The AC4 (Australian Cruiser Tank Mk. 4) was a cruiser tank designed in Australia in World War II as the intended successor to the AC3 Thunderbolt. Like its predecessors the AC4 was to have a one piece cast hull and turret. The AC4's most important characteristic would be the use of a 17 pounder tank gun.
History
Reservations about the utility of the 25 pounder in the AC3, and the 25 pounder's limited ability to pierce armour led to experimentation with a 17 pounder mounted on an Australian cruiser.
A turret was built and mounted on one of the earlier development vehicles to assess the vehicle's ability to mount the foremost Allied anti-tank gun of the day – the British 17 pounder (76 mm, 3 in). This was achieved by mounting two 25 pounder gun-howitzers which when fired together would significantly exceed the recoil of a 17 pounder.[3] In this configuration the tank was tested on 2 November 1942. It fitted with a 17 pounder and after successful gunnery trials on 17 November 1942 the 17 pounder was selected for the AC4 design. For the AC4 the 17 pounder was to be mounted in a new and larger turret, attached by a 70-inch (1778 mm) diameter turret ring, the space for which was accommodated by changes to the upper hull permitted by the compact nature of the "Perrier-Cadillac".[4]
A design for the tank had been established, however it was subject to a redesign to alter the internal stowage, and include new features not previously considered such as removal of the turret basket, addition of a gyro-stabiliser, and swapping a hydraulic traverse for the electrical system, and torsion bar suspension for the volute spring used up until that point.[5]
The programme was authorised to build a total of 510 AC4 tanks.[6][1] Of these 510 tanks, 110 were to be the "A" variant fitted with a 25 pounder tank gun instead of the 17 pounder.[4] While the AC4 did not receive a formal name the Director of AFV Production, Alfred Code, had the name "Woomera" in mind for the tank.[7] The design was not yet finalised when the programme was terminated in July 1943.[4]
Variants
- AC4A[4]
- one 25 pounder gun
- one Vickers machine gun
See also
- Tanks of comparable role, performance, and era
- Australia Thunderbolt
- British Cromwell
- Canadian Grizzly I
- German Panzer IV
- Hungarian Turán III
- Italian Carro Armato P 40
- Japanese Type 3 Chi-Nu
- Soviet T-34
- Swedish Stridsvagn m/42
- United States M4 Sherman
Notes
- Footnotes
- Citations
- ^ a b c MP730/13, 7 A) Australian Tank Production Report by Colonel G A Green: B) Related Documents. National Archives of Australia.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i General Staff Specification for Cruiser Tank A.C.4.
- ^ Bingham 1972, p. 66.
- ^ a b c d "MP508/1, 325/703/3084 G.S. Specifications Cruiser Tank AC3 and AC4". National Archives of Australia.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ "MP730/13, 18 Tank Production in Australia: Stage V. Liquidation of Armoured Fighting Vehicles Directorate". National Archives of Australia.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ Mellor 1958, p. 319.
- ^ "Australian Military Vehicles Research: Australian Sentinel Tank". September 2020. Archived from the original on 23 February 2021. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
References
- Bingham, James (1972). Australian Sentinel and Matildas. AFV/Weapons Profiles 31. Windsor, United Kingdom: Profile Publications. OCLC 220833374.
- Mellor, D.P. (1958). The Role of Science and Industry. Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 4 – Civil. Vol. V. Canberra: Australian War Memorial. OCLC 4092792.
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