Britain Light Tank Mk VI /Mk VIA /Mk VIB

World War 2 Tank and Gun Database

The Light Tank Mk VI /Mk VIA /Mk VIB was a Light Tank designed in 1935, manufactured by Vickers, it was based on the fully tracked Carrier chassis and was in use from 1936 to 1942.

General Details (Light Tank)

Specifications
Operational Date(s)	1936 - 1942
Quantity Produced	1320
Weight	4.89 tonne
Crew	3
M.G's small	1
M.G's large(>10mm)	1
Length	4.05 mtr
Width	2.09 mtr
Height	2.28 mtr
Engine Details/Performance
Max Road Speed	32 mph
Max Cross Country Speed	25 mph
Range Road	125 miles
Range Cross Country	87 miles
Fuel Type	Petrol
Fuel Capacity	74 gal
Horse Power	88 hp
Power/Weight	17 hp/tonne

General Information

The Light Tank Mk VI /Mk VIA /Mk VIB was a Light Tank designed in 1935, manufactured by Vickers, it was based on the fully tracked Carrier chassis and was in use from 1936 to 1942.

The vehicle was powered by Meadows '6 cyl' petrol powerplant producing 88 HP which could drive the vehicle on roads at up to 32 mph with a range of about 125 miles before refuelling. Its cross country performance was good providing a max speed of about 25 mph and a range of about 87 miles.

It was armed with 1 light machine gun. and 1 large machine gun. Its main armament consisted

The Light Tank MkVI was a development of the Carden Lloyd machine gun carrier. This version was similar to the MkII but had a longer superstructure to the rear and a two man turret with an extended turret to take a radio.

The front engined Meadows 88hp engine drove the tracks under the four coil sprung Horstman suspension road wheels, past the rear idler and back over the single return roller.

The turret was angular and contained the Vickers .303 machine gun and a .5 inch Vickers machine gun.

Armour Details

Turret
Front	14mm	@	10°	(14mm)
Side	11mm	@	40°	(14mm)
Rear	11mm	@	0°	(11mm)
Top	4mm	@	90°	(4mm)

Superstructure
Front	14mm	@	45°	(20mm)
Side	11mm	@	10°	(11mm)
Rear	6mm	@	0°	(6mm)
Top	4mm	@	90°	(4mm)

Hull
Front	14mm	@	20°	(15mm)
Side	11mm	@	0°	(11mm)
Rear	6mm	@	0°	(6mm)
Top	4mm	@	90°	(4mm)

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

Effective Armour - Maximum 20 mm - Minimum 4 mm

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.