tanks/vehicles Medium Tank A/T 1*. A British Amphibious Tank.

[TasteTheTea 3,203]

 

Hello, I'd like to suggest a new vehicle for the British tree; an amphibious vehicle much like the LVT(A)(1) (and by extension the LVT(A)(4) ZIS-2) in-game. Details on British amphibious vehicles before and during the war are often obscure and the ones that aren't would be unsuitable for this game (being only armed with MMGs for example) but here is one that I think would be perfectly suitable and well performing (if tiered appropriately).

 

The Medium Tank, A/T 1*

 

Spoiler

 

You may have noticed the * in the name, this is a specific variant of the A/T 1 (the others being the A/T 1, A/T 1** and A/T 1***). The A/T 1 was constructed through the fitting of a Covenanter turret with 2 Pounder and Besa to a hull of extensive depth and of riveted construction, built to a maximum armour thickness of 40mm. The resulting vehicle was 24ft long (7.31m), 13ft (3.96m) wide, 11ft (3.35m) tall and weighed some 31 tons. It was powered by a Meadows Flat Twelve engine (the same as the Covenanter) producing 285 hp (220kw) and had no suspension. The A/T 1* was fitted with a sprung jockey roller at the front and used the standard gear box and Wilson steering system from the Covenanter and was provided with an auxiliary box giving high and low ratio, the high ratio giving a theoretical top land speed of 20mph (or 32.19kph) however this was intended for use afloat where the tank would travel at a maximum of 5mph (8kph). The lower ratio was preferred on land to avoid damage which gave a top speed of 10mph (16kph).

 

As you can see, the hull was considerably spacious. The area inside the tracks was hollow on each side to allow for additional flotation (also notice the lines showing the elevation and depression of the main armament):

 

Spoiler

 

Here is a specification sheet for the armour on the Covenanter tank, this provides information on the armour scheme of the turret which was fitted to the A/T 1:

 

Spoiler

 

A/T 1* when afloat had a draught of 5ft and 6in (1.68m) a freeboard of 15in (38.1cm). It had a crew of five, three of them in the turret as Gunner, Loader and Commander and two in the hull as Driver and what was described as "An Extra Hand" to manage the ballast tank. This ballast tank was located down in the bow (or front) of the vehicle and was used to aid traction upon landing, water would be admitted to this tank so that the front of the vehicle lowered and pressed the tracks into the sand to aid grip. Testing on land was conducted at Chobham in Surrey and testing at sea took place near Barry Island in South Wales. The testing authorities were critical of the engine location for it being very difficult to work on, this was because the engine was located deep in the hull, inside an engine room closed off by steel doors in a bulkhead.

 

Here is a picture of the A/T 1* at sea showing the modest amount of freeboard and the difficulty the driver would have to see given the constant sea spray (drivers had to rely on the turret crew for guidance when their own visibility was impaired like this):

 

Spoiler

 

Specifications:

 

Here are some documents provided by @Whelmy detailing the specifications, performance and layout of the A/T 1* and A/T 1** but we'll be focusing on the former: https://imgur.com/a/st6Gq

 

Armour: 

 

Hull Front - 40 - 52mm.

Hull Sides - 14mm. (not including the internal bulkheads).

Hull rear - 9mm.

Hull floor - 9mm.

 

Spoiler

 

Turret - 40mm Basis (see Covenanter diagram for more detail).

 

Armament: 

 

Main gun - 2 Pounder (98 rounds).

Secondary gun - Besa MG (16 boxes of 225 rounds).

Smoke ability - 2" Bomb Thrower (29 bombs).

AA defence - Bren gun with "Lakeman" mounting (600 rounds).

 

Spoiler

 

This is a Lakeman mount:

Spoiler

 

Engine:

 

Type - Meadow's D.A.V V12 petrol engine.

BHP - 285hp

Governed speed - 2400rpm.

 

Spoiler

 

Transmission:

 

Gearbox - Meadows 4-speed (all four speeds available in reverse).

Steering - Wilson epicyclic.

 

Spoiler

 

Performance:

 

Road speed - 10.5mph (12mph in emergencies) or 20mph theoretical. I will leave this to Gaijin's discretion.

Water speed - 4mph.

Climb - 40°

 

Spoiler

 

Other:

 

Vehicle has a weight of 30.75 tons.

Vehicle is "double skinned" with walls of metal behind the actual armour. The tank would remain buoyant even if the space between the skins was flooded. Another part of the document says that the armour was 22mm is thickness, it is likely that this includes a 14mm outer and an 8mm inner skin.

The turret was identical to that of the Covenanter and Crusader, it also had power traverse.

