The nationality of our next hero is always hidden. He can be American, British, or Canadian. Or maybe an Australian or even a New Zealander. It can be different. Perform completely different functions in different armies of the world.
But at the same time, it is the main armored personnel carrier of the armies of the countries of the British Commonwealth of Nations and the most massive armored personnel carrier of the Second World War. From 1937 to 1945, about 90,000 units of such machines were manufactured!
So, our story today is about a light multipurpose armored personnel carrier Universal Carrier.
We will tell you about a car that has had so many modifications that it will simply take your breath away. A car that fought in the British, Australian, Canadian, New Zealand and even Indian armies. A car that fought on both sides on the eastern front. And for the Red Army, and for the Wehrmacht.
To understand this machine, you just need to know the applications. Otherwise, it seems that completely different transporters were produced on the same chassis. Let's start with the list of modifications.
Bren Carrier Mk 1 (11) - The basic version of an armored personnel carrier for infantry. Combat weight 3, 75 tons, armor 10 mm, crew of 4 people. Armament: 7, 7-mm machine gun Bren. From 1938 to 1940, Thornycroft manufactured 1,173 units.
It was this contraption that was referred to in many documents as the "Bren" machine gun transporter or simply "Bren".
Scout Carrier is a reconnaissance variant. Compared to the base one, it was additionally equipped with a radio station # 11 and a Boys anti-tank gun. Only the starboard side was armored. Crew of 3 people. 647 units were manufactured.
The Cavalry Carrier is a modification intended for mechanized cavalry regiments. The sides were unarmored, a radio station number 11 and a protective awning were installed. Crew of 6 people. Manufactured 50 units.
AOP Carrier Mk 1 (11) is a vehicle for forward artillery observers. Structurally and in terms of layout, it is similar to the Cavalry Carrier. 95 units were manufactured.
Universal Carrier Mk 1 (11, III) is the main serial English version. Open top welded body of simple rectangular shape, undercarriage with three track rollers. Cars of different years of production had minor differences in the design of the power plant, hull and equipment.
Universal Carrier Mk I * (C01UC) - Canadian version of the armored personnel carrier, identical in design and appearance to the English version. Combat weight 3, 56 tons, 85 hp Ford V-8 engine.
In addition to the main one, the versions C21UCM (self-propelled 3-inch mortar) and C21UCG (self-propelled 2-pounder anti-tank gun, 20 pcs. In 1942) were produced. From 1941 to 1945, 28,992 units were manufactured by Ford Motor Co. and Dominion Bridge Co.
MG Carrier (LP No. 1, 2, 2A) - a variant produced in Australia. The welded hull and undercarriage are similar to those of the Universal Carrier Mk I. Combat weight 3, 68 tons, 95 hp Ford V-8 engine. Manufactured 5500 units.
Loyd Carrier is a version with four road wheels, developed in 1940 by the British company Vivian Loyd & Co. Combat weight 3.78 tons, dimensions 4140x2070x1422 mm. Ford V-8 85 hp engine
In addition to the British, American engines Ford with a capacity of 85, 90 and 95 hp were installed on some of the cars. Manufactured by Loyd, Dennis, Ford (4213 units in 1943-1944), Sentinel and Wolseley.
Windsor Carrier Mk I (C49WC) - Canadian four-wheel armored personnel carrier.
Combat weight 4, 67 tons, dimensions 4370x2110x1450 mm (height with awning - 2030 mm). Ford V-8 engine with 95 hp, speed 50 km / h. In 1944-1945, 5,000 units were manufactured by Ford Motor Co. and Canadian Bridge Co.
Universal Carrier T16 is an American version of an armored personnel carrier developed by a British order. Body similar to Universal Carrier Mk I. Undercarriage with four road wheels. Combat weight 4, 76 tons, dimensions 3860x2110x1550 mm. Ford GAU-T16 100hp engine at 3600 rpm, max, speed 48, 3 km / h. Crew of 5 people. From 1943 to 1945, 13,893 units were manufactured.
