List of tanks of the United Kingdom

Last updated

These are lists of UK tanks to enable cross-referencing between the design names and the service names.

Contents

General Staff numbers

This is a list of UK tanks up to the end of the Second World War that received designations starting with the letter "A" - these would be designs requested by the General Staff to meet specifications issued, as opposed to private venture designs submitted by manufacturers to the General Staff

General Staff NumberService name
A1 A1E1 Vickers 'Independent" [1] , one built but not taken into service
A2A2E1 and A2E2: Medium Tank Vickers Mk I and Medium Tank Vickers Mk I (CS version) [2]
A33-man tank (Royal Ordnance Factory); Carrier MG Mk I [3]
A4Vickers Carden-Loyd light tanks. See Light Tank Mk IV, A4E11 and A4E12 referred to the Vickers-Carden-Loyd Light Amphibious Tank
A5Vickers Carden-Loyd 3-man light tanks. See Light Tank Mk V and Light Tank Mk VI
A6A6 Medium Tank, "16 Tonners"*, led to production of the Medium Tank Mk III
A7 A7 Medium Tank, 3 development tanks built, did not enter service [4]
A8A8 Experimental Medium Tank, Project cancelled*
A9 Tank, Cruiser, Mk I
A10 Tank, Cruiser, Mk II
A11 Tank, Infantry, Mk I, Matilda I
A12 Tank, Infantry, Mk II, Matilda II
A13
A13 Mk.II
A13 Mk.III
Tank, Cruiser, Mk III
Tank, Cruiser, Mk IV
Tank, Cruiser, Mk V, Covenanter
A14 A14E1 'heavy' Cruiser, prototype built, did not enter service [5]
A15 Tank, Cruiser Mk VI, Crusader [6]
A16 A16E1 'heavy' Cruiser, prototype built, did not enter service [7]
A17 Tank, Light, Mk VII, Tetrarch
A18(cancelled)*
A19(cancelled)*
A20 A20 Infantry Tank, prototype built, did not enter service
A21(cancelled)*
A22
A22D
A22F
Tank, Infantry, Mk IV, Churchill
Gun Carrier, 3in, Mk I, Churchill
Tank, Infantry, Mk IV, Churchill VII
A23Proposed "Heavy cruiser" based on shortened Churchill tank hull design with reduced armour. Cancelled)*
A24 Tank, Cruiser, Mk VII, Cavalier*
A25 Tank, Light, Mk VIII, Harry Hopkins*
A26cancelled*
A27L Tank, Cruiser, Mk VIII, Centaur
A27M Tank, Cruiser, Mk VIII, Cromwell
A28cancelled, was to be an Infantry tank variant of Cromwell*
A29cancelled, was to be a 17-pdr armed assault tank named Clan*
A30 Tank, Cruiser, Mk.VIII, Challenger, 17-pdr armed
SP 17pdr, A30 (Avenger)
A31cancelled, was to be a Cromwell with heavier armour* proposed by Rolls Royce
A32cancelled, was to be a Cromwell with heavier armour similar to Churchill*
A33 Tank, Heavy Assault, 'Excelsior'*, two built. A27 hull with US M6 heavy tank suspension by English Electric
A34 Tank, Cruiser, Comet I
A35(cancelled alternative to A34, lengthened hull and enlarged turret ring to accommodate a 17-pdr)*
A36(cancelled)*
A37(cancelled)*
A38 Tank, Infantry, Valiant* single example built
A39 Tank, Heavy Assault, Tortoise*, six prototypes built
A40(cancelled, was to be a heavier A30)*
A41 Tank, Cruiser, Centurion I
A42Tank, Infantry, Mk IV, Churchill VII (A22F redesignated 1945)
A43 Tank, Infantry, Black Prince*
A44(cancelled, similar to A35 with thicker armour)*
A45 A45 Infantry Support Tank later becoming the FV201 universal tank*
A46Light Tank
Project numbering moves to the FV series from A45/A46 onwards. A46 may have been the last of the British tanks to get the A series designation.

*Did not enter service

Alphabetical lists

Includes the C names

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tank destroyer</span> Type of armoured fighting vehicle designed to engage and destroy enemy tanks

A tank destroyer, tank hunter or tank killer is a type of armoured fighting vehicle, predominantly intended for anti-tank duties. They are typically armed with a direct fire artillery gun, also known as a self-propelled anti-tank gun, or missile launcher, also called an anti-tank missile carrier. The vehicles are designed specifically to engage and destroy enemy tanks, often with limited operational capacities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matilda II</span> British Army tank of World War II

The Infantry Tank Mark II, best known as the Matilda, is a British infantry tank of the Second World War.

