @ 0° (INFmm) Hull Front 9mm @ 0° (9mm) Side 9mm @ 0° (9mm) Rear 9mm @ 0° (9mm) Top 5mm @ 0° (INFmm) Armour (x)mm @ (y)° (Effective mm @ 0°) Effective Armour - Maximum 9 mm - Minimum INF mm Weapon Details Bren Gun History The Bren gun was licenced from the Czechoslovak ZB vz.27 light machine gun which was designed and manufactured in Brno from 1935. It fired the standard British .303 rifle round. Manufactured 1930 - 2004 Calibre 7.70mm Length L/82 Rate of Fire 500 rpm   Ammunition Details Name/Id Calibre Weight MVelocity Explosive Content Standard british .303 round(AP) 7.70mm 0.017Kg 783M/Sec Range(Mtr) 100 200 400 800 1200 1600 2000 2400 Flight Time(Secs) 0.15 Penetration(mm@30°) 4 Penetration(mm@0°) 5 Hit Probability(%) 98 Standard british .303 round - HPBT(MG) 7.70mm 0.01Kg 761M/Sec Range(Mtr) 100 200 400 800 1200 1600 2000 2400 Flight Time(Secs) 0.17 Penetration(mm@30°) 1 Penetration(mm@0°) 2 Hit Probability(%) 98

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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