Light Tank Mk VIII (A25) (Harry Hopkins)

History of the Mk VIII (A25) Light Tank (Harry Hopkins)

In order to better equip British light tank regiments before World War II (1939-1945), the army authorities invested in the Mk VII "Tetraarch" light tank. The 16,800-pound vehicle was introduced in 1938 under the Vickers-Armstrongs Ltd brand label. Going into design work, fewer than 200 were produced for World War II use. However, this design proved to be too light for frontline use early on, so its role in direct combat as part of the main force was greatly diminished.

Ultimately, the car was found to be quite suitable for the Air Force and was used in the famous Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944, but even then they were retired in August of that year.

Despite the initial flaws, some notable variants of the Tetrarch series emerged, including the Mk VIII "Harry Hopkins" light tank - named after American consultant and New Deal architect Harry Hopkins , 1890-1946) named after. Harry Hopkins is essentially a larger-sized version of the Tetrarch with improved armor protection, but retains much of the form and function of the original design.

However, the added weight of the Harry Hopkins design made it impossible to transport on military gliders, as was the case with the more famous Tetrarch series of light tanks.

Like Tetrarch, Harry Hopkins was designed by Vickers-Armstrong engineers and weighed more than 19,000 pounds, with an overall length of 14.2 feet, a width of 8.7 feet, and a height of 6.10 feet. The crew remained three, including the driver, commander and gunner.

The armament is the same, the main gun is an Ordnance QF 2-pounder (carrying 50 rounds) and a 7.92mm BESA machine gun (2,025 rounds). The engine remains the Meadows brand, but the gasoline powertrain is downgraded to 149 hp (from 165 hp). The vehicle also retains the unique steerable wheel arrangement that Tetrarch has.

On the road, the speed reaches 30 miles per hour and the range is up to 200 miles.

The compact tank has a four-wheeled undercarriage on one side of the hull, and a narrow-width crawler attachment system surrounds the four units from bow to stern. The hull structure has slightly sloping surfaces for basic ballistic protection, the turret is located above the top of the hull, again including sloping surfaces for protection. The main gun protruded from the front fairing as usual, and a large shell was placed at the entrance into the turret.

The engine is mounted in the rear of the fuselage.

Metro-Cammell was commissioned to produce 100 machines (from 1943 to 1945) to the above-mentioned standards, and the line was intended to be a direct successor to Tetrarch itself. However, by the time the Harry Hopkins went into service, the value of light armoured vehicles on the modern battlefield had fallen dramatically enemy tanks were advancing in both armour protection and firepower. The poor performance of light tanks in the French campaign also almost sounded the death knell for Hopkins. For a while it was suggested that tanks should be reserved for quick reconnaissance missions when other vehicles could not meet demand, but the idea eventually fell through and the stockpile was handed over to the Royal Air Force (RAF) to protect its various bases from direct attack. Hopkins' prototype was winged and tested as an air-launched flying "glide tank", but crashed - also putting an end to the idea.

The "Alecto" was a Hopkins offshoot of a self-propelled artillery/short-range tank, but had limited production and no combat service during the war.

Harry Hopkins' design line was nearly dead by the end of 1942. The U.S. M5 "Stuart" light tank (described in detail elsewhere on this page) and various half-tracks and reconnaissance vehicles exceeded the inventory gap.

Specification

Basic

Roles

Dimensions

Performance

Performance

for everyone else in our database)

Armor

50 x 40mm bullet.

2,025x7.92mm ammo.

Changes