I was radio operator/loader for three years in Germany 1956/8 with 16/5th Lancers. Used to love the Centurion, always remember when we gave a lift to infantry they always used to grab hold of the hot exhausts to climb up to the engine deck, never failed !
I remember ain 1977 when the Leopards arrived in Australia. They put the gun on target and drove the tank over all sorts of obstacles and terrain. The barrel never lost sight and stayed on target.
I think this is the best film Challenger has made. Could have lived without some of the transition editing effects, but really this didn't interfere with the film. Great job Mr Cutland! PS - The RoF that was shown in the historical gun stabilisation footage - I'll have some of that in WoT please!
I'm afraid that RoF isn't accurate, it's more of a propoganda film than an accurate representation, the stabilization also did not allow for complete accuracy while moving, this only came to be many many years later in the form of advanced fire controll systems.
James V. D. Bosch Yes, that is likely, however it is a somewhat realistic RoF compared to other takes of that film. The stabiliser is probably doing a good enough job at low speeds to allow the gunner to have to adjust only a bit to be able to hit a target. Sure, it's not like the "50km/h through the countryside and hitting the target 3klicks away", but for work at the time it's good enough, as it allows the short stop to aim and fire to be really very short.
piritskenyer And as it did with the stabilizers mounted on the Shermans, it allowed the gunner to actually keep track of a target while moving, other than that, I'm not so sure about the 400mm of penetration he said the Royal Ordnance L7 had, Perhaps he was referring to a later shell to be added for this gun, instead of the standard ammunition allocated to the Cent. 10 at it's point of introduction?
I loved this tank. I mainly drove centurions but the last tank I drove was the Conqueror. It was lovely to drive and you could use you little fingers to steer by. He also showed a Cent with hard rubber pads on the tracks. I was trialling these at Bovington in 1963/1964. The normal steel track had a drawback. If you missed a gear you couldn't steer it. Quite by accident, whilst using the rubber ones,. I missed my gear and found that you could steer it a little.
My Granddad fought in Korea in 1953 in a centurion mk3 in the 1st royal tank regiment. I need to get down to Bovington so i can have a look at them properly. Still my favorite tank in world of tanks as well. maybe i`m a bit biased though.
Without doubt the most successful tank Britain ever built. The Israelis couldn't get enough of them when they became available and continually upgraded them. Their true moment of glory was Yom Kippur 1973. An excellent tank all round I would agree.
@Challenger; The Strv 105 was a proposed modification that was never adopted and the one featured (80342) is a Strv 104. And as a side note; Sweden built a centurion with a 120mm L/44-cannon in the 90s as a testbed for the then awaiting delivery of Leopard 2. Unclear if it still is in use by the FMV.
One of your better posts. Full of history, pride in British Armor, and rife with footage of a "Tier 15" Centurion Mk10 going through its paces. The footage of the Gun Stabilized Centurion I firing its 17pdr on the move, by itself, is worth the price of admission.
The Centurion featured isn't a MK.10 as stated. It's a MK.12 that was converted to an AVRE in the early 1980's after having served as an Artillery forward observation vehicle.
As an American I have massive respect for British tanks, I am glad to have the British as allies, we may disagree from time to time but we get the job done together!
nickys34 Btw, during WW2 over 90% of German armour in the west was destroyed by the British. Montgomery had to give the US armies an infantry role as they were not equipped to engage massed German SS armour. The German armour in the west was wiped out by primarily British - the US forces were largely impotent against massed panzers, using only one inadequate tank. Monty assessed the US armies (he was in charge of them) and had to give them a supporting infantry role, as they were just not equipped to fight tank v tank battles.
There's many interesting and capable tanks out there but I think most people would agree that the Centurion is the standout all time greatest British tank. That genuine love and respect for the tank seems to come through on all videos on it, especially those produced in the UK.
The Challenger looks so happy reviewing this tank. Its very visible that he realy likes this tank :) . I alwys enjoy watching these so educational and interesting at the same time. Keep up the awesome work mr challenger!
Yeah Bro, at that time Pakistan Army had a more advanced tank, the American made M48 Patton, and that too in greater numbers, but the Centurions that India had were more than enough to dominate the Pakistani tanks. After all, what matters more is the man using the weapon, and less the weapon itself. But still, the Centurion was a great tank and certainly one of the most influential tanks of all time.
@@asiftalpur3758 India soldiers was learned by British generals and they was nor muslims, they was hindu. Israelio soldiers was learned by all best European armees. Muslims? ROTFL.
So good to see you making videos again, Richard. Not quite enough to get me playing WoT again, but I'll keep an eye on the channel. Enough views should keep our friends in Minsk happy.
even tho I quit WoT about a year ago and started playing Warthunder. I really like this series! its verry informative and well made. keep up the great work on them! And it helps alot in playing WT because I learn things that I can use more effectively in combat than I could do in WoT, because WT has the more realistic approach in tank combat.
