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| Vickers Mk.E Type B in the 44th RTR. The tank has a WD number of 10677, and serial number V.A.E.1986. |
The Vickers 6-Ton Tank or Vickers Mark E was a British light
tank designed as a private project at Vickers. It was not purchased by the
British Army, but was picked up by many foreign armed forces. It was licensed
by the Soviets as the T-26. It was also the direct predecessor of the Polish
7TP tank.
The first Mark E was built in 1928 by a design team that
included the famed tank designers John Valentine Carden and Vivian Loyd. The
hull was made of riveted steel plates, 1 inch (25.4 mm) thick at the front and
over most of the turrets, and about 3⁄4 inch (19 mm) thick on the rear of the
hull. The power was provided by an Armstrong Siddeley engine of 80–95
horsepower (60–71 kW) (depending on the version), which gave it a top speed of
22 mph (35 km/h) on roads.
The suspension used two axles, each of which carried a
two-wheel bogie to which a second set of bogies was connected with a leaf
spring. Upward movement of either set of bogies would force the other down
through the spring. This was considered to be a fairly good system and offered
better than normal cross-country performance although it could not compare with
the contemporary Christie suspension. High strength steel tracks gave over
3,000 miles (4,800 km) of life which was considerably better than most designs
of the era.
The tank was built in two versions:
Type A with two turrets, each mounting a Vickers machine gun.
Type B with a single two-man turret mounting a single machine gun and a
short-barreled 47 mm OQF 3-pdr Gun.
The Type B proved to be a real innovation: it was found that
the two-man turret dramatically increased the rate of fire of either weapon,
while still allowing both to be fired at the same time. This design, which they
referred to as a duplex mounting, became common on almost all tanks designed
after the Mark E.
The British Army evaluated the Mark E, but rejected it,
apparently due to questions about the reliability of the suspension. Vickers
then started advertising the design to all buyers, and soon received a trickle
of orders eventually including USSR, Greece, Poland, Bolivia, Siam, Finland,
Portugal, China and Bulgaria. Thailand purchased 36 Vickers Medium Dragon Mark
IV, and QF 2-pounder naval guns were added to turn them into self-propelled
guns used in the 1940-41 Franco-Thai War. Vickers built a total of 153 (the
most common figure) Mark Es.
Experience with the Polish machines showed that the engine
tended to overheat due to poor airflow over the air-cooled engine. This was
addressed by the addition of large air vents on either side of the hull. For a
new Belgian order the design was modified to use the Rolls-Royce Phantom II
water-cooled engine instead. This engine would not fit in the rear, and had to
be mounted along the left side of the tank, requiring the turret to be moved to
the right and rearward. One example of the resulting Mark F was tested by
Belgium, but rejected. Nevertheless, the new hull was used, with the older
engine, in the sales to Finland and Siam.
The Mark E was also developed as a cargo vehicle, and
purchased by the British Army in small numbers as artillery tractors to haul
their large BL 60-pounder (127 mm, 5 in) field guns. Twelve were ordered by the
Army as the Dragon, Medium Mark IV, while China purchased 23 and India 18.
Poland purchased 50, and also licensed it for the local
production, but only put together 38 out of the 50, using the unassembled 12
for spare parts. The Poles modified their vehicles with larger air intakes,
their own machine gun, a 360-degree Gundlach periscope, and 5 or more with added
two-way radios, before deciding to make their own tank that would address the
shortcomings of the original Vickers design. This resulted in the 7TP, which
was nearly 10 tons in weight. The Poles also, besides the aforementioned
telescope, added a liquid-cooled Diesel engine as well as better armor
protection, better ventilation, two-way radios, a 37 mm (1.46 in) Polish
version of Bofors anti-tank gun, and a bigger crew compartment. Out of 38
original two-turreted tanks, 22 were later converted to single turret version
with a modified turret and the 47 mm (1.85 in) main gun (Type B standard). The
tanks were in bad shape by 1939 because they were used in the training units
over a period of five years. However, they did perform well and better than the
Renault R35, amongst others as part of the Polish 10. Cavalry Brigade during
the Invasion of Poland in 1939.
