Not sure how much would jab there specifically, but yeah. A helmet protects your head, but if you have a bruised arm from being thrown against some protrusion after a bad bump, you're going to be less effective than if that protrusion had been padded.
Sir John Valentine Carden survives.
- Thread starter allanpcameron
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marathag
Banned
It was there, but far less efficient, with two valve SOHC, vs four and DOHC of most high power engines of the '20.
It needed 1649 cubic inches to get the HP of the 1460 of the Lion. It could reliably run at 1500rpm when the Lion and most other engines of the day could do 2000 with ease.
Nuffield raised the rpms to 1700 to get 400hp, but reliability suffered.
The Liberty was an engine designed in 5 days in 1917. It was a rush job.
marathag
Banned
Dimitri Loza was high in his praise for the Sherman interior, compared to the Soviet and British LL tanks.
Exactly. There should be as little to injure yourself on as possible, and all of the most likely candidates that you can't eliminate should have padding.
Concussion is temporary.
Style is permanent.
I said this earlier on in the thread, properly designed and fitted ancillary drives with better air filters would cure the Crusader of many of it's ills.
Now send the Crusader out with a decent set of spares and tools and it's more than up to the job it's asked to do.
Didn't British tank crews in WW1 wear padded helmets? I have vague memories of this from a read long ago novel about the Heavy Companies of the MG Corps.
If so when did they give them up?
marathag
Banned
They had a Medieval setup with chain mail over the front to prevent splinter and shards from getting to the eyes
marathag
Banned
Next Word of the Day:
Verschlimmbessern
German, for a bodge repair that is both better and worse at the same time
Driftless
Donor
A Schroedinger's Cat of repairs.....
(I'll send myself to the penalty box for that one...)
Last edited:
2 February 1940. Farnborough, England.
allanpcameron
Donor
2 February 1940. Farnborough, England.
Both the Vickers Valiant Mark I Infantry Tank with the diesel engine and the Valiant Mark I* Cruiser Tank had been in the possession of the MEE for a couple of months. The difference between the two being the Mark I* was made with the petrol engine and thinner armour to save weight and increase speed. Both had completed all the tests that any tank would have to complete to be fully accepted before going into production.
The Infantry Tank Mark III, as the army called the Mark I Valiant, had exceeded expectations. Compared with the Vulcan A12 it was between 5mph and 10mph faster, cross country and on the road; with the same level of armour; much easier to operate and designed for comparatively simpler welded manufacturing. Armed with the 2-pdr gun and co-axial .303 machine gun it had the same armament; and was about £750 cheaper per unit than the Vulcan.
As with every tank that went through its paces at Farnborough, there had been some glitches and defects that had had to be fixed, but otherwise it was ready for production and the Royal Tank Regiment couldn’t wait to get their hands on it. The first four production models were expected back at Farnborough at the end of the month for testing and preparing them for entry into service. There was still a lot of work to be done to train up the RAOC and RAC mechanics on the Lion diesel engine; the handbook had to be fully completed and then double checked; the drivers would need to qualify on it, although in layout it was sufficiently similar to other tanks that wasn’t considered to be a problem. With some of the Vickers-Armstrong employees still undergoing training on welding, it was expected that the tank would start getting towards the promised 40 tanks per month production around June or July 1940. In comparison Vulcan Foundry had so far delivered less than thirty A12s since September 1939 and were not expecting to achieve 30 tanks per month until about the summer, the same time as Vickers.
The Valiant Mark I*, or Cruiser Mark V, had also passed its tests with flying colours. It too had had to have some modifications, mostly to the suspension to help it deal with the higher speed than its diesel-powered brother. The big petrol Lion engine had proven powerful enough to move the heavy-weight cruiser at 27mph comfortably on the road and able to reach 30mph ‘downhill with a wind behind it’. Off road the tank was a comfortable ride and reasonable gun platform at between 15 and 18mph. Although it was generally a few miles per hour slower than the A13, this was more than made up for with the same 2.3-inch armour of the A11 infantry tank. The downside of using the petrol engine in the Mark I* was that its range was reduced compared with the Mark I, 105 miles instead of 158 miles. The A13 also had a radius of around 100 miles and so it wasn’t going to be at a disadvantage working together in ‘cruiser’ formations.
