Although this fake one is labeled as being based on the FV214 Conqueror, the layout of the hull suggests that it is actually based on the FV215. ‘Gun Carriage’ is a uniquely British term used to describe Self-Propelled Guns (SPGs). Photos: Author & Ed Francis In-Game Design of the ‘GC’ Left, the FV433 Abbot and, right, the experimental Centurion-based FV3805. The Abbot would serve as the UKs front line SPG until the early 1990s, when it was finally replaced by the 155 mm gun-armed AS-90. While this made it to prototype trials, it never entered service. The design that came closest to completion was the BL 5.5 inch howitzer-armed FV3805 which was based on the Centurion. A long development program was launched to find a replacement and, while ultimately resulting in the Abbot, other vehicles also went through development. The Abbot appeared in the late 1950s, but before this was in development, there were experiments with other SPG designs.Īfter the Second World War, the United Kingdom was still using the Sexton as its primary SPG. The Abbot was built on the hull of the FV432 Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) and was equipped with a 105 mm Howitzer in a fully traversable turret. Image: Cold War British SPGsįor much of the Cold War, the Royal Artillery – the part of the British Army responsible for this kind of vehicle – relied on one Self-Propelled Gun, the FV433 Abbot. The FV201-based FV207 as it appears in World of Tanks. Either way, there is no way to confuse the alleged and invented FV207 with an even more invented Conqueror GC. The FV207 appears to be based solely on the real FV3805 instead. Neither the ‘blueprints’ mentioned in WG’s claim to the historicity of the vehicle ‘Conqueror Gun Carrier’ nor this FV207 have ever been publicly presented either. Neither of these vehicles made it further than plans, and no drawings of them exist today.Ī representation of the FV207 exists in World of Tanks, but as no official documents remain, it is hard to believe that this representation is in any way accurate. While it is unknown what gun the FV206 would have used, it is known that the FV207 was to mount a 155 mm howitzer. The FV206 was classed as ‘Self-Propelled Medium Artillery’ while the FV207 was ‘Self-Propelled Heavy Artillery’. The SPGs were designated the FV206 and FV207. Self-Propelled Gun (SPG) variants of the FV200 were planned. While clearly fake, the vehicle is based on a real chassis. The ‘Conqueror GC’ as it appears in ‘World of Tanks’. These were the FV214 Conqueror and FV221 Caernarvon gun tanks, and the FV219/FV222 Conqueror Armoured Recovery Vehicles (ARVs). As such, only four vehicles of the FV200 series were ever produced and entered into service. Despite a long development period, the FV201 project was canceled in 1949, with development moving onto the FV214 Conqueror. The ancestor of today’s Main Battle Tanks (MBTs), the idea of the Universal Tank was that one chassis would spawn many variants, thus reducing costs, development and making maintenance and supply far easier. The FV200s date back to the final stages of the Second World War, when the British War Office (WO) was looking for a ‘Universal Tank’. Existed only in blueprints.”ĭespite not being given its ‘Fighting Vehicle (FV)’ number, the Conqueror GC is presented as a vehicle of the FV200 series produced in the early 1950s, in the early years of the Cold War. “A proposal to mount a 234-mm howitzer on the chassis of the Conqueror. Image: Ī small ‘History’ is provided for this vehicle by Wargaming: The Conqueror Gun Carriage (GC) as it is presented in World of Tanks. That being said, elements of this tank did exist in one form or another. Due to poor research or possibly completely intentionally, the top of the artillery tech tree appeared as the ‘Conqueror Gun Carriage’ or ‘GC’, a completely fictional adaptation of the Conqueror chassis which utilizes an archaic 9.2 inch (234 mm) ‘siege gun’ placed in a fixed superstructure. While the Conqueror was based on a hull that was designed to be adaptable, no Self-Propelled Gun was ever built using this hull.ĭecades later, the popular online game World of Tanks (WoT) – published and developed by Wargaming (WG) – was preparing a new British tank line. It had a short service life of just 11 years, from 1955 to 1966. The 120 mm gun-armed Conqueror was the first and last Heavy Gun Tank produced and operated by the British Army. The British FV214 Conqueror Heavy Gun Tank was developed in the early 1950s in answer to the increasingly hostile Soviet Union, and its newly developed heavily armored tanks, such as the IS-3.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |