In the late thirties, the Mk VII Tetrarch light cruiser tank would have been adopted by the British army. This vehicle differed from the existing models in its relatively low weight, high firepower and an acceptable level of protection. Nevertheless, the launch of serial production of such equipment was seriously delayed, because of which, over several years, it managed to lose its potential. Soon, an attempt was made to return promising light tanks to acceptable characteristics, the result of which was the appearance of the Mk VIII Harry Hopkins armored vehicle.
Recall that the Tetrarch light tank had armor up to 14 mm thick and carried a 40-mm cannon. The relatively high power of the engine made it possible to reach speeds of up to 64 km / h. In addition, the vehicle had high maneuverability throughout the entire speed range. For the end of the thirties, a tank with such characteristics was of great interest to the army, but the situation was changing rapidly. A full-fledged mass production of Mk VII tanks was only possible in 1941, when it was already established that such a light-class equipment did not fully meet the requirements of the time. As a result, there was a proposal to modernize the existing machine in order to improve the main characteristics.
Light tank Mk VIII Harry Hopkins. Photo UK War Office
By the end of the summer of 1941, the Vickers-Armstrong company, which developed and produced Mk VII tanks, formed a technical proposal for a deep modernization of such equipment. In September, the proposed project received approval from the military department, which made it possible to start a full-fledged design, as well as expect to receive an order in the future. The new project received the working designation A25. Later, being put into service, the tank acquired a new designation Mk VIII. In addition, the car was named Harry Hopkins - in honor of the American diplomat who played a vital role in improving relations between the two countries.
The new project of the Vickers-Armstrong company implied a serious overhaul of the existing Tetrarch tank in order to increase the main characteristics. First of all, it was planned to strengthen the armor of the hull and turret, providing protection against new threats. In addition, it was supposed to rework some other structural elements, which made it possible to increase the combat potential of the vehicle, as well as to a certain extent simplify its production and operation. A very large list of improvements was proposed, which made it possible to consider the new project as an independent development, and not as a further development of the existing tank.
To solve one of the main tasks in the form of increasing the level of protection, the designers of the developer company had to create a completely new armored body, which only remotely resembled the Tetrarch units. Now it was proposed to use thicker armor plates. They were to be assembled into a single structure using rivets and welding. The hull layout remained the same, classic, but the outer contours and the composition of the sheets underwent the most serious changes.
Tank Mk VII Tetrarch. Photo Imperial War Museum / Iwm.org.uk
The control compartment of the A25 tank was protected with several armor plates up to 38 mm thick. The hull received a narrow, low sheet of vertical arrangement, above which an inclined trapezoidal part with an inspection hatch was placed. On either side of it were two beveled zygomatic leaves. Behind the frontal hull assembly there was a turret box formed by the sides and roof. The sides of the hull had a thickness of 17 to 20 mm, their upper part was installed with an inclination inward. In the stern there were two sheets with a thickness of 12 and 14 mm. From above, the body was covered with a 14-mm roof.
The need to increase the level of protection led to the development of a new turret of a different shape. On the pursuit of the hull with a diameter of 1, 3 m, a round support platform was placed on which all armor plates were installed. The project proposed the use of a vertical hexagonal front plate, in front of which there was a characteristic cast gun mask. The sides of the tower consisted of two lower and one upper corners. There was a wedge-shaped aft niche behind the sloping roof. The level of defense of the turret matched the characteristics of the hull. It is noteworthy that the lower part of the turret armor had a relatively small size, due to which the support platform partially protruded beyond its limits.
The aft compartment of the A25 tank housed a Meadows 12-cylinder petrol engine with 148 hp. Next to the engine was a manual transmission with a five-speed gearbox. Also in the engine compartment were radiators and main fuel tanks.
An original turret was developed for the new tank. Photo Wikimedia Commons
The new project offered to keep the well-proven chassis of the Mk VII Tetrarch tank. On each side of the hull, four large-diameter rollers were placed, equipped with an individual spring suspension. The front three rollers of each side had rubber tires, the rear - a toothed rim. The first three pairs of rollers served as support wheels, while the aft pair served as driving wheels. The most important feature of the undercarriage was the hinged installation of the rollers, which allowed them to rotate around a vertical axis. Using a set of rods, the rollers were connected to the steering wheel. A fine-link caterpillar with a rubber-metal hinge had the ability to bend in the horizontal plane. Improved metal rollers were developed for the new tank. Other details have been borrowed without changes from the previous project.