Once again it carried the same armament with the 2-pdr gun and co-axial .303 machine gun. It was expected that the Besa machine gun was going to be available to replace the .303 at which point it would become known as the Mark IA*(pronounced Mark One A Star), the Infantry version would become the Mark IA. Production of the Besa was still in its infancy, and it wasn’t clear just how long Vickers would have to wait to get it for both marks of the Valiant. The Birmingham Small Arms factory was doing its best, but the A13 Mark II, Cruiser IVA was likely to be first recipient, along with the Light Tank Mark VIC which was also being fitted with the 15mm Besa.
Vickers was going to making the first ten Mark I*, then the rest of the first order for sixty-five Valiant Mark I* would be manufactured primarily by Metro-Cammell. These would be of riveted construction, as waiting for the workforce to be trained on welding would take too long. The bosses at Saltley were promising that they would have the first four production models by the beginning of March, then be making ten a month from April, rising to thirty per month by August. The army were therefore planning that the first fully equipped and trained units would be fielded in the autumn as part of 2nd Armoured Division. Once the new Leyland and English Electric factories were fully built, equipped and had a trained workforce, then the later versions of the Mark I* would also be welded. Due the foul winter weather progress on the two tank shops had been delayed and they weren’t expected to start producing tanks until later in the year. Once these two factories were in full production monthly deliveries would be expected to increase dramatically. This, along with Metro-Camell, Harland & Wolff and Birmingham Railway Carriage & Wagon Company all gradually moving from A9 and A10 production to production of both the Mark I and I* would start giving the army the kind of numbers of tanks they were crying out for.
Some of the last of the A11s that were being built by Vickers at the Elswick Works had been used as test beds for the workforce to use their newly acquired welding skills. There wasn’t a lot of difference between the thickness of armour in these types than the planned Valiant, so it was a useful exercise. Not least because the foremen saw the difficulties of access to make some joins. Studying the problems gave them a plan to help quicken and smooth the start of work on the Valiant. It also gave the quality control inspectors some experience of what to look out for as many of them were new to welding too.
Both the Vickers Valiant Mark I Infantry Tank with the diesel engine and the Valiant Mark I* Cruiser Tank had been in the possession of the MEE for a couple of months. The difference between the two being the Mark I* was made with the petrol engine and thinner armour to save weight and increase speed. Both had completed all the tests that any tank would have to complete to be fully accepted before going into production.
The Infantry Tank Mark III, as the army called the Mark I Valiant, had exceeded expectations. Compared with the Vulcan A12 it was between 5mph and 10mph faster, cross country and on the road; with the same level of armour; much easier to operate and designed for comparatively simpler welded manufacturing. Armed with the 2-pdr gun and co-axial .303 machine gun it had the same armament; and was about £750 cheaper per unit than the Vulcan.
As with every tank that went through its paces at Farnborough, there had been some glitches and defects that had had to be fixed, but otherwise it was ready for production and the Royal Tank Regiment couldn’t wait to get their hands on it. The first four production models were expected back at Farnborough at the end of the month for testing and preparing them for entry into service. There was still a lot of work to be done to train up the RAOC and RAC mechanics on the Lion diesel engine; the handbook had to be fully completed and then double checked; the drivers would need to qualify on it, although in layout it was sufficiently similar to other tanks that wasn’t considered to be a problem. With some of the Vickers-Armstrong employees still undergoing training on welding, it was expected that the tank would start getting towards the promised 40 tanks per month production around June or July 1940. In comparison Vulcan Foundry had so far delivered less than thirty A12s since September 1939 and were not expecting to achieve 30 tanks per month until about the summer, the same time as Vickers.