The Soviets were also happy with the design and licensed it
for production. However, in their case local production started as the T-26,
and eventually over 12,000 were built in various versions. The Soviet early
twin-turret T-26s had 7.62 mm (0.3 in) DT machine guns in each turret, or a mix
of one machine gun turret and one 37 mm gun turret. Later, more common versions
mounted a 45 mm (1.77 in) gun and two DT machine guns. The final versions of
the T-26 had welded construction and, eventually, sloped armor on the hull and
turret. Because the T-26 was in such wide use and was a reliable platform, a
variety of engineer vehicles were built on the chassis, including flamethrowers
and bridgelayers. A novel radio-controlled demolition tank was built on the
T-26 chassis also.
During the Spanish Civil War the Soviet Union sent the T-26
to the Republican Army. The Italians, after suffering losses from Republican's
T-26 during the battle of Guadalajara (1937), captured some of these tanks
which served as a model for their M11/39 and M13/40 medium tanks.
In 1939, during the Soviet-Finnish Winter War, the Finnish
armored forces consisted of around thirty-two obsolete Renault FT tanks, some
Vickers-Carden-Lloyd Mk. IVs and Model 33s, which were equipped with machine
guns, and 26 Vickers Armstrongs 6-ton tanks. The latter had been re-equipped
with 37 mm Bofors AT-guns after the outbreak of the war. Only 13 of these tanks
managed to get to the front in time to participate in the battles.
At the Battle of Honkaniemi on 26 February 1940, the Finns
employed their Vickers tanks for the first – and only – time against Soviet
armor during the Winter War. The results were disastrous. Of the thirteen
available Finnish Vickers 6-ton tanks only six were in fighting condition and
able to participate in the first assault on the Soviet lines – to make matters
worse, one of the tanks was forced to stop, unable to cross a wide trench. The
remaining five continued onwards a few hundred meters but ran into dozens of
Soviet tanks in the village of Honkaniemi. The Finnish tanks managed to knock
out three Soviet tanks but were soon themselves knocked-out. In the skirmishes
that followed, the Finns lost two more Vickers tanks.
In 1941, the Finns rearmed their Vickers 6-Ton tanks with
the Soviet 45 mm gun and re-designated them as T-26E. These tanks were used by
the Finnish Army during the Continuation War. 19 rebuilt Vickers tanks, along
with 75 T-26s continued in Finnish service after the end of the Second World
War. Some of these tanks were kept as training tanks until 1959, when they were
finally phased out and replaced by newer British and Soviet tanks.
Type: Light tank
Place of origin: United Kingdom
In service:
1932–1939 (Poland)
1938–1959 (Finland)
Wars:
Chaco War
Spanish Civil War
Second Sino-Japanese War
Second World War
Winter War
Franco-Thai War
Designer:
John Valentine Carden
Vivian Loyd
Designed: 1928
Manufacturer: Vickers
Mass: 7.3 tonnes (7.2 long tons;
8.0 short tons)
Length: 4.88 m (16 ft 0 in)
Width: 2.41 m (7 ft 11 in)
Height: 2.16 m (7 ft 1 in)
Crew: 3
Armor: 19 to 25 mm (0.75 to 0.98
in)
Main armament:
Type A – 2 machine guns
Type B – 3-pdr (47 mm) gun (with
50 rounds)
Secondary armament: Type B – 1
Vickers machine gun
Engine:
Armstrong Siddeley petrol
80–98 hp (60–73 kW)
Power/weight: 11–13 hp/t (8.2–9.7
kW/t)
Suspension: leaf spring bogie
Operational range: 160 km (99 mi)
Maximum speed: 22 mph (35 km/h)
Operators
Bolivia: used one twin-turret tank Type A and two single-turret
tanks Type B. The Bolivian Vickers tanks were the first to see combat service,
also the first tanks to see combat in the Americas—in 1933 they were used in
the Chaco War against Paraguay. All of them were destroyed or captured by
Paraguayan forces. See Tank warfare in the Chaco War.