2,208 units of this armored personnel carrier were delivered to the Soviet Union.
Naturally, these vehicles went to reconnaissance units of tank and mechanized units and formations. Such as motorcycle reconnaissance battalions, motorcycle regiments, tank brigades of mechanized corps. Soviet soldiers successfully used these babies until the end of the war.
In this place, most often you have to write that there were no cars of this class in the Red Army. It is quite possible to agree with this if we consider this car by name and by purpose. But … In the USSR, by this time, a whole range of similar conveyors had been developed! But they were called light tractors.
Remember the "changeling" "Pioneer" 37 of the plant. Ordzhonikidze, sample 1937. More precisely, two "Pioneers". Options B1, where the landing party sat with their feet out, and B2, with the landing feet inward. Yes, only 50 units of these machines were produced. They did not take root in the troops due to their small capacity and instability at turns. And the draft of this tractor left much to be desired.
But created at the same plant at the end of 1936 by designer N. A. Astrov, a full-fledged high-speed armored tracked tractor "Komsomolets" T-20 (factory index 020) was really good.
In principle, if the production capacity of the USSR would have allowed the production of this tractor further (production was discontinued in 1941 due to the need to produce light tanks), then its transformation into a transporter for the infantry would be quite logical.
The subjunctive mood in relation to technical engineering and design solutions is a risky business. In hindsight, you can always find the right way to resolve some long-standing technical and technological problems. Moreover, "making big eyes" is an obvious solution!
Therefore, let's return to our hero. Moreover, the process of "birth" of "Universal" and "Komsomolets" is practically the same. The "parents" of these vehicles have been dealing with light tanks for a long time. And in terms of development time, the machines are almost identical.
The first samples of the family of armored personnel carriers, created on the basis of the Vickers-Carden-Loyd light tank (wedge), were produced in 1937-1938. These were low, open-top armored vehicles adapted for the installation of Vickers and Bren machine guns.
Western experts generally consider the Englishwoman a prototype for most European tankettes. But the British army did not accept the car. No improvements have been successful. We can assume that this machine was unsuccessful from the very beginning.
Universal armored personnel carrier - "Universal", appeared in 1940. It was intended for use as a reconnaissance vehicle in infantry and reconnaissance units, a tractor for artillery systems, observation and command vehicles, transporters for machine guns, mortars and flamethrowers.
Let's take a closer look at the car. The undercarriage of the first modifications was carried out with three road wheels per side, subsequent modifications had four road wheels per side. The suspension of these machines is locked on two rollers with coil springs. Small-link metal caterpillar.
The drive was carried out from a four-stroke V-shaped gasoline engine "Ford" with a capacity of 100 hp. The engine was installed in the power compartment, located in the rear of the car, a mechanical 5-speed gearbox and side clutches were also mounted here.
Command and landing squads were located in front of the vehicle. Here, depending on the purpose of the machine, weapons, equipment were installed, or a landing force was deployed in the amount of 3-4 people.
Low specific ground pressure (of the order of 0.45 kg / sq. Cm) and the presence of a powerful engine made it possible for designers to combine two often mutually exclusive qualities in the car - high cross-country ability and speed.
Once in childhood, a friend of the father of one of the authors of this material, a one-armed reconnaissance tanker, talked about an American he fought on. Then the story sounded like a legend. And only after a lapse of time it became clear that the story in this story was just about the "Universal".
The Soviet intelligence officers were ambivalent about this armored personnel carrier. On the one hand, the car is simple and fast enough. And for a soldier it is always better to go badly than to go well. On the other hand, the car "mocked" the scouts in full.
The fact is that people of rather powerful build were recruited into reconnaissance. And the soldiers' uniforms were not made of modern materials. Especially in winter. Quilted jackets, greatcoats, wadded pants. And in the design of the "Universal" there was one trick that made the life of the landing force (in the summer), then the commander of the group and the driver (in the winter) simply unbearable.