The Australian Army used centurion tanks in the vietnam war,protecting fire support bases and attacking VC_NVA bunker systems,they were very effective the infantry were most happy to have them around.
Two things. 1) Great video, imo. Very informative, interesting and well presented. 2) Thank you for dropping that bang/whining noise you used to do between segments...I found it really jarring. The new roller sound is not jarring at all.
I know I don't play the game but these vids are the best and most informative on many forgotten,ignored tanks on YT sadly all the rest are either B/W training films or American which means they have sod all to do with anything the US didn't build
nope it had horstmann Bogie suspension, rather reliable and easy to maintain. if the bogie gets damaged bolt it off and bolt a new one. torsion bar is good suspension but a pain to fix, if the bar breaks you'll have to pull the broken part out its times like that you wish you could pick up the tank and shake it to remove the broken part
the germans too may have developed a better tank. remember they started the war mostly on horseback and ended with jet and rocket powered aircraft and missiles that reached London.
PATRONSKiii the fuck are you talking about? The Centurion was a great tank for it's time, it served very successfully with many a country for years. The T64 is barely combat tested, unlike the centurion
+PATRONSKiii the centurion, so shit that when used by the Israelis it wrecked even the most advance Arab armies with their Soviet tanks. Stop being an obvious troll
Tea and Medals clown ass idiot, T-55 and T-62 are better tanks than any centurion model, they just attacked well prepared defenses and got heavy losses as one would expect, the centurions were in hull down positions with prepared range marks and the L7 APDS was designed to penetrate the T-54 armor, so of course they had heavy losses in this particular event. The T-55 and T-62 are still far better tanks than the centurion. For reasons i won't even bother trying to explain to a fool like you
Hi WG... Did you look at this video? @ 7:15 you can see that reload time of Cent's 20 pdr is 4,3 sec (almost 2x faster than in game)... Balance resaons or just usual Soviet bias?
@@coty.ott0359 It wasn;t about win or lose as the Australian forces were in a support role in Viet-nam being withdrawn after satisfactory performence in 1972. The US and SVA continued the war roughly for another 3 years.
@@zepter00 Cheap shot. The Yanks and the Aussies never lost an engagement in the field. The war was lost in Washington, because the Generals and the politicians did not understand the was that was being fought
Always loved the Centurion :D Don't know whether that's out of patriotism for such a stunning piece of British engineering, or because my Grandfather used to get to drive Centurions during his service!
Find myself looking for the date the tanks were introduced. Love your show, not to much blah blah blah.. love looking at the inside of the tanks and the improvements. Great show.
I sat between two of these on a live firing range and they are extremely noisy when firing. 10:07 the cut aways are very good. I would think that they were very noisy, uncomfortable and cramp. Very hot also if sitting in the sun.
There’s a old saying that if something looks right, it probably is! The Centurian was the only allied tank up to recent times that actually looked right! Unlike most German tanks, all of which looked positively perfect!
One thing that wasn't mentioned was that the Israeli Centurions (I don't know what mark they were) had superior gun depression to the Arab tanks, mainly Russian Ts but some Pattons. This meant that as they went up the slopes of the berms in the desert they could target an enemy tank before they leveled out and fire while the hull wasvstill masked. In addition, Israeli commanders habitually sat on top of the turret rather than inside allowing them to see over the top of the berms much earlier. The Israelis also employed very aggressive tactics, using MBTs at high speed. This combination of better tech and better command was devastating and informed later tank strategies, for example in Desert Storm where dug in Iraqi tanks were simply devastated by rapid moving Allied MBTs in similar conditions.
@@RodFleming-World the centurion also has a two plane stabilizer which allows it to take very little time to take the shot before retreating behind cover
Mark I as a 3'gen officer of the famed 17 Poona Horse (Indian) had the proud honour to have the Centurion 👍 excellent tank 💯 the name comes from the Roman centurion, Israel up gunned it from 90 mm to 105 mm and named it to Ben-Gurion ☑️
Great tank with a poor engine, but the story is, the govt demanded a 'multi-fuel engine' for NATO and this is what crippled the Leyland engine in early development. It was low on power and leaked badly, a shame for what what otherwise one of the best in general and certainly the most heavily armored tank in western service. Iran had a tough time with their Cheiftains but much of their experience was in poor training, crewing, and maintenance as much as the tank itself.
The vehicle is fitted out incorrectly. It was configured for post war Larkspur, from the intercom and cabling. The radio is a wartime Wireless Set 19, some were made under lend lease so could have been shipped to Russia and China, although very few ever actually did.