The armament of the Tetrarch tank was considered powerful enough for equipment of this class, which made it possible to use the existing cannon and machine gun in the new project. It was proposed to place the 40-mm Ordnance QF 2-pounder cannon in the frontal mount of the turret of the new tank. Such a gun had a 52-caliber rifled barrel, which made it possible to disperse projectiles of various types up to a speed of 800-900 m / s. The effective firing range was determined at the level of 1 km. Depending on the type of projectile used, the gun could penetrate up to 40 mm of armor at a distance of 1000 yards. Inside the fighting compartment, it was possible to place packs for 50 unitary loading shells.
A 7, 92 mm BESA machine gun was mounted in the turret next to the gun, which worked with the same aiming drives. The machine gun ammunition, as in the case of the previous tank, was supposed to consist of 2025 rounds.
The armor of the new turret did not completely cover the lumen of the shoulder strap. Photo Aviarmor.net
The crew of the new tank remained the same. Three people were to be accommodated inside the hull and turret. At the workplace in the front control compartment of the hull, the driver was placed. In connection with the processing of the frontal part of the hull, the driver's hatch had to be moved to the left zygomatic sheet. Initially, the manhole cover had a rounded shape, but later it was replaced by a polygonal sheet placed on hinges. For driving in battle and on the march, it was proposed to use a small inspection hatch in the frontal sheet. In addition, there were several periscopic devices in front of the roof.
In the fighting compartment, it was planned to place the commander-gunner and loader. For access to the fighting compartment, it was proposed to use a large hatch, which was one of the roof sheets. In the roof of the tower there were several periscopic observation devices for observing the terrain. In addition, there were weapons control devices and telescopic sights for guidance at the command site.
In finished form, the A25 tank had a length (hull) of 4.44 m, a width of 2.65 m and a height of 2.11 m. Combat weight - 8.64 tons. Thus, the new light tank was slightly larger than the existing Tetrarch. but, due to the thicker booking, it turned out to be heavier by about 1, 1 ton. Specific power at the level of 17, 5 hp. per ton made it possible to obtain a maximum speed of up to 48 km / h and a cruising range of 320 km. In terms of mobility, the new tank with improved protection should have been inferior to its predecessor. At the same time, high maneuverability was maintained. Using the transmission and steering wheel, the driver could both brake the tracks and turn the track rollers. In the latter case, the caterpillar was bent, which made it possible to turn "like a car" without losing speed.
The chassis was borrowed from the previous armored vehicle. Photo Aviarmor.net
The design of the A25 light tank continued until the spring of 1942. After the completion of the design work, the development company built the first prototype and brought it to field tests. During the inspections, fears of deteriorating mobility were immediately confirmed. In terms of such characteristics, the new car really had to differ from the serial equipment. At the same time, the tank of the new type had noticeable advantages in terms of armor protection.
Soon after the start of design work, the British War Department formed its plans for the serial production of promising light tanks. A vehicle with characteristics at the Mk VII Tetrarch level and enhanced armor was of great interest to the army, which is why it was decided to build 1,000 new A25 tanks in the future. Already in November 1941, the volume of future orders increased to 2,140 tanks. The first production vehicles were planned to be assembled in June next year, after which the industry was supposed to produce one hundred armored vehicles per month. Metro-Cammell was named the first manufacturer of serial A25s.
However, already the first tests showed that plans for the serial production of equipment will have to be revised, at least in part. During the inspections, numerous design flaws were revealed that required corrections and improvements. Improving the design and fine-tuning of a promising tank took too long. Tank A25 was ready for serial production only in July 1943 - a year after the planned date. Such problems have led to a significant reduction in plans for future construction. Now the military again wanted to receive no more than a thousand tanks.
