Centurion photos

[Mike Cecil]

No worries, Dan, happy to answer questions about Cents (the Australian usage has been something of a research project for many years).

I find my 'detailed histories' of individual Centurions popping up in all sorts of places, most without the courtesy of seeking permission and many without crediting me. I'm told by one website (that I do willingly write for) that the article I wrote on 169041, the 'Atomic Tank' as I dubbed it, has been viewed and copied/downloaded many thousands of times. I suppose I should take that as a compliment to the research effort it took to write it. The website you refer to is a particular 'vacuumer' of Cent info and images from all sorts of places.

169042 is indeed a Mk.5/1, but the Australian 'version' with .50 inch L6A1 RMG mounted in place of the .30 cal, which is moved to the right closer to the 20-pdr main armament. The three weights are all parallel to the barrel of the 20-pdr - they are to provide balance at the gun trunnions. Most Aust Cents with B type barrels have three weights, but as few as one large one and as many as 7 have been noted. The weights are not necessarily uniform in size. The extra weights are required to compensate for the additional weight of the combined 30-cal & RMG mount, RMG, and ammo. The RMG combined with the 20-pdr is unique to Australia. The Poms tested the concept of an RMG with that combination on a couple of tanks in the late 50s, then combined the RMG ONLY with the 105mm L7 for service use.

The Infantry tank telephone is indeed mounted to the left side of the auxiliary armoured fuel tank, but horizontally, not vertically. There are also some other aspects that are peculiar to Aust Cents, such as the brush guard in front of the gunner's sight. The radio setup is British: a Larkspur SW C42/B47 combination.

Regards

Mike C

[Dan Martel]

Mike,

Further to the adding of an armour plate to the glacis of the Centurion, I have a few questions. I'm guessing that whatever was already welded to the glacis of a Mk 3 needed to be removed prior to the addition of a new plate. (I'm assuming that it was a single plate of steel, for strength integrity purposes.) When the various furniture that was required on the front of the vehicle was added again, was there a new arrangement that made it visibly different from earlier? Was a plate also added to the bottom of the front of the tank? The part of the bottom that comes up to meet the glacis? Is there a way to immediately tell if the vehicle one is looking at is a Mk 5/1 (uparmoured) or not, especially from a distance or from a side view?

Finally, was uparmouring a process that could be accomplished at a Base Workshop or did each vehicle have to go for a full factory refurbishment?

Cheers,
Dan.

[Mike Cecil]

Hi Dan,

The uparmour plate came as a war office kit with installation instructions. First: remove all the 'stuff' from the glacis, weld glacis, re-locate all the 'stuff' back into place. There were plenty of exceptions, however, depending on other requirements and installations, but in general, it was a straightforward process. The plate was to ensure a degree of frontal arc immunity to the Russian/Soviet APDS round fired by the T54.

The uparmour was only added to the upper sloping glacis plate.

There are a few visible traits: the plate is cut around the towing eye mounts, and there is a chamfering effect let into the top edge of the plate in front of the driver: these can often be readily seen from the front. From the side, the plate is thicker at the top edge, and sticks out a fraction (1.5 inches, I think).

Yes, a tank/heavy machinery Base Workshop could handle it: just so long as they had the arc welding capacity. In Australia, it was most often done at rebuild by Bandiana Area Workshop, or to tanks already rebuilt but held in storage at 1COD awaiting issue.

Mike C

[Dan Martel]

Mike,

Going back to the first post of this thread, here is the one supposedly depicting a Centurion engine change.

Closer inspection however, shows what I believe is a truck engine hanging from the block and chain, not a Meteor.

The tank appears to be a Mk 5/1 with a Type B barrel. There is something strange between the bin boxes on the left side of the turret, covering the ammunition loading hatch.

There's also the strange placing of the road wheel on the back of the 100-gal tank. Most photos from this time period (mid-60's) show the road wheel located on the rear of the turret where the track-link holders are.

It also looks like the infantry telephone is on the rear of the fuel tank, rather than the left side.

I'm sure the Centurion spent as much time in the field in this environment as it did on the ranges and in laager.

Cheers,
Dan.

[Grant Bowker]

The engines (one on the hook and one sitting on the crate) look small for truck engines as well. The layout of the small engines looks similar to the image of the charging set engine shown in the User Handbook for the Centurion Mks. 3 and 5 dated 1953. The attached diagram (PDF version 7 or later) is from that manual.

[Mike Cecil]

Dan,

I agree with Grant: the engine is the Auxiliary Generator engine - a Morris 4 cylinder side valve model USNMH Mk2 or Mk2/1. These assemblies required frequent changing in service.

The tank is not equipped with an armoured rear fuel tank, hence the infantry phone is still mounted on the rear louvre plate. Might this be a later Mk.7 hull? The spare road wheel is mounted on the same plate, hanging from the tow rope link mount: not unusual, as the carriage of spare roadwheels was not part of the original stowage design, but found to be necessary, hence the position varies quite a bit between units/vehicles.

The 'strange' item between the side bins appears to be one of the engine deck covers, raised and leaning against the side of the turret between the bins. It is hard to see for sure.

Mike C

[Keith Webb]

Wneh I was working at Hughes Auto Spares I recall a batch of new Ford 10 sidevalve motors which I was told were to do with Centurions. Did we substitute those in Australia?

They sold like hotcakes to guys with Prefects and early Anglias.

[matilda IIA]

Hi Mike and gents, Its the oil cooler standing between the turret bins, They hinge at the front
Kind regards