 

Spoiler

 

Sources:

Crusader, Cruiser Tank 1939-45. Osprey - New Vanguard. David Fletcher, Peter Sarson. ISBN 1 85532 512 8.

The Great Tank Scandal - British Tanks in the Second World War Part 1. HMSO. David Fletcher. ISBN 0 11 290460 2.

 

Edited December 6, 2017 by Time4Tea

[blakeob 8,086]

Open for discussion. 

[Traingle_ 179]

That looks like the most derp vehicle ever. Pls gib.

[Mercedes4321 4,695]

I have been waiting for this vehicle for awhile. I hope to see more amphibious tanks in game.

[TasteTheTea 3,203]

1 hour ago, blakeob said:

Open for discussion. 

Thank you  

 

1 hour ago, Traingle_ said:

That looks like the most derp vehicle ever. Pls gib.

It looks better at sea, one could say it even has quite a low profile when most of it is submerged .

 

1 hour ago, Mercedes4321 said:

I have been waiting for this vehicle for awhile. I hope to see more amphibious tanks in game.

As have I, I wanted to suggest it but didn't have enough info until now.

 

More amphibious vehicles like this would indeed be great. Especially the earlier ones.

[Optical_Ilyushin 5,554]

gib ))) +1

[Mercedes4321 4,695]

10 minutes ago, Time4Tea said:

As have I, I wanted to suggest it but didn't have enough info until now.

 

More amphibious vehicles like this would indeed be great. Especially the earlier ones.

From what I've heard from Listy he has a section about this vehicle and other British amphibious tanks in his upcoming book.

[TasteTheTea 3,203]

53 minutes ago, Mercedes4321 said:

From what I've heard from Listy he has a section about this vehicle and other British amphibious tanks in his upcoming book.

Hopefully he might have some more details on the armour for this, I imagine it's something like 14mm for the sides going by other tanks of the time.

[Guest]

-1 Ugly tank

 

[TasteTheTea 3,203]

Just now, MAX94100 said:

-1 Ugly tank

 

Spoiler

 

[Admiral_Aruon 2,264]

so basically a brit LVT A1 with a 2-pounder? sure. +1

 

 

but god the 2-pounder is painfully horrible. please tell me there's a 6-pounder version at least?

[Mercedes4321 4,695]

11 minutes ago, Admiral_Aruon said:

so basically a brit LVT A1 with a 2-pounder? sure. +1

 

 

but god the 2-pounder is painfully horrible. please tell me there's a 6-pounder version at least?

Not that I know of.

[TasteTheTea 3,203]

4 hours ago, Admiral_Aruon said:

but god the 2-pounder is painfully horrible. please tell me there's a 6-pounder version at least?

There isn't sadly since this project was scrapped before the 6 Pounder began to be fitted to tanks. However the 2 Pounder is under performing at the moment both in damage and penetration:

 

Spoiler

 

Edited August 20, 2017 by Time4Tea

[Jan_Gustl_WT 1,746]

Yasss +1 regular techtree

[TasteTheTea 3,203]

Added a poll 

[Mercedes4321 4,695]

When it comes to British amphibious tanks you pretty much only have this, the Buffalo Mk IVs armed with the 20mm Polstens, or the LVT(A)-4s used by the 34th Amphibian Support Regiment, Royal Marines. By the way, I have a good video of that last exercise that regiment did before they disbanded, where they showed off all of the different LVT variants they had. Including some with Land Mattress rocket projectors.

 

 

 

Edited August 21, 2017 by Mercedes4321

[AtomicPope 3,953]

Personally I'd like to see that vehicle ingame as it's quite unique. I voted event/gift in the poll but I'd be happy to get it in any form. +1

[TasteTheTea 3,203]

Replaced original monochrome images with versions colourised by yours truly .

[_EQUAI_ 356]

Looks like Nigel has himself a British LVT +1

[Jarms 1,556]

This looks so hideous. Please add this. Lol. 

[WiseMinerva 454]

Always did like the weird and strange looking tanks.

 

+1 support for the British

[Whelmy 1,970]

Enjoy

 

Some reports.

https://imgur.com/a/Lk22h

 

[Exiahhh 38]

I like em EXTRA THICC this would be nice as a T1 prem +1

[KapitanRedDead 462]

Would make for an extremely nice very cheap premium and people would buy it just because it can float. 

[TasteTheTea 3,203]

5 hours ago, Whelmy said:

Enjoy

 

Some reports.

https://imgur.com/a/Lk22h

Wow, thank you. I'll add this to the suggestion. I didn't think it would have that much frontal armour. 40-52mm if I'm reading that right?

Edited December 6, 2017 by Time4Tea