Can someone enlighten me. What are those protruding bars in between the wheels ? I cant think of that. A step to climb above ? A side skirt attachment points ? Tq
Australia had the early Centurions 17 pndr the Hull interior was totally bare just the gun and a couple of seats you could stand up and walk around inside.
Kristoffer Mangila: That was the correct way to load.....if you didn't use the closed-fist method you were liable to lose a few fingers when the breech closed.
4:45 Why yes, it was an improvement over what the BRITISH were using previously. But notice: There was NO Panther shell in that picture, as it would make the 17 pounder look smaller, because it is! This is not bullshit "Werhaboo" propaganda/blind beleif. I have done a LOT OF reading on this subject, as I was VERY interested to see how the British 76.2mm L55 "17 pounder" compares to the German 75mm L70 "KwK 42" - and not surprisingly, the KwK 42 has higher velocity at 935 meters/sec where the 17 pounder has 884. Penetration figures ARE CLOSE with their respective standard AP rounds, but the KwK 42 wins out, and even has an explosive "bursting charge" - something that as far as I am aware, the 17 pounder's shells lacked. And yes, the APDS rounds did have an insane amount of armor penetration that far surpassed the "Arrow Head" APCR the KwK 42 used. BUT, and there is a rather huge BUT involved, the APDS rounds made up 6% of the TOTAL rounds used by all 17 pounder guns in all of WWII and most of THOSE were used in late 1943 to 1945, and even THEN: TCs were told NOT to use the APDS beyond 1000 meters, as the accuracy beyond that range made it largely pointless to fire! Even out to 1km the 17 pounder APDS had quite unpredictable ballistics, ergo terrible accuracy, which was VERY slowly remedied, but never completely fixed, for ONE major reason: Early APDS was far from even close to perfected, and in general, firing such rounds out-of a rifled barrel creates several issues, the largest of which being the separation of the sabot "petals" as they are called, and if the sabot pieces do not separate perfectly symmetrically, the shot WILL fly to one side or another! Anyway, that was just a VERY BRIEF description of the issues with early APDS, and why all main tank cannons now fire APFSDS, and almost all of them use Smooth Bore guns. With the Brits, and maybe (?) the Italians being one of the few nations that still use rifled cannons on their current generation of Main Battle Tanks. And that is not an issue any longer, as every nation that engineers and produces tanks has figured out how to make every round said tank can fire, fire properly and therefore predictably.
Was one of the last groups to be in training as a Gunner in Centurian..Amalgamated the regiments and Grey's were gone.. so they gave me a Parachute.. only the army..
At min 3 approx "Whats not to like?" Er ...... that 17 pounder is the answer. It hit the target OK, BUT after 7 rounds you CANNOT see your hand in front of your face at 6 inches, you were breathing in what seemed like neat amonia ! My Troop Seragent fought right through the North Africa campaign, he ecasped the nazis in Poland at the age of 15 in 1939, then made his way to England and signed on lying about his age. He was also in Korea. they were firing 53 rounds !!! God knows what that was like. My first trade test firing was at Warcop, with a MKI Centurion. The fume extractor on the 20 pounder was a boon ! The 105mm was fantastic, it really was ! They were so accurate and a pleasure to fire. A great Tank and one I loved so much. Three years I served on them, what a privilege that was :)
tank used by israeli in 65 .67.70.73.76.78.82. wars .. on golan in 73 ..israeli had 4 tanks left took on 100 russia builded tsnk T55 and T62 israeli win war
The Centurion truly is a wonder. One of the best tanks. Looks like modern MBTs. I just want to badly see the FV4202. If i get the chance, ill go to that musuem.
Does anyone else thinkthe prototype seen at 02:54 looks remarkably like the German Panther tank? It's the first B&W image of a prototype Centurion and it has a 20mm? cannon in a ball mount next o the main gun. I'm not saying they are 100% alike, I just think the Centurion is a child of Mr Panther and Mrs Comet, if you follow.
I have a photo of myself leaning on a Centurion at the Australian War Memorial; such a gorgeous tank. It's my favourite tank in WoT and would love to see the Action X on Xbox soon.
In 69/70 I served as a gunner on a Centurion in South Vietnam. Despite reservations from some politicians and military (non-armour) hierarchy before it's deployment, it proved itself a valuable asset (excepting ambushes where the creaks and groans from all the cooling metal annoyed the grunts no end). Great at penetrating thick jungle and bunker busting. Proved extremely reliable in the heat, rain and mud. The actual tank I crewed, 169110 callsign 2, has been restored to full operational condition and is stored in the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. If you are interested you might like to research Fire Support Bases Coral and Balmoral, the Battle for Binh Ba (Operation Hammer) and Operation Hammersley in the Long Hai Mountains. FYI the tanks main gun was the 20 pdr, 30 cal co-ax, 50 cal ranging gun and 30 cal flex (all Browning MGs).
