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Tortoise Heavy Assault Tank
The Tortoise heavy assault tank (A39) was a British heavy tank, heavy assault gun tank design developed during the World War II, Second World War, but never put into mass production. It was developed for the task of clearing heavily fortified areas such as the Siegfried Line#During the Second World War, Siegfried Line and as a result favoured armour protection over mobility. Although heavy, at 78 tons, and not readily transported, it was considered reliable and a good gun platform. Only a few prototypes of the Tortoise had been produced by the end of the war. After testing was complete, one was retained for preservation and the others disposed of. Development In the early part of 1943, the Allied forces anticipated considerable resistance in the projected future invasion of Europe, with the enemy fighting from heavily fortified positions such as the Siegfried Line. As a result, a new class of vehicles emerged, in the shape of assault tanks, which placed maximum armour prot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The UK includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, and most of List of islands of the United Kingdom, the smaller islands within the British Isles, covering . Northern Ireland shares Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border, a land border with the Republic of Ireland; otherwise, the UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel, the Celtic Sea and the Irish Sea. It maintains sovereignty over the British Overseas Territories, which are located across various oceans and seas globally. The UK had an estimated population of over 68.2 million people in 2023. The capital and largest city of both England and the UK is London. The cities o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Secretary Of State For War
The secretary of state for war, commonly called the war secretary, was a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, which existed from 1794 to 1801 and from 1854 to 1964. The secretary of state for war headed the War Office and was assisted by a parliamentary under-secretary of state for war, a parliamentary private secretary who was also a member of parliament (MP), and a military Secretary, who was a general. History The position of ''secretary of state for war'' was first held by Henry Dundas who was appointed in 1794. In 1801, the post became that of secretary of state for war and the colonies. The position of secretary of state for war was re-instated in 1854 when the secretary of state for the colonies was created as a separate position. In the nineteenth century, the post was twice held by future prime minister Henry Campbell-Bannerman. At the outset of the First World War, prime minister H. H. Asquith was filling the role, but he quickly a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
QF 3
QF may stand for: Businesses and organisations * Qantas, an Australian airline (IATA:QF) * Qatar Foundation, a non-profit * Quiverfull, a Christian movement Military * Quds Force, an Iranian expeditionary unit * Quick-firing gun, an artillery piece * A gun breech that uses metallic cartridges; see British ordnance terms#QF * Q-Fire, a decoy fire site used in World War II Other uses * Quality factor In physics and engineering, the quality factor or factor is a dimensionless parameter that describes how underdamped an oscillator or resonator is. It is defined as the ratio of the initial energy stored in the resonator to the energy lost in ..., in physics and engineering, a measure of the "quality" of a resonant system {{disambig fr:QF ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ordnance QF 32-pounder
The Ordnance QF 32 pounder or (32-pdr) was a British 94 mm gun, initially developed as a replacement for the Ordnance QF 17-pounder, Ordnance QF 17-pdr anti-tank gun. The only use of the 32-pounder was as the armament for the pilot vehicles of the Tortoise heavy assault tank. Development Development started in October 1942, due to a Chief of the General Staff (United Kingdom), General Staff order for a successor to the Ordnance QF 17-pounder, 17-pdr gun. Basic requirements involved the new gun to be "at least 25% more effective" than the 17-pdr. Initial focus was on development of a 55-pdr gun, although advancements in 17-pdr ammunition meant the advantages that would be secured by the 55-pdr were no longer as desirable, while the 55-pdr would suffer from considerable disadvantages such as the difficulties in the handling and stowage of ammunition. Other options considered included a 76 mm (3-inch) 17-pdr firing a Armour-piercing_ammunition#APCR_and_HVAP, Armour Piercing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Brown Ltd
David Brown Santasalo, formerly David Brown Engineering, is a British engineering company, principally engaged in the manufacture of gears and gearboxes. Their major gear manufacturing plant is in Swan Lane, Lockwood, Huddersfield, adjacent to Lockwood railway station. It is named after the company's founder, David Brown, though it is more closely associated with his grandson, Sir David Brown (1904–1993). History David Brown Founded in 1860 as a pattern manufacturing company, by 1873 David Brown had begun to concentrate on gear systems and by 1898 was specialising in machine-cut gears. The company moved in 1902 to Park Works, Huddersfield, where the firm is based today. David Brown & Sons, Huddersfield (the Huddersfield group) When David Brown died in 1901, his sons Percy and Frank took over and began the manufacture of gears, complete gear units, gear cutting machines, tools and equipment, bearings and shafts and worm drive gears. The foundry made steel and non-ferrous ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Self-propelled Gun
Self-propelled artillery (also called locomotive artillery) is artillery equipped with its own propulsion system to move toward its firing position. Within the terminology are the self-propelled gun, self-propelled howitzer, self-propelled mortar, and self-propelled rocket artillery. They are high-mobility vehicles, usually based on continuous tracks carrying either a large field gun, howitzer, mortar (weapon), mortar, or some form of rocket (weapon), rocket/missile launcher. They are usually used for long-range indirect-fire, indirect bombardment support on the battlefield. In the past, self-propelled artillery has included direct-fire vehicles, such as assault guns and tank destroyers, which were typically well-armoured vehicles often based upon the chassis of a tank. In lieu of the standard tank's general-purpose tank gun, main gun that fired both high-explosive and anti-tank ammunition, direct-fire vehicles had specialized roles, with assault guns providing close fire-supp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Casemate