Kingdom of Bulgaria: bought 8 single-turret Mk.E Type B tanks, used
by the 3rd armored company.
Republic of China (1912–1949):
used 20 single-turret tanks Vickers Mk.E Type B. They were used in combat
against the Japanese in Shanghai in 1937.
Finland: used 33 tanks since 1938 (including an evaluation tank).
They were bought unarmed, without optics and radios. Some were armed with a
short-barreled 37 mm Puteaux gun and later equipped with a 37 mm Bofors
anti-tank gun as their main gun with a coaxial turret MG and a "tank
SMG" in bow plate. They were used in the Winter War with the USSR. After
this war, the Finns rearmed Mark E tanks with captured Soviet long 45 mm guns
and DT MGs as used in the T-26. The Finns designated the rebuilt Vickers tanks
logically as: T-26E. They were used in combat from 1941 to 1944 and remained in
service as training tanks until 1959.
Nazi Germany: captured from Poland, some converted to
self-propelled guns.
Kingdom of Greece: 1 type A and 1 type B for tests, acquired in
1931. Along with 2 Carden-Loyd Tankettes formed the first armored battalion of
the Hellenic Army, but were mostly used for training.
Kingdom of Italy: The Italians, after suffering losses from
Republican T-26s during the Battle of Guadalajara, captured some of these tanks
which served as a model for their M11/39 and M13/40 light/medium tanks.
Empire of Japan: The Imperial Japanese Army imported 1 Type A tank
to research in 1930. The Imperial Japanese Army evaluated the design and
developed the Type 95 Ha-Go.
Paraguay: One double-turret Vickers Mk.E Type A tank captured from
Bolivia, later used as monument, returned to Bolivia in 1994.
Second Polish Republic: used 38 tanks since 1932: 22 Type B and 16
Type A tanks. Polish tanks had large air intakes behind the crew compartment as
a significant feature. Poland also bought a license and developed an own
improved model 7TP. Vickers Mk.E (Vickers E) tanks fought in the invasion of
Poland.
Portugal: 2 tanks for tests
Soviet Union: the first buyer of Vickers Mk.E tanks. In 1931 bought
15 twin-turret tanks Mk.E Type A, and a license. The Soviets next started
building and developing own improved tanks T-26 (about 12 000 made).
Spanish Republic: one ex-Bolivian single-turret Vickers Mk.E Type B
tank bought from Paraguay, and a number of Soviet-made T-26.
Thailand (formerly Siam): used 30 Vickers Mk.E Type B, which saw
combat during the French-Thai War in French Indochina.
Turkey: used 16 Type A tanks since 1940.
United Kingdom: used only 4 tanks for training.
Kingdom of Romania: at least 19 captured from the Red Army.
References
Kantakoski, Pekka (1998). Punaiset panssarit – Puna-armeijan
panssarijoukot 1918–1945 (Red tanks – the Red Army's armoured forces 1918–1945)
(in Finnish). Hämeenlinna: Ilves-Paino Oy. p. 512.
L, Klemen (2000). "Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East
Indies Campaign 1941–1942".
Muikku, Esa; Jukka Purhonen (1998). Suomalaiset
Panssarivaunut 1918–1997 (The Finnish Armoured Vehicles 1918–1997) (in Finnish
and English). Jyväskylä: Apali. p. 208.
Tank Medium, Vickers Armstrongs Mark E, Type B (E1952.28),
Tank Museum.