The location of the engine aft forced the designers to place the engine hood in the troop compartment. A sort of "table" in the middle. And the scouts sat with their backs to the sides, resting their knees on this table! Moreover, given the dimensions of the soldiers and the dimensions of the car, it was also problematic to move the knees away from the hood. Now imagine a summer somewhere in the south of Russia. And the hot engine hood you kneel against.
True, the commander and driver in the control department only chuckled in this version. They did not come into contact with hot metal in any way. On the contrary, the breeze blew. Not a ride, but a resort.
But in winter, the commander and driver, at any stop, moved to "sit on the table" in the troop compartment. The breeze in the winter made the ride in the torture control unit. It was then that the scouts laughed …
Under Lend-Lease, the Red Army only supplied Mk1 Universal vehicles. Other modifications were not intended for Soviet soldiers. It was the versatility that attracted the command of our army in these machines.
For completeness of the story about this vehicle, it is worth giving an example of the combat use of this armored personnel carrier. The story that we publish today is not a memoir, but a description of the feat in the award list of a Soviet soldier.
At the end of 1943, Soviet troops, defeating the Nazis on the river. Dairy, went to Perekop. Brigades of the 19th Panzer Corps dismembered the Nazi mountain rifle division. Enemy columns rushed across the steppe, hoping to break away from our troops and break through to the Crimea.
The reconnaissance group of Lieutenant Galyamov was assigned to monitor one of these columns until our units arrived. The group had two Universal armored personnel carriers and a motorcycle with a sidecar.
“In the area of Novo-Natalyevka, one of the armored personnel carriers of our reconnaissance group fired at the enemy and retreated behind stacks of straw.
The prisoner turned out to be a clerk of the division headquarters. He said that the command of the column with a group of soldiers had gone ahead. The scouts rushed in the direction indicated. Indeed, 10 km south of Novo-Natalyevka, they found a group of fascists in the corn.
Having come under machine gun fire from an armored personnel carrier, the Nazis surrendered. The deputy commander of the mountain rifle division, the chief of staff and the chief of the sanitary service were taken prisoner along with the soldiers of the guard."
In principle, this is where the story ends. But there is one question that often comes up after a story about this car. Steering wheel! The "station wagon" was controlled not by levers, like a tank or a tractor, but by a "car steering wheel". In the first half of the 20th century, a tracked vehicle with "automobile" control.
The subtext of the question is clear. Isn't the steering wheel left over from the wheeled version of the conveyor? Which would seem to be easier to follow the same path that the Americans followed. "Put" a finished body on the truck chassis and get a wheeled armored vehicle or wheeled armored personnel carrier.
Indeed, there have been such attempts. The British decided to go first this way. They didn't even bother looking for a new chassis. In 1940, the "Universal" body was put on the chassis of the "Guy" armored car. However, this symbiosis only led to a deterioration in the characteristics of the machine.
The next attempt to "fool" the "Universal" was made by the Canadians in 1944. The designers tried to place the body on the chassis of a Canadian 4x4 Ford truck. The result was roughly the same as that of the British. Both versions of the wheeled "Universal" have remained experienced.
Well, the traditional performance characteristics of the Universal Carrier Mk I armored personnel carrier
Weight, t: 3, 7
Crew, pers: 4-5
Dimensions, mm:
length - 3657, width - 2057, height -1588, clearance -203.
Armament: 1 Boys anti-tank rifle, caliber 13, 97 mm, 1 machine gun Bren, caliber 7, 7 mm (the Bren anti-aircraft machine gun could be installed).
Ammunition: 80 rounds of 13, 97 mm, 900 rounds of 7, 7 mm.
Reservation, mm:
forehead -10, board and feed -7.
Engine: Ford 6AE, 8-cylinder, carburetor, four-stroke, V-shaped, liquid-cooled; power 60 HP at 2840 rpm; working volume 3600 cm2.
Speed, km / h: 40
Cruising in store, km: 180
Overcoming obstacles:
ascent angle, deg. - 28, wall height, m - 0, 5, ditch width, m-1, 6, ford depth, m - 0, 6.