The Valiant Mark I*, or Cruiser Mark V, had also passed its tests with flying colours. It too had had to have some modifications, mostly to the suspension to help it deal with the higher speed than its diesel-powered brother. The big petrol Lion engine had proven powerful enough to move the heavy-weight cruiser at 27mph comfortably on the road and able to reach 30mph ‘downhill with a wind behind it’. Off road the tank was a comfortable ride and reasonable gun platform at between 15 and 18mph. Although it was generally a few miles per hour slower than the A13, this was more than made up for with the same 2.3-inch armour of the A11 infantry tank. The downside of using the petrol engine in the Mark I* was that its range was reduced compared with the Mark I, 105 miles instead of 158 miles. The A13 also had a radius of around 100 miles and so it wasn’t going to be at a disadvantage working together in ‘cruiser’ formations.
Once again it carried the same armament with the 2-pdr gun and co-axial .303 machine gun. It was expected that the Besa machine gun was going to be available to replace the .303 at which point it would become known as the Mark IA*(pronounced Mark One A Star), the Infantry version would become the Mark IA. Production of the Besa was still in its infancy, and it wasn’t clear just how long Vickers would have to wait to get it for both marks of the Valiant. The Birmingham Small Arms factory was doing its best, but the A13 Mark II, Cruiser IVA was likely to be first recipient, along with the Light Tank Mark VIC which was also being fitted with the 15mm Besa.
Vickers was going to making the first ten Mark I*, then the rest of the first order for sixty-five Valiant Mark I* would be manufactured primarily by Metro-Cammell. These would be of riveted construction, as waiting for the workforce to be trained on welding would take too long. The bosses at Saltley were promising that they would have the first four production models by the beginning of March, then be making ten a month from April, rising to thirty per month by August. The army were therefore planning that the first fully equipped and trained units would be fielded in the autumn as part of 2nd Armoured Division. Once the new Leyland and English Electric factories were fully built, equipped and had a trained workforce, then the later versions of the Mark I* would also be welded. Due the foul winter weather progress on the two tank shops had been delayed and they weren’t expected to start producing tanks until later in the year. Once these two factories were in full production monthly deliveries would be expected to increase dramatically. This, along with Metro-Camell, Harland & Wolff and Birmingham Railway Carriage & Wagon Company all gradually moving from A9 and A10 production to production of both the Mark I and I* would start giving the army the kind of numbers of tanks they were crying out for.
Some of the last of the A11s that were being built by Vickers at the Elswick Works had been used as test beds for the workforce to use their newly acquired welding skills. There wasn’t a lot of difference between the thickness of armour in these types than the planned Valiant, so it was a useful exercise. Not least because the foremen saw the difficulties of access to make some joins. Studying the problems gave them a plan to help quicken and smooth the start of work on the Valiant. It also gave the quality control inspectors some experience of what to look out for as many of them were new to welding too.
allanpcameron
Donor
Keep that kind of thing to your own timeline if you don't mind. We don't want your smelly herrings here thanks very much, this is a classy joint.
Allan
Do both, and then you could have Bofors and After pictures.
Yikes. A V engine has the cylinders tied together at the crankshaft, forcing them all to work in sync. Also, valves are run off the same system, so no individual cylinder can 'get ahead' of the others.
Two independent engines connected by a gear box means all the syncing between engines has to happen at the gear box, which rather doubles the work load on it. And WII tank transmissions were overloaded already.
I am a dad, and I still found this bad. That is truly an impressive Dad joke.
Also much less invasion scare, and if the few Valiants that are send over for field trials with the BEF give a good account in the battles, the Britsh Army will be a lot more confident in meeting the German Panzers on the battlefield.
allanpcameron
Donor
OTL Vickers built 345 Valentines in 1940 from a standing start, the first production model in May. This should be doable here too, if not a bit better.
Allan.
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