"Combat buses". By the time World War II broke out, the English view of armored personnel carriers had undergone major changes. If the first armored personnel carrier in history, created in Great Britain at the end of the First World War, was distinguished by its monstrous size and was a remake of the first diamond-shaped British tanks, then by the mid-1930s the miniature tracked Universal Carrier became the main armored personnel carrier of the British army, the closest relative of which were the Carden tankettes Loyd.
Unlike its predecessor, the Mark IX tracked armored personnel carrier, of which about three dozen were produced, the new armored personnel carrier was produced in a huge series in different countries - about 113 thousand units, which made the Universal Carrier one of the most massive armored vehicles in history. For the entire period of the war, the "Universal Transporter" became the main armored personnel carrier of the armies of Great Britain and the Commonwealth countries. The new British armored personnel carrier was a small-sized tracked armored vehicle weighing up to 3, 8 tons, the number of paratroopers transported was limited to 3-5 soldiers, while the Mark IX armored personnel carrier created at the end of the First World War could carry up to 30 fighters. Despite the insufficient firepower and small amphibious capabilities, the new armored personnel carrier could be produced in huge quantities, and at the front, the Universal Carrier was used to solve a variety of combat missions. In addition to directly transporting infantry, the vehicles were involved for reconnaissance, were allocated to combat outposts, were used to transport goods and wounded soldiers, and also as tractors for light artillery systems.
The history of the creation of the most massive armored personnel carrier of World War II
The most massive armored personnel carrier of the Second World War was developed on an initiative basis by the engineers of the British company Vickers-Armstrong in 1934-1936. The new combat vehicle was a modernized and updated version of the Carden Loyd family of light British tankettes, created back in the 1920s, in particular the Vickers Carden-Loyd Mk. VI tankette, which was an infantry armored personnel carrier. Initially, the "Universal Transporter" was created as a carrier of various weapons, primarily machine gun systems. At the same time, it is already clear from the name that the car was versatile. In addition to transporting a machine gun and an assault force, the armored personnel carrier could be used to transport light field weapon systems along with the crew. At different times, a reconnaissance version, a vehicle for artillery observers, an artillery tractor for transporting mortars and light weapons, and a vehicle for transporting ammunition were created. In addition, the Universal Carrier carried various weapons, including flamethrowers and anti-tank rifles.
The British army purchased the first two vehicles already in 1935, and in 1936 the serial production of early series armored vehicles began, which did not stop until 1945, and the armored personnel carriers themselves were used until the early 1960s. In addition to Great Britain, where they managed to assemble about 57 thousand universal transporters, they were massively assembled at enterprises in Canada (29 thousand vehicles) and Australia (5 thousand vehicles), and about 20 thousand transporters were assembled at US enterprises. The American version was distinguished by an improved chassis, which received a second full-fledged wheeled bogie, as well as the installation of American Ford engines of greater power.
The operation of vehicles in the troops led to changes in their design, therefore, at the turn of 1937-1938, the Universal Carrier armored personnel carriers underwent a number of changes. The full-fledged public debut of the new armored vehicles came in September 1938, when the first serial "Universal transporters" armed with a 7, 7-mm Bren machine gun, were presented to ordinary people and journalists during brigade exercises of the British army. As part of the exercise, the vehicles demonstrated good cross-country ability and high maneuverability. Tracked armored vehicles did not experience problems when used in rural areas, confidently overcoming dense thickets of bushes, fence posts and fences. More from such a technique was not required.
The number of armored personnel carriers produced indicates that the vehicle was simple and easy to manufacture, and also met the demands of the military, who received an easy-to-learn and operate combat vehicle capable of solving a variety of tasks. A large number of armored vehicles under the Lend-Lease program also ended up in the Soviet Union. In total, the USSR received more than 2,500 such transporters, of which 200 even before the end of 1941. In the Soviet Union, vehicles from December 1943 were re-equipped with domestic weapons. So the 7, 7-mm machine gun "Bren" was replaced by the 7, 62-mm DT machine gun, and the 13, 9-mm anti-tank rifle "Boyes" by 14, 5-mm anti-tank guns PTRD and PTRS.