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| Vickers 6-ton tank (with T-26 turret and 45 mm gun), manufactured in Britain and purchased by Finland, displayed in Manege Military Museum in Suomenlinna fortress, Helsinki. |
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| Polish Vickers Mark E (Type A) tank in initial configuration and earliest (4-color) camouflage, armed with two 7.92 mm wz.25 MGs in early thirties. |
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| Polish Vickers Mark E Type B light tank winter 1938. |
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| 47 mm gun for Vickers tank. A single example of this gun was delivered to Finland on a 6-ton Vickers tank for testing purposes. Finland chose to use 37mm Bofors guns, so this gun was removed. Displayed in Finnish Tank Museum (Panssarimuseo) in Parola. |
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| Vickers Mk.E Type A in an export configuration, with Vickers machine guns (a rubber-rimmed rear pair of wheels is quite unusual for this tank). |
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| Vickers E Type B cross-section. |
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| Polish Vickers tanks under construction in Vickers-Armstrongs factory on Tyneside, June 1932 (note MG magazine covers). |
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| Single-turret Vickers Mk.E, with Polish modifications and late camouflage. It carries a practice tactical circle sign. |
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| Single-turret Vickers Mk.E, with Polish modifications and late camouflage. A cooling air outlet is visible. |
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| A modified Vickers E with 13.2mm TMG and 7.92mm wz.30 TMG on maneuvers in 1936. Note late camouflage. The triangle is a tactical marking. Also, ventilation cupolas are visible. |
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| Twin-turret Vickers E tanks with 37 mm gun and 7.92 mm wz.25 TMG, in earliest camouflage, 11 November 1933. |
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| Tank machine gun wz.25 with a telescopic sight, in an universal round mounting. |
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| Tank machine gun wz.25 with a telescopic sight, in an universal round mounting. |
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| The heaviest machine gun Hotchkiss wz.30 with a telescopic sight, in an universal mounting. |
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| The heaviest machine gun Hotchkiss wz.30 with a telescopic sight, in an universal mounting. |
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| The heaviest machine gun Hotchkiss wz.30 with a telescopic sight, in an universal mounting. |
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| Tank machine gun wz.30 with an armored radiator and a telescopic sight, in an universal round mounting. |
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| Tank machine gun wz.30 with an armored radiator and a telescopic sight, in an universal round mounting. |
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| A back-door view of the 7TP’s prototype turret interior (serial turrets had no back door). From the left, visible are: periscopic sight, pistol grip of 7.92mm wz.30 TMG, telescopic sight, 37mm wz.37 gun’s breech guard and a pipe for case ejecting, and commander’s periscope. An interior of serial turrets was similar. |
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| Dismounted co-axial mounting of wz.37 gun and wz.30 TMG of 7TP tank. |
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| A cross-section of 7TP turret, with wz.37 gun. |
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| Polish Vickers Mk.E Type B before the Zaolzie operation, 1938. |
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| Close-up of a detail of the above photo: A turret of the Polish Vickers Mk.E Type B before the Zaolzie operation, 1938 (note the dog sign on the turret). |
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| The Polish Vickers Mk.E in latest camouflage. |
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| Vickers Mk.E twin turret during a parade in Karwina, Zaolzie, 11 November 1938. |
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| The Vickers tank platoon, as it could appear in 1939 (photo from maneuvers before Zaolzie operation, 1938). Note the tactical sign on the front plate, used during this action only. |
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| The 121st Company’s Vickers destroyed at Trzciana, September 6, 1939. |
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| An abandoned Vickers (behind the turret, an open hatch in air inlet housing is visible). |
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| Another abandoned Vickers E Type B, place or unit unknown. |
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| A Vickers tank destroyed by anti-tank guns, reportedly at Tomaszów Lubelski (the driver was killed). |
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| Unmodified Vickers tank wearing the “Japanese-style” camouflage, on parade in Warsaw, 11 November 1934. Behind the Vickers tank a Polski FIAT PF-621L standard Army 2.5t truck can be seen. |