A casemate is a fortified gun emplacement or armoured structure from which guns are fired, in a fortification, warship, or armoured fighting vehicle.Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary When referring to antiquity, the term "casemate wall" means a double city wall with the space between the walls separated into chambers, which could be filled up to better withstand battering rams in case of siege (see .) In its original early modern meaning, the term referred to a vaulted chamber in a fort, which may have been used for storage, accommodation, or artillery which could fire through an opening or embrasure. Although the outward faces of brick or masonry casemates proved vulnerable to advances in artillery performance, the invention of reinforced concrete allowed newer designs to be produced well into the 20th century. With the introduction of ironclad warships, the definition was widened to include a protected space for guns in a ship, either within the hull or in the low ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
T14 Heavy Tank
The assault tank T14 was a joint project between the United States and the United Kingdom with the goal being to produce a universal infantry tank. The T14 project never came to fruition, as a pilot model was not delivered to the UK until 1944 by which time the British Churchill tank had been in service for two years and greatly improved over its initial model. US efforts working on a similarly well-armored tank but with a higher speed for use other than in infantry support led to the T20 Medium Tank. Design and development In 1941, the head of the United States Ordnance Department travelled to Britain to learn of their experience, ideas and requirements for the future. Among the discussion was the possibility of designing a well-armed and armored combat vehicle, one that was stronger than the British Churchill infantry tank then in production. The tank design would have a British QF 6-pounder (57 mm) or a US 75 mm gun and share many parts with the M4 Sherman; th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
War Office
The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at which point its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from this source, which is available under th Open Government Licence v3.0 © Crown copyright It was equivalent to the Admiralty (United Kingdom), Admiralty at that time, which was responsible for the Royal Navy (RN), and (much later) the Air Ministry, which oversaw the Royal Air Force (RAF). The name 'Old War Office' is also given to the former home of the department, located at the junction of Horse Guards Avenue and Whitehall in central London. The landmark building was sold on 1 March 2016 by HM Government for more than British pound, £350 million, on a 250-year lease for conversion int ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tank Board
A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engine; their main armament is often mounted within a turret. They are a mainstay of modern 20th and 21st century ground forces and a key part of combined arms combat. Modern tanks are versatile mobile land weapons platforms whose main armament is a large-calibre tank gun mounted in a rotating gun turret, supplemented by machine guns or other ranged weapons such as anti-tank guided missiles or rocket launchers. They have heavy vehicle armour which provides protection for the crew, the vehicle's munition storage, fuel tank and propulsion systems. The use of tracks rather than wheels provides improved operational mobility which allows the tank to overcome rugged terrain and adverse conditions such as mud and ice/snow better than wheeled vehicles, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nuffield Mechanisation And Aero
Nuffield Mechanizations and Aero Limited, also known as Mechanizations and Aero Ltd and Nuffield Mechanizations Ltd was William Morris, 1st Viscount Nuffield's personal enterprise developing improved methods for mechanisation and mobility of the British Army and the ground section of the Royal Air Force. The company was started in 1935 to separate Wolseley Motors aircraft engine manufacturing business from the car business which was joined with Morris Motors vehicle businesses. In 1937 Nuffield Mechanizations Limited was acquired and the combined company was named "Nuffield Mechanizations and Aero Limited". Origin Wolseley went bankrupt in 1920s and was bought at auction in 1927 by William Morris, later Viscount Nuffield for £730,000 of his own money. Wolseley had begun aero engine development in 1929 but when Lord Nuffield sold Wolseley Motors to Morris Motors on 1 July 1935, he decided to keep aero engine development quite separate and it remained Lord Nuffield's personal pro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
79th Armoured Division (United Kingdom)
The 79th Armoured Division was a specialist armoured division of the British Army created during the Second World War. The division was created as part of the preparations for the Normandy invasion on 6 June 1944, D-Day. Major-General Percy Hobart commanded the division and was in charge of the development of armoured vehicles that were solutions to problems of the amphibious landing on the defended French coastline; these unusual-looking tanks it developed and operated were known as "Hobart's Funnies". They included tanks that floated, could clear mines, destroy defences, carry and lay bridges, and roadways. The practical use of these specialist tanks was confirmed during the landings on the beaches. Its vehicles were distributed as small units across the divisions taking part in the landings and subsequent operations. The division remained in action during the North-west European Campaign, providing specialised support during assaults to the 21st Army Group and, occasional ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