Tank scheme. Figure Ttyyrr.narod.ru
According to the test results, a promising light tank was put into service under the designation Mk VIII Harry Hopkins. It was under this name that the former A25 soon entered the series. Due to the workload of other orders, the British defense industry could not establish a full-fledged production of Harry Hopkins for a long time. Because of this, in particular, by the end of the summer of 1943, only six armored vehicles were built. By the end of the year, another 21 tanks were handed over to the customer. In November, the military again decided to change plans for the release of equipment. Due to the impossibility of a full-scale assembly of tanks, the order was reduced to 750 units. In 1944, the only plant that received the appropriate instructions was able to build only 58 Mk VIII tanks. In this regard, the military department ordered the completion of the hundredth tank and stop work. The last batch of armored vehicles was transferred to the army in early 1945.
The combat service of the Mk VIII light tanks began in the fall of 1943. Almost immediately, the military faced very serious problems: having some advantages over the equipment used in the troops, the newest tanks did not fit into the existing methods of combat use. Due to their weak armament and relatively thin armor, they could not fight against German medium tanks. The airborne units, in turn, could not use such equipment, since it did not meet the requirements of the serial Hamilcar airborne gliders. The only area of application of such technology was the conduct of reconnaissance in the interests of armored units.
But the difficulties did not end there either. At the end of 1943, Great Britain received the first batch of American-made M5 Stewart light tanks. This technique differed from the "Harry Hopkins" in a less powerful weapon, but at the same time surpassed it in all other respects. As a result, the British military decided to give the role of the reconnaissance vehicle to a new imported tank. Domestic tanks, which were rapidly losing prospects, were decided to be handed over to the Royal Air Force, which needed equipment to guard airfields.
Restoration of the only surviving Harry Hopkins at the Bovington Museum. Photo Tankmuseum.org
It should be noted that in the summer of 1943, an attempt was made to make the Mk VIII tank landing. Designer L. E. Baines proposed a glider design called the Carrier Wing or Baynes Bat, which involved the construction of a flying wing aircraft with a plane span of 100 feet (30.5 m). The device was supposed to take on board a light tank and allow it to get to the target by air. The glider was controlled by its own pilot. One experimental glider of a reduced size was built, but the project did not progress beyond testing. The glider, in general, performed well and could be of interest to the military. Nevertheless, the potential customer abandoned the original equipment. Because of this, Harry Hopkins tanks were left without a single compatible landing vehicle.
Already in 1942, the chassis of a promising light tank began to be considered as the basis for promising technology for a different purpose. Soon, a project was launched with the symbol Alecto, the purpose of which was to create a self-propelled artillery unit with relatively powerful weapons, capable of fighting enemy tanks and fortifications. Due to the problems of the basic project, the development of the ACS was seriously delayed. As a result, the original car simply did not have time for the war, and the project was closed as unnecessary.
In 1943-44, all built light tanks Mk VIII Harry Hopkins were transferred to the disposal of the RAF and distributed among the airfield security units. By this time, the situation in Europe had changed, because of which the armored vehicles were practically left without work. The risk of an attack by Nazi Germany was reduced to a minimum, and the fight against enemy aircraft was not included in the range of tasks of light tanks. This not too difficult work of tankers continued until the very end of the war. During this time, the Mk VIII tanks never managed to collide with the enemy.
Armored vehicle after repair. Photo Tankmuseum.org
Serial production of the Mk VIII Harry Hopkins tanks lasted for a long time, but for all the time the industry produced only a hundred such armored vehicles. They were unable to find a place on the battlefield, which later led to a fairly rapid abandonment of technology. Soon after the end of World War II, light tanks began to be written off and sent for disassembly. Only one car of this type managed to survive. Now she is an exhibit of the armored museum in the British Bovington.
The A25 / Mk VIII Harry Hopkins light tank project can hardly be considered successful. His goal was to create a new vehicle that would compare favorably with the production Mk VII Tetrarch. The task of increasing the level of protection was successfully solved, but at the same time the tank received a lot of minor, but unpleasant flaws. It took too long to get rid of the identified shortcomings, which is why the start of serial production of tanks was delayed by about a year. As a result, the tank ceased to meet the existing requirements and was no longer of interest to the troops. The armored vehicles were transferred to auxiliary "positions", and then removed from service and decommissioned. The previous light tank "Tetrarch" was also not a numerous and successful vehicle, but "Harry Hopkins" could not even repeat its successes.