This page details tank production by the United States of America during World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M3 Lee</span> American medium tank of World War II

The M3 Lee, officially Medium Tank, M3, was an American medium tank used during World War II. The turret was produced in two forms, one for US needs and one modified to British requirements to place the radio next to the commander. In British Commonwealth service, the tank was called by two names: tanks employing US-pattern turrets were called "Lee", named after Confederate general Robert E. Lee, while those with British-pattern turrets were known as "Grant", named after Union general Ulysses S. Grant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sentinel tank</span> Australian cruiser tank

The AC1 Sentinel was a cruiser tank designed in Australia in World War II in response to the war in Europe, and to the threat of Japan expanding the war to the Pacific or even a feared Japanese invasion of Australia. It was the first tank to be built with a hull cast as a single piece, and the only tank to be produced in quantity in Australia. The few Sentinels that were built never saw action as Australia's armoured divisions had been equipped by that time with British and American tanks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cruiser Mk I</span> British cruiser tank

The Tank, Cruiser, Mk I (A9) was a British cruiser tank of the interwar period. It was the first cruiser tank: a fast tank designed to bypass the main enemy lines and engage the enemy's lines of communication, as well as enemy tanks. The Cruiser Mk II was a more heavily armoured adaptation of the Mark I, developed at much the same time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cruiser tank</span> Tank

The cruiser tank was a British tank concept of the interwar period for tanks designed as modernised armoured and mechanised cavalry, as distinguished from infantry tanks. Cruiser tanks were developed after medium tank designs of the 1930s failed to satisfy the Royal Armoured Corps. The cruiser tank concept was conceived by Giffard Le Quesne Martel, who preferred many small light tanks to swarm an opponent, instead of a few expensive and unsatisfactory medium tanks. "Light" cruiser tanks carried less armour and were correspondingly faster, whilst "heavy" cruiser tanks had more armour and were slightly slower.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Infantry tank</span> Tank

The infantry tank was a tank concept developed by the United Kingdom and France in the years leading up to World War II. Infantry tanks were designed to support infantrymen in an attack. To achieve this, the vehicles were generally heavily armoured to allow them to operate in close concert with infantry even under heavy fire. The extra armour came at the expense of speed, which was not an issue when supporting relatively slow-moving foot soldiers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tank classification</span> Categorizing tanks by weight or role

Tank classification is a taxonomy of identifying either the intended role or weight class of tanks. The classification by role was used primarily during the developmental stage of the national armoured forces, and referred to the doctrinal and force structure utility of the tanks based on design emphasis. The weight classification is used in the same way truck classification is used, and is intended to accommodate logistic requirements of the tanks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matilda I (tank)</span> Infantry tank

The Tank, Infantry, Mk I, Matilda I (A11) is a British infantry tank of the Second World War. Despite being slow, cramped and armed with only a single machine gun, the Matilda I had some success in the Battle of France in 1940, owing to its heavy armour which was proof against the standard German anti-tank guns. However, it was essentially useless in an attacking sense, as its weak armament made it toothless in combat against enemy armour, and the tank was obsolete before it even came into service. The Battle of France was the only time the Matilda I saw combat. The tank was cheaply built as the British government wanted each of the tanks to be built on a very restricted budget in the build-up to the Second World War. It is not to be confused with the later model Tank, Infantry Mk II (A12), also known as the "Matilda II", which took over the "Matilda" name after the Matilda I was withdrawn from combat service in 1940. They were completely separate designs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TOG1</span> Super-heavy tank

The Tank, Heavy, TOG 1 was a prototype British super-heavy tank produced in the early part of the Second World War in the expectation that battlefields might end up like those of the First World War. It was designed so it could cross churned-up countryside and trenches. A single prototype was built, and followed by an improved model, but interest faded with the successful performance of another cross-country design, the Churchill tank, and the mobile war that was being fought.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M6 heavy tank</span> American heavy tank

The Heavy Tank M6 was an American heavy tank designed during World War II. The tank was produced in small numbers and never saw combat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">T14 heavy tank</span> Heavy tank

The Assault Tank T14 was a joint project between the United States and the United Kingdom with the goal being to produce a universal infantry tank.

This article lists British armoured fighting vehicle production during the Second World War. The United Kingdom produced 27,528 tanks and self-propelled guns from July 1939 to May 1945, as well as 26,191 armoured cars and 69,071 armoured personnel carriers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Super-heavy tank</span> Extremely large or weighty tracked fighting vehicle

A super-heavy tank or super heavy tank is any tank that is notably beyond the standard of the class heavy tank in either size or weight relative to contemporary vehicles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tanks of the United States</span> Tanks used or produced by the United States

The United States has produced tanks since their inception in World War I, up until the present day. While there were several American experiments in tank design, the first American tanks to see service were copies of French light tanks and a joint heavy tank design with the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tanks in the British Army</span>

This article on military tanks deals with the history and development of tanks of the British Army from their first use in the First World War, the interwar period, during the Second World War, the Cold War and modern era.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tanks in the Australian Army</span> Tanks used by or produced by Australia

The Australian Army has used tanks from after the First World War, through the interwar period, the Second World War, the Cold War and to the present day. Throughout this period the Army has primarily been a light infantry force, with its tanks mainly being used in the direct support role. The Australian Army's tanks have seen combat during the Second World War and the Vietnam War, where they proved successful despite some of the designs employed being considered obsolete. The first Australian tanks were a small number of British medium and light tanks which were operated mainly for training purposes during the 1920s and 1930s.

References

  1. "A Number List".
  2. "A Number List".
  3. "A Number List".
  4. http://www.wwiivehicles.com/unitedkingdom/tanks-medium/a7.asp
  5. "TANKS!". Archived from the original on 25 May 2012. Retrieved 18 May 2012.
  6. A15 had been used previously to refer to a 1937 specification for a heavy cruiser (Fletcher p630
  7. "TANKS!". Archived from the original on 25 May 2012. Retrieved 18 May 2012.