Canadian Centurion tanks question

[Dan Martel]

Originally Posted by David Herbert

No, those are two different turrets - from new. ... but actually the whole turret was redisigned.

Sorry I don't know how to put two quotes in from two different posts or I would've included Ed's post as well.

I have information from the website Missing-Lynx which had some good threads about the Centurion. One of the posters, Ossie Orsbourne, had some very good data. For example, the Centurion Mk 3 was built between 1948 and 1956, armed with a 20-pdr and a Besa 7.92mm machine-gun. A total of 2833 were built, with three different turret types. The remainder of the factory built Centurions were 221 Mk 5 from 1956 to 1958 (with four different turrets), 108 Mk 8 (with a new turret design), one Mk 9 and 155 Mk 10 (again, a new turret design). The last Centurion was built in 1962.

What this tells us is that most of the Centurions in service started out as a Mk 3 and were upgraded over time. According to the Centurion information available on Clive Law's Ram Tank website (which I wish someone would resurrect), all of Canada's 334 gun tank Centurions were obtained from 1952 to 1954.

As for turrets, further information given (author unknown) is that the Mk 3 turret initially had a rear escape hatch, then came with the hatch welded and finally without a hatch at all. Canada seems to have purchased later-build Mk 3's with turrets sans the escape hatch.

Finally, found with the turret information, is the cryptic "Conversion to Mk 5 consisted of replacing the Besa coax machine gun with a Browning. Adding a loaders episcope and moving the wireless operators hatch was done at Base Workshops or on rebuild, some never had the hatch modification done. By wireless operator's hatch I presume the quote is referring to what we've been calling the loaders hatch. I don't know if the hatch modification mentioned in the quote is the same one that Don Dingwall is talking about.

What I think is required now is an overhead photograph of every one of Canada's Centurion gun tanks. Especially before and after shots of all those upgraded to Mk 5/2. Shouldn't be hard to get.

Cheers,
Dan.