Vickers Medium Tank Mark II
The Medium Tank Mark II, introduced in 1928, was a modest upgrade on the Mark I. At a time when tanks only had one or two men in the turret, the Mark II had four. It also had very thin armor, being vulnerable to anti-tank rifles. However, unlike the Mark I, ir relocated the fuel tanks out of the crew compartment to the rear. In 1932, 44 of the original Mark II’s were upgraded to the Mark II** standard. Some 120 were built and never saw combat for the British, except for a few dug-in as static pillboxes. They did, however, serve as training vehicles. Also, in an alternate setting, where the British come to blows with the Germans or Japanese earlier, the Medium Tank Mark II’s would certainly have seen combat.
The Mark II had a couple of unusual features, one designed and the other a common crew modification. As the engine was mounted in the front, this allowed a rear hull hatch to be fitted that led into the crew compartment. There was a “chamber” between the hatch and compartment due to the fuel tanks in the left rear hull. This space was the only place a crewman could man the right-side hull machinegun. Also, many crews too advantage of the engine exhaust pipe laying along the top of the left rear fender by fixing a frame over it to hold a cooking pot that rested atop the (hot) exhaust pipe. The pot was normally used to boil a gallon or so of water, but could be used for other culinary purposes.
The Mk II** has a crew of five. The driver sits in the body. The commander, gunner, loader and wireless operator sit half in the turret and half in the body. It uses 3 gallons per hour at routine usage.
Subassemblies: Medium Tank chassis with Mild Slope option
+3, full rotation Medium AFV turret [Body:T] +2, tracks +3.
Powertrain: 67-kW gas engine w/67-kW tracked drive train
and 180 gallons fuel in standard fuel tank [body]; 12,000-kWs batteries.
Occupancy: 1 CS Body, 4 CS Both Cargo:
6 Body.
| Armor | F | RL | B | T | U |
| Body | 5/40 | 4/26 | 4/26 | 4/26 | 4/26 |
| Tracks | 4/40 | 4/40 | 4/40 | 4/40 | 4/40 |
| Turret | 4/26 | 4/26 | 4/26 | 4/26 | 0/0 |
Weaponry
QF 3-pdr/47mm Short Tank Gun [Turret:F] (40).
Ground LMG/Vickers [Turret:F] (2,500).
Ground LMG/Vickers [Body:R] (500).
Ground LMG/Vickers [Body:L] (500).
Equipment
Body: Medium radio transmitter and receiver.
Statistics
| Size: 18’¥9’¥9’ | Payload: 1.7 tons | Lwt: 13.5 tons |
| Volume: 108 | Maint.: 76 hours | Price: $7,000 |
HT: 12.
HP: 1,500 Body, 200 Turret, 540 each Track.
| gSpeed: 13 | gAccel: 2 | gDecel: 20 | gMR: 0.25 | gSR: 4 | GP: Very Low (4/5) |
Design Notes
Design weight was increased 2.5% to match historical weight. Design
speed was 22 mph.
Although the front hull had a good slope, it still had shot traps.
Therefore, there is a 2-in-6 chance that any hit to the front faces only
DR 26.
Variants
The Mark I was lighter (11.7 tons) and faster (15 mph), but had even
thinner armor (DR 17 all locations but hull front, which was DR 25). No
radio was provided; the fifth crewman was a mechanic.
The original Mark II had four ball mounts in the turret (none of them coaxial) for a Hotchkiss .303 MG (Ground LMG). As only one position could be manned at a time due to cramped space, there was only one MG, moved from one location to another as required. There were 100 Mark II’s built. Five of these were modified for use in hot climates and sent to Egypt.
The Mark II* was a modification to 56 Mark II’s. The Hotchkiss guns were removed and a coaxial Vickers gun added. Also, since the commander’s position was too close to the breech of the 3-pdr, his seat was slightly moved back so that spent casing wouldn’t hit him when ejected.
Twenty Mark IIA’s were built in 1930. Aside from some armor added to the ventilator, they were the same as the Mark II*. Eventually these were given a radio set, becoming virtually identical to the Mark II**. Later, they were converted into close support vehicles, armed with a 3.7” mortar. They primarily fired smoke rounds, but some carried HE shells. Weight was 14 tons.