7:14 damn if only it had that accuracy and RoF in WoT... And if it looked that cool. Also it'd be great if the mk 10 (or 13) was a tier X, could easily be done. Couple of points, shame you didn't briefly mention the Conway at the end there, and I though that Bovington's working Centurion was a modified mk V AVRE?
the cent AX is a cent X....its only problem is that WG fitted an other turret on it. it should have kept the same turret as the cent 7/1. it would be an awesome tank if it was the case (I honestly think the cent 7/1 turret is miles better than the AX turret)
Some time ago the BBC did a series on the restoration of various vehicles, and one was a Centurion , the story is on TH-cam ( or was until recently) . And It’s well worth watching as it turns out that this particular tank was the longest serving tank in the 1st gulf war ,and it seems that the Americans were taking the mickey out to this old lady while on there way to land on the beach ,and I suppose it was only natural as she was built before some of there fathers were born ??1950 but when they landed on the beach the big Abraham’s found it hard to get a grip in the soft sand ,while the old Centurion was half way to Baghdad before they managed to catch up with her. They actual program is well worth watching ,but where it is now I don’t know .
This story is nearly true - The vehicle you're referring to was a Mk5 Centurion AVRE (with a 165mm demolition gun) commanded by Cpl Fozzie Foster and nicknamed "Fosgene" - th-cam.com/video/CorYKJ-CHg4/w-d-xo.html - it was great that they tracked him down on the programme as I hadn't seen him since 1991. Centurion and Chieftain AVRE's together with Chieftain AVLB's and other assorted equipment were deployed to Saudi Arabia during the 1st Gulf War by 32 Armoured Engineer Regiment RE. They did not land on the beach but were unshipped (and later reshipped) at the docks at Al Jubail. They were indeed the oldest AFV in theatre and went through the whole campaign culmination in the clearance of the vast number of destroyed vehicles on the Basra highway at Mutla Gap - a grim job. Cent' AVRE's were much loved by their crews, but they were hard work to drive and maintain. A trusted vehicle that could indeed keep trundling on where many other, more modern and sophisticated, vehicles found themselves wanting!.
I was driving them when they uparmoured the glacis plate at the front. I have no idea what that represented in thickness. If you are not sure. it is the one where you can see spare track links on it.
I'm just getting knowledgeable regarding tanks after 2 years of watching ww2 videos. My question is Britain/Sweden/U.S. used this tank but who was the original designer/creator of this game changing tank post ww2 ? Thank You Patrick from the states.
South Africa still in use called the Oliphant there Mk2 version having a 120mm L44 gun though not in service and Israel and Jordan have up armored Heavy APC versions.
The loader/gunner/driver can all do each others job. When you joined your regiment you either came as a gunner or driver and then got trained up on the other job. Essentially you can 3 man fight this tank if 1 crew member gets injured. Used to get paid more as a full crew member. You can then specialise in a certain job....Gunner mech...Driver mech or Consig (Control signaller). Which gave you more indepth knowledge.
the womble: I was wondering if that was his tank. I served with him in Germany and Sharjah during the 60s and 70s.....he was the only person I knew who got "booked" for speeding in a tank (an American Sheridan tank which was being trialled in desert conditions, 1969) !!
I was radio operator/loader for three years in Germany 1956/8 with 16/5th Lancers. Used to love the Centurion, always remember when we gave a lift to infantry they always used to grab hold of the hot exhausts to climb up to the engine deck, never failed !
I was a driver gunner 1955/1958 4Th Hussars Hohne
why can't i find a long documentary about this tank? This by far is the best but only 15 minutes long. I hope they add some war history on the video
Saw the Canadian Forces Centurion at CFB Petawawa , August ,1973 . Thank you .
You can really tell this man loves this tank, I get the feeling he felt like an excited child talking about his favourite toy
This is one of the best tank documentary type videos I have ever seen. It even talks about the FV4202!
Geez the centurion is such a beautiful tank
It's the coolest tank ever
And one withstand a atomic bomb
7:10 (when showing Centurion firing on the move) Rarely seen video of a real tank firing while on the move , this clip is so interesting :)
Kambiz British Pathe News has some good footage of the Centurion firing on the move, circa 1952
Google "Always Bang On !"
I remember ain 1977 when the Leopards arrived in Australia. They put the gun on target and drove the tank over all sorts of obstacles and terrain. The barrel never lost sight and stayed on target.
My favourite tank "Centurion" it really was the best post-WW2 tank. Brilliant engineering.