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| Modified Vickers tank wearing the “Japanese-style” camouflage, on parade in Warsaw, 11 November 1934. |
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| Vickers twin turret, nr.1358 in the early 1930s, leads a truck column. The tank has covers on MG barrels (most probably wz.25 MG’s), and wears an early camouflage style. Standing by the tank, is the well-known Polish motorist Witold Rychter. |
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| The Polish Vickers E tanks on a parade, probably 11 November 1934. The tanks are in early (so-called “Japanese”) camouflage. Note an air filter behind a crew compartment. |
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| The Polish Vickers E tanks on a parade, probably in 1937. |
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| The Polish Vickers E tanks on a parade in Warsaw, probably 11 November 1936. The tank number is 1479 - the numbers were painted only until 1937. |
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| Twin-turret Vickers E, number 1482 in a parade in Warsaw, on 11 November 1936. The tank has been already rearmed with water-cooled 7.92mm wz.30 MG’s. |
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| Polish Vickers tanks in a parade in Warsaw (Mokotowskie airfield), before the King of Romania Charles II, June 1937. |
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| Vickers E tanks in a parade, probably in 1936-37. Visible are boxes on the rear fenders and mufflers. |
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| Vickers Mk.E of the 121st Light Tank Company in August 1939, shortly before the war. |
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| Vickers tank platoon before the war (a twin-turret tank on the right is apparently equipped with radio - it has a folded aerial). |
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| Polish Vickers of the 121st Light Tank Company damaged and captured by the Germans on 6 September 1939 at Trzciana. |
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| Polish Vickers of the 121st Light Tank Company damaged and captured by the Germans on 6 September 1939 at Trzciana. |
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| Polish Vickers of the 121st Light Tank Company damaged and captured by the Germans on 6 September 1939 at Trzciana. |
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| Polish Vickers Mk.E destroyed probably near Tomaszów Lubelski. |
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| Polish Vickers Mk.E destroyed probably near Tomaszów Lubelski. |
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| Polish Vickers Mk.E destroyed probably near Tomaszów Lubelski. |
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| Polish Vickers Mk.E destroyed probably near Tomaszów Lubelski. |
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| Polish Vickers Mk.E tanks, most probably captured in the battle of Tomaszów Lubelski. |
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| Polish Vickers captured by the Germans (reportedly in Niemirów - probably abandoned tank of the Warsaw Armored-Motorized brigade). |
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| Polish Vickers Mk.E tank captured by the Germans, with a TKS tankette (location unknown - probably near Tomaszów Lubelski). |
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| Finnish Vickers with a provisional 37mm SA-18 gun, 1939. |
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| Abandoned Finnish Vickers Mk.E with 37mm Bofors gun, examined by Soviet soldiers. The Finnish tanks in the Winter War had white-blue-white belts painted on the turret. |
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| T-26E tanks of the 3rd Company, September 1941. |
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| T-26E in Viipuri, 19 June 1944. A radio aerial is visible. |
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| T-26E in Tank Museum Parola. |
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| Chinese Vickers Mk.E Type B tank from the third series with a turret bustle for the radio, in a four-color camouflage (factory one?). |
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| Chinese Vickers Mk.E Type B tank with a radio, in a four-color camouflage (factory one?). Note a form of headlight. |
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| Chinese Vickers Mk.E Type B destroyed in Shanghai and captured by the Japanese, with apparent shell holes. This tank was fitted with a radio - an aerial base is visible on the turret. |
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| Chinese Vickers Mk.E Type B destroyed in Shanghai and captured by the Japanese, with apparent shell holes. |
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| Siamese Vickers Mk.E (first batch) in Bangkok, during the Bovaradet rebellion, 1933. |
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| Thai Vickers Mk.E from the second batch. The national roundel on the turret is red-white-blue-white-red. |
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| Siamese tanks on maneuvers in early 1930s. Note the style of writing numbers. |
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| Soviet Vickers Mk.E Type A in 1932. |
