Britain
Inf Tank Mk IV (Churchill 2 - II)
Ordnance classification - A22

Tweet The Inf Tank Mk IV was designed in 1941, manufactured by Vauxhall Motors based on the existing fully tracked Churchill and was in use from 1941 to 1945. General Details Specifications Operational Date(s) 1941 - 1945 Ordnance classification A22 Quantity Produced 1127 Weight 38.5 tonne Crew 5 M.G's small 2 M.G's large(>10mm) n/a Length 7.51 mtr Width 3.28 mtr Height 2.49 mtr Engine Details/Performance Max Road Speed 16 mph Max Cross Country Speed 8 mph Range Road 90 miles Range Cross Country 36 miles Fuel Type Petrol Fuel Capacity 190 gal Horse Power 350 hp Power/Weight 9 hp/tonne General Information The Inf Tank Mk IV was designed in 1941, manufactured by Vauxhall Motors based on the existing fully tracked Churchill and was in use from 1941 to 1945. The vehicle was powered by Bedford '350HP' petrol powerplant producing 350 HP which could drive the vehicle on roads at up to 16 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 2 light machine guns. Its main armament consisted of an Ordnance Q.F. 2pdr which could penetrate 59 mm of flat plate at 400 metres The Churchill Infantry tank was designed as a tank that could cope with movement through heavily shelled areas, and provide adequate protection for the crew. The vehicle was layed out in a similar way to the tanks from the First World War with the rear Bedford 350hp engine driving the tracks, to the front via small idlers to the fron main idler, then via 11small sprung road wheels. The first vehicles had many mechanical faults and hence many subsequent modifications. The Mk II had a hull mounted machine gun to the right of the driver to replace the 3inch howitzer in the Mk I. Armour Details Turret Front 152mm @ 0° (152mm) Side 95mm @ 0° (95mm) Rear 95mm @ 0° (95mm) Top 20mm @ 90° (20mm) Superstructure Front 152mm @ 20° (162mm) Side 95mm @ 0° (95mm) Rear 50mm @ 0° (50mm) Top 19mm @ 90° (19mm) Hull Front 50mm @ 70° (146mm) Side 95mm @ 0° (95mm) Rear 50mm @ 0° (50mm) Top 19mm @ 90° (19mm) Armour (x)mm @ (y)° (Effective mm @ 0°) Effective Armour - Maximum 162 mm - Minimum 19 mm Weapon Details 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 0.27 0.56 1.26 2.17 3.37 5.06 7.58 Penetration(mm@30°) 64 58 51 41 33 25 19 13 Penetration(mm@0°) 74 67 59 48 39 30 22 16 Hit Probability(%) 98 98 98 93 60 25 6 2 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 Range(Mtr) 100 200 400 800 1200 1600 2000 2400 Flight Time(Secs) 0.13 0.27 0.56 1.26 2.17 3.37 5.06 7.59 Direct Fire Range(Mtr) 100 200 400 800 1200 1600 2000 2400 Flight Time(Secs) 0.13 0.27 0.56 1.26 2.17 3.37 5.06 7.59 Hit Probability(%) 98 98 98 93 60 25 6 2 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.

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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Page Last Updated: 2023-04-07 16:03:03