British tanks are so weird because they made some truly terrible tanks, and some truly great ones.
I think this is the best film Challenger has made. Could have lived without some of the transition editing effects, but really this didn't interfere with the film. Great job Mr Cutland!
PS - The RoF that was shown in the historical gun stabilisation footage - I'll have some of that in WoT please!
Oh noooo, you did not like the transitions! Signed #GuyWhoProducedTheTransitions
:)
I'm afraid that RoF isn't accurate, it's more of a propoganda film than an accurate representation, the stabilization also did not allow for complete accuracy while moving, this only came to be many many years later in the form of advanced fire controll systems.
James V. D. Bosch Yes, that is likely, however it is a somewhat realistic RoF compared to other takes of that film. The stabiliser is probably doing a good enough job at low speeds to allow the gunner to have to adjust only a bit to be able to hit a target. Sure, it's not like the "50km/h through the countryside and hitting the target 3klicks away", but for work at the time it's good enough, as it allows the short stop to aim and fire to be really very short.
piritskenyer And as it did with the stabilizers mounted on the Shermans, it allowed the gunner to actually keep track of a target while moving, other than that, I'm not so sure about the 400mm of penetration he said the Royal Ordnance L7 had, Perhaps he was referring to a later shell to be added for this gun, instead of the standard ammunition allocated to the Cent. 10 at it's point of introduction?
When you say tank the Centurion clearly and optimized what tank looks like . This my heart feeling for AFV . Thank you .
I loved this tank. I mainly drove centurions but the last tank I drove was the Conqueror. It was lovely to drive and you could use you little fingers to steer by. He also showed a Cent with hard rubber pads on the tracks. I was trialling these at Bovington in 1963/1964. The normal steel track had a drawback. If you missed a gear you couldn't steer it. Quite by accident, whilst using the rubber ones,. I missed my gear and found that you could steer it a little.
My Granddad fought in Korea in 1953 in a centurion mk3 in the 1st royal tank regiment. I need to get down to Bovington so i can have a look at them properly. Still my favorite tank in world of tanks as well. maybe i`m a bit biased though.
Without doubt the most successful tank Britain ever built. The Israelis couldn't get enough of them when they became available and continually upgraded them. Their true moment of glory was Yom Kippur 1973. An excellent tank all round I would agree.
@Challenger;
The Strv 105 was a proposed modification that was never adopted and the one featured (80342) is a Strv 104.
And as a side note; Sweden built a centurion with a 120mm L/44-cannon in the 90s as a testbed for the then awaiting delivery of Leopard 2. Unclear if it still is in use by the FMV.
One of your better posts. Full of history, pride in British Armor, and rife with footage of a "Tier 15" Centurion Mk10 going through its paces. The footage of the Gun Stabilized Centurion I firing its 17pdr on the move, by itself, is worth the price of admission.
William Cox That was the 20pdr, although the Mk2 Cents with 17pdr also had the metrovick stabiliser.
The Centurion featured isn't a MK.10 as stated.
It's a MK.12 that was converted to an AVRE in the early 1980's after having served as an Artillery forward observation vehicle.
I love the Centurions in IRL and in World of Tanks. Fine British Engineering!
@nickys34 ok patriot 😄👌
@@ConspicousFaux well they have a lot of replacement crew to waste so... i mustve been good being tank crewman in ww2... definitely fun time xD
nickys34 I agree but there are times when quality over quantity is good
As an American I have massive respect for British tanks, I am glad to have the British as allies, we may disagree from time to time but we get the job done together!
nickys34
Btw, during WW2 over 90% of German armour in the west was destroyed by the British. Montgomery had to give the US armies an infantry role as they were not equipped to engage massed German SS armour. The German armour in the west was wiped out by primarily British - the US forces were largely impotent against massed panzers, using only one inadequate tank. Monty assessed the US armies (he was in charge of them) and had to give them a supporting infantry role, as they were just not equipped to fight tank v tank battles.
One has to admit that these videos are really well made.
The break screen between segments is gimmicky and naff, I stopped watching the video due to it.
Concentrate on the information, not the presentation.
Richard 'The Challenger' Cutland and I walked through the gates at Bovington and joined 3RTR. Great mate of mine! He's a really nice bloke.
There's many interesting and capable tanks out there but I think most people would agree that the Centurion is the standout all time greatest British tank. That genuine love and respect for the tank seems to come through on all videos on it, especially those produced in the UK.
The Challenger looks so happy reviewing this tank. Its very visible that he realy likes this tank :) . I alwys enjoy watching these so educational and interesting at the same time. Keep up the awesome work mr challenger!
10:56 - haha... the Radio has even a russian Warning on it..?!