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| Soviet trials of the Vickers Mk.E Type A, January 1931. |
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| Bulgarian Vickers Mk.E on maneuvers. The camouflage is similar to one of the Chinese tanks. |
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| Bolivian Vickers Mk.E Type A captured during the Gran Chaco war between Paraguay and Bolivia, as a monument in Asuncion, Paraguay. |
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| The Vickers Mk.E Type B returned to Bolivia, in La Paz (it has a turret of a destroyed single-turret Vickers upon it). |
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| The Vickers Mk.E Type B returned to Bolivia, in La Paz (it has a turret of a destroyed single-turret Vickers upon it). |
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| Portuguese Vickers Mk.E Type A tank. Note the trumpet and No.5 on the turret (unit’s insignia?). |
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| Portuguese Vickers Mk.E Type B tank. Note the trumpet and No.5 on the turret (unit’s insignia?). |
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| Finnish Vickers 6-ton tank photographed during war games of summer 1939. This photograph shows the coaxial M/09-31 (tank) machine gun and temporarily installed blank-firing 37 Psv.K/18 (37-mm Puteaux) tank gun loaned from old Renault FT-17. The tank does not yet have nationality markings, but the side that it plays in war games has been marked with colored cloth around the turret. |
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| Tank Medium, Vickers Armstrongs Mark E, Type B (E1952.28) at The Tank Museum, UK. |
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| Chinese Vickers 6-ton tank. |
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| Suspension element designed by John Carden and used widely on Vickers tanks. |
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| Experimental prototype of the 6-ton Vickers tank with a Dorman engine. |
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| The tank also served as a base for an artillery tractor. |
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| Artillery tractor with an Armstrong-Siddeley engine. |
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| The name “Vickers-Armstrongs 6-ton Tank” was used officially. |
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| Vickers Mk.E Type A in its final form. |
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| A special trench-crossing device designed by Miklós Straussler. |
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| Vickers Mk.F on trials. |
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| Cutaway of the Vickers Mk.F. The difference in layout compared to the Mk.E is easy to see. |
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| A large air intake can be seen on the front of the Vickers Mk.F. |
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| Finnish Vickers Mk.E Type B with a Vickers Mk.F type hull. |
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| Mass production variant of the Dragon artillery tractor. |
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| Vickers 6-ton Mk.E Type B. |
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| Finnish Vickers 6-ton tank, Winter War. |
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| Finnish Vickers Mk.E Type B tank of the 4th Armored Company, knocked out by the Red Army in the Battle of Honkaniemi in February 1940. |
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| Knocked out Vickers Mark E Type B with an extended turret bustle for the radio being inspected by Japanese officers. The damage to the rear of the turret is an exit hole from a shell fired by a Japanese tank or anti-tank gun. It seems likely that the shell punched straight through the front of the tank’s turret. Battle of Shanghai, 1937. |
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| Japanese SNLF behind a barricade face off against what appears to be a Vickers Mark E Type B. Given the position of the photographer, this is almost certainly a staged propaganda photo. |
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| Vickers Mark E Type B, presumably being inspected by locals in Shanghai, 1937. |
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| Standard Mark E Type B, apparently knocked out. Battle of Shanghai, 1937. |
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| Vickers Mark E Type B, Battle of Shanghai, 1937. |
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| Vickers Mark E Type B, Battle of Shanghai, 1937. |
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| Vickers Mark E Type B, Battle of Shanghai, 1937. |
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| A Nationalist Renault FT, two Panzer Is (armed with Soviet machine guns), two T-26s (missing their armaments and mantlets), and just in the shot, a Vickers Mark E Type B on display in Hanshin Koshien Stadium in Nishinomiya, Japan, February 1939. |
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| Bolivian Vickers Mk.E Type B tank. |
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| Thailand Vickers Armstrongs Mk.E Type B tank and a Vickers Carden-Loyd two-man tankette in the background of an armored unit on parade in the 1930s. |