Technical features of the Universal Carrier armored personnel carrier
Like the lightweight Carden Loyd wedges, the new British armored personnel carriers were distinguished by their recognizable low, open-top hull in a simple rectangular shape. The main purpose of the armored vehicles was the transportation of machine guns "Bren" and "Vickers", but the military themselves quickly cooled down to this role of the use of light armored vehicles, finding a lot of applications for "Universal transporters" in the army service. The total combat weight of the vehicles did not exceed 3.8 tons. When creating armored vehicles, rolled steel armor plates were used, but their thickness was very small: 10 mm in the frontal part of the hull and 7 mm along the sides and stern. We can say that the booking was symbolic, protecting the car and the crew from small fragments and non-armor-piercing rifle caliber bullets.
The length of the hull of the Universal Carrier armored personnel carrier was 3.65 m, width - 2.06 m, height - 1.57 m, ground clearance - 203 mm. The vehicle was squat and easily concealed in the folds of the terrain and behind bushes, which in some cases, especially when used as a reconnaissance vehicle, was an advantage. The heart of the armored vehicle was an 8-cylinder liquid-cooled gasoline engine with a volume of 3.9 liters. The motor produced a maximum power of 85 hp. at 3500 rpm. This was enough to accelerate the "Universal Transporter" to 48 km / h when driving on the highway. Considering the low engine power, it is quite a decent indicator for tracked vehicles. The power reserve when driving on the highway was estimated at 225-250 km. Due to the low specific pressure on the ground - about 0.45 km / cm2 - the armored personnel carrier was distinguished by good maneuverability in different types of terrain.
The undercarriage of all British vehicles, the most massive of which were the Universal Carrier Mk I (II, III), consisted of three road wheels on each side, the first pair was combined into a bogie. The chassis and suspension were borrowed from the 1930s British Light Tank Mk. VI with minor modifications, which was also produced by Vickers. The armored vehicle's suspension also used coil springs, and the suspension itself was known as Horstmann, after the inventor Sidney Horstmann, who invented it back in 1922. Later, on the American versions of the transporter, designated T16, the chassis was improved, the composition of the road wheels was increased to four per side, which made it possible to form two full-fledged bogies.
An unusual feature of the Universal Carrier was the location of the engine, which was located in the rear of the car, the engine was installed along the central axis of the hull. There, in the power compartment, there was a five-speed gearbox and side clutches. In the front of the hull there was a control compartment, where a driver and a machine gunner or an anti-tank gun operator were located, depending on the composition of the installed weapons. Behind the control compartment there was an airborne or transport compartment, depending on the modification. Usually Universal Carrier carried no more than three to five people.
At the same time, the location of the engine in the middle of the hull divided the troop compartment into two parts. The paratroopers sat with their backs to the sides of the armored personnel carrier, practically resting their feet on the engine, the upper part of which formed a kind of "table top". With a different arrangement of seats, the paratroopers rested against the engine protection with their side. Given the small dimensions of the Universal Carrier armored personnel carrier, the location of people in the hull should be recognized as not the most convenient. For example, in the hot climate of North Africa, the paratroopers received constant additional heating, which hardly improved their well-being, even despite the open hull. At the same time, in winter in Europe, especially in the northern regions of the USSR, such a "stove" was a help for the paratroopers and the shooter and the driver should have envied them, who did not have such a heater in the control department at their disposal.
After the end of World War II, the service of the Universal Carrier armored personnel carriers in the British army continued until the 1950s. They managed to take part in hostilities during the Korean War. At the same time, some of the armored vehicles were delivered to third countries, where they continued to remain in service until the 1960s. A large number of such transporters of various modifications and production of different countries have survived to this day. For example, in Russia, the armored museum in Kubinka presents a flamethrower modification of the Universal Carrier armored personnel carrier.