The real Baptism of Fire was on the Golan Heights for the Centurion imo
Israeli Centurions mopped the floor with Russian tanks fielded by the Arabs, the Israeli Tankers loved their Centurions.
Came for Centurion. Stayed for FV 4202 Prototype. I love both of these British made tanks. Beautiful.
Centurion saved India in 1965 indo-Pak war , salute to the warrior
Yeah Bro, at that time Pakistan Army had a more advanced tank, the American made M48 Patton, and that too in greater numbers, but the Centurions that India had were more than enough to dominate the Pakistani tanks. After all, what matters more is the man using the weapon, and less the weapon itself. But still, the Centurion was a great tank and certainly one of the most influential tanks of all time.
It's also the tank that saved Israel from its many wars with its Arab neighbors.
@@bobbiemanueldelapena4997 cuz muslim soldiers doesnt know how to drive tank. years ago and today. So Indie won and Israel won having the older tanks.
@@wintermute9055 India was literally ruled by Muslims for 800 years and Isreal for 1400 years tf are you on about
@@asiftalpur3758 India soldiers was learned by British generals and they was nor muslims, they was hindu.
Israelio soldiers was learned by all best European armees. Muslims? ROTFL.
So good to see you making videos again, Richard. Not quite enough to get me playing WoT again, but I'll keep an eye on the channel. Enough views should keep our friends in Minsk happy.
even tho I quit WoT about a year ago and started playing Warthunder.
I really like this series!
its verry informative and well made.
keep up the great work on them!
And it helps alot in playing WT because I learn things that I can use more effectively in combat than I could do in WoT, because WT has the more realistic approach in tank combat.
that gunners positon made my knees hurt just looking at it. Glad I joined the infantry now
The Australian Army used centurion tanks in the vietnam war,protecting fire support bases and attacking VC_NVA bunker systems,they were very effective the infantry were most happy to have them around.
Two things.
1) Great video, imo. Very informative, interesting and well presented.
2) Thank you for dropping that bang/whining noise you used to do between segments...I found it really jarring. The new roller sound is not jarring at all.
Finally a video on this tank
I know I don't play the game but these vids are the best and most informative on many forgotten,ignored tanks on YT sadly all the rest are either B/W training films or American which means they have sod all to do with anything the US didn't build
That 4 second quick reload though. The abbreviation of "QF" really applies to the gun.
A beautiful cutaway. Even the detailing on the mannequins.
Excellent video as always. Was shocked. I had always thought Centurion had torsion bar suspension. Learned me new things today!
nope it had horstmann Bogie suspension, rather reliable and easy to maintain. if the bogie gets damaged bolt it off and bolt a new one. torsion bar is good suspension but a pain to fix, if the bar breaks you'll have to pull the broken part out its times like that you wish you could pick up the tank and shake it to remove the broken part
Hurray! been waiting for one of these for the Centurion for ever
I dont play Word of Tanks but your reportage over the tanks is great.Thanks for this Tank inside and for the german subtitle.
If WW2 had lasted longer the Germans would have had a nasty shock when the Centurion appeared,
the germans too may have developed a better tank. remember they started the war mostly on horseback and ended with jet and rocket powered aircraft and missiles that reached London.
codprawn Well they might’ve already designed a superior tank by then
No match for Konigstiger. One shot kill.
@@kyboy5 your name explains your comment
@@mrturner4620 Maus?!
I had a troop of these in the mid 70s. Wonderful fun but bloody hard work.
Our gun was a 20 pounder.
the historical accuracy of this series shocks very interenting and ou learn a lot of things
Very enjoyable, thanks! Richard's delivery is also much improved--keep it up!
This was a great video. War Gaming needs to focus more on this series, and the Cheiftains hatch one.
PATRONSKiii the fuck are you talking about? The Centurion was a great tank for it's time, it served very successfully with many a country for years. The T64 is barely combat tested, unlike the centurion
+PATRONSKiii the centurion, so shit that when used by the Israelis it wrecked even the most advance Arab armies with their Soviet tanks.
Stop being an obvious troll
PATRONSKiii im not british... or american.
Tea and Medals
clown ass idiot, T-55 and T-62 are better tanks than any centurion model, they just attacked well prepared defenses and got heavy losses as one would expect, the centurions were in hull down positions with prepared range marks and the L7 APDS was designed to penetrate the T-54 armor, so of course they had heavy losses in this particular event. The T-55 and T-62 are still far better tanks than the centurion. For reasons i won't even bother trying to explain to a fool like you
PATRONSKiii Im guessing youre russian or an eastern european?
I love the Centurion...my father was a mechanic in the Canadian army and he worked on ,and trained others on, Centurion drive trains and the meteors
They where built near my home town in Leyland. There is a roundabout with a full centurion on the side.
It's good to see Challenger again
Absolutely top grade content. More !
Hi WG... Did you look at this video? @ 7:15 you can see that reload time of Cent's 20 pdr is 4,3 sec (almost 2x faster than in game)... Balance resaons or just usual Soviet bias?
Probably soviet bias... Just look at T54. Irl their turrets were cramped and we probably hand cranked
thank you so much for that video! Centurion's my favourite tank in the game and finally I could see it inside )))
The Centurion is a awesome tank looks the part
Used in Vietnam to good effect by the Australian task force.
And Korea.
Chris Brent you agree we didn’t lose Vietnam
@@coty.ott0359 It wasn;t about win or lose as the Australian forces were in a support role in Viet-nam being withdrawn after satisfactory performence in 1972. The US and SVA continued the war roughly for another 3 years.
Coty .Ott03 buhaha.. Vietnam was souch an epic victory for you. 😆
@@zepter00 Cheap shot. The Yanks and the Aussies never lost an engagement in the field. The war was lost in Washington, because the Generals and the politicians did not understand the was that was being fought
Always loved the Centurion :D Don't know whether that's out of patriotism for such a stunning piece of British engineering, or because my Grandfather used to get to drive Centurions during his service!
lucky
It was very educational, but also entertaining, when gentlemen called the Chieftain "best battle tank in the world"...
That was really funny!
Viktor Platson: He said "at the time".....obviously better tanks were produced later.
This guy is much better. Welcome back.
Find myself looking for the date the tanks were introduced.
Love your show, not to much blah blah blah.. love looking at the inside of the tanks and the improvements. Great show.
I sat between two of these on a live firing range and they are extremely noisy when firing.
10:07 the cut aways are very good. I would think that they were very noisy, uncomfortable and cramp. Very hot also if sitting in the sun.
I have a centurion. I really love it. It is a wounderfull tank
There’s a old saying that if something looks right, it probably is! The Centurian was the only allied tank up to recent times that actually looked right! Unlike most German tanks, all of which looked positively perfect!
Centurion served Israel best in 1973 war with improved gan it beat all soviet made tanks.
This is also the tank final boss in Girl und panzer der film , where Panzer ausf H and Tiger 1 vs a Centurion :)
yes
It destroyed about 10 of the 32 tanks by itself, it was somthing to not mess with
40 Centruion tanks of 188 division israeli army took on 1100 Syria T55 and T62 win great tank battle of 73 war
Arabs can’t drive tanks, just like the gulf war.
One thing that wasn't mentioned was that the Israeli Centurions (I don't know what mark they were) had superior gun depression to the Arab tanks, mainly Russian Ts but some Pattons. This meant that as they went up the slopes of the berms in the desert they could target an enemy tank before they leveled out and fire while the hull wasvstill masked. In addition, Israeli commanders habitually sat on top of the turret rather than inside allowing them to see over the top of the berms much earlier. The Israelis also employed very aggressive tactics, using MBTs at high speed. This combination of better tech and better command was devastating and informed later tank strategies, for example in Desert Storm where dug in Iraqi tanks were simply devastated by rapid moving Allied MBTs in similar conditions.
@@RodFleming-World the centurion also has a two plane stabilizer which allows it to take very little time to take the shot before retreating behind cover
Mark I as a 3'gen officer of the famed 17 Poona Horse (Indian) had the proud honour to have the Centurion 👍 excellent tank 💯 the name comes from the Roman centurion, Israel up gunned it from 90 mm to 105 mm and named it to Ben-Gurion ☑️
Mark there were only T 54's T 55's were not in production.🙏
Indeed one of the finest tanks in the world!!!
"he's so old he was around when centurion was a rank, not a tank" we used to say.
Being in the RAF many years ago, I was around when Pontius Pilate.......was a pilot....
does anyone know why Richards nickname is the challenger did he operate a challenger tank at some point?
Yes my friend, my last tank I served on was Challenger 2.
nice
+Graham Maxwell what
+Mspaintfanboy what?
+Wargaming Europe that is so cool
It had a generator which was powered by a Morris 8 side valve engine. It is situated front right in the engine compartment.
l7 gun 400 mm pen ? and what we get is 264 in game ...
Most games give british tanks shit penitration for some reason. Its really annoying.
8:16 "Could ultimately penetrate up to 400mm" In WoT Centurion AX HEAT rounds have 248-413mm pen. HEAT pen isnt affected by target range.
Ryan Wen Only for HEAT
HEAT was not used by British
Ryan Wen 400mm of penetration probably on APFSDS since brits never used HEAT, just AP, HESH and APDS, before APFSDS came in
"Chieftain, that's another story" - I want to make my own Chieftain story in WoT please please. :)
Great tank with a poor engine, but the story is, the govt demanded a 'multi-fuel engine' for NATO and this is what crippled the Leyland engine in early development. It was low on power and leaked badly, a shame for what what otherwise one of the best in general and certainly the most heavily armored tank in western service. Iran had a tough time with their Cheiftains but much of their experience was in poor training, crewing, and maintenance as much as the tank itself.
10:56 - why does the radio have Russian inscriptions? Where did it come from?
The vehicle is fitted out incorrectly. It was configured for post war Larkspur, from the intercom and cabling. The radio is a wartime Wireless Set 19, some were made under lend lease so could have been shipped to Russia and China, although very few ever actually did.
Thomas Jones Thanks for a very detailed answer! :-)
Can someone enlighten me. What are those protruding bars in between the wheels ? I cant think of that. A step to climb above ? A side skirt attachment points ?
Tq
A Daimler Ferret Mk2 and what looked like a vixen towards the end there.
Does Bovington have more working tanks the British army?
Harsh but true,,,,,Challenger
I'm pretty sure that the brittish army has most of its challengers in storage atm
savage lol
stubbk3 lol
George Ferguson no, .lol
Great video loved it!
Australia had the early Centurions 17 pndr the Hull interior was totally bare just the gun and a couple of seats you could stand up and walk around inside.
I had been worried that they would play music over the segments of the tank driving. I'm glad that my worries were unfounded.
I think the most intensive use of the Centurion was by IDF , Modified with American Continental Diesel engine and some added active armor
One detail: the mannequin of the loader is shown with a closed fist slamming the round into the breech, much like the 4 inch HA guns on HMS Belfast...
Kristoffer Mangila: That was the correct way to load.....if you didn't use the closed-fist method you were liable to lose a few fingers when the breech closed.
4:45 Why yes, it was an improvement over what the BRITISH were using previously. But notice: There was NO Panther shell in that picture, as it would make the 17 pounder look smaller, because it is!
This is not bullshit "Werhaboo" propaganda/blind beleif. I have done a LOT OF reading on this subject, as I was VERY interested to see how the British 76.2mm L55 "17 pounder" compares to the German 75mm L70 "KwK 42" - and not surprisingly, the KwK 42 has higher velocity at 935 meters/sec where the 17 pounder has 884.
Penetration figures ARE CLOSE with their respective standard AP rounds, but the KwK 42 wins out, and even has an explosive "bursting charge" - something that as far as I am aware, the 17 pounder's shells lacked.
And yes, the APDS rounds did have an insane amount of armor penetration that far surpassed the "Arrow Head" APCR the KwK 42 used. BUT, and there is a rather huge BUT involved, the APDS rounds made up 6% of the TOTAL rounds used by all 17 pounder guns in all of WWII and most of THOSE were used in late 1943 to 1945, and even THEN: TCs were told NOT to use the APDS beyond 1000 meters, as the accuracy beyond that range made it largely pointless to fire!
Even out to 1km the 17 pounder APDS had quite unpredictable ballistics, ergo terrible accuracy, which was VERY slowly remedied, but never completely fixed, for ONE major reason:
Early APDS was far from even close to perfected, and in general, firing such rounds out-of a rifled barrel creates several issues, the largest of which being the separation of the sabot "petals" as they are called, and if the sabot pieces do not separate perfectly symmetrically, the shot WILL fly to one side or another!
Anyway, that was just a VERY BRIEF description of the issues with early APDS, and why all main tank cannons now fire APFSDS, and almost all of them use Smooth Bore guns. With the Brits, and maybe (?) the Italians being one of the few nations that still use rifled cannons on their current generation of Main Battle Tanks.
And that is not an issue any longer, as every nation that engineers and produces tanks has figured out how to make every round said tank can fire, fire properly and therefore predictably.
Was one of the last groups to be in training as a Gunner in Centurian..Amalgamated the regiments and Grey's were gone.. so they gave me a Parachute.. only the army..
Very interesting. 07:46 why is the gun wrapped in places, and the mantlet covered? Water repellent??
At min 3 approx "Whats not to like?" Er ...... that 17 pounder is the answer. It hit the target OK, BUT after 7 rounds you CANNOT see your hand in front of your face at 6 inches, you were breathing in what seemed like neat amonia ! My Troop Seragent fought right through the North Africa campaign, he ecasped the nazis in Poland at the age of 15 in 1939, then made his way to England and signed on lying about his age. He was also in Korea. they were firing 53 rounds !!! God knows what that was like. My first trade test firing was at Warcop, with a MKI Centurion. The fume extractor on the 20 pounder was a boon ! The 105mm was fantastic, it really was ! They were so accurate and a pleasure to fire. A great Tank and one I loved so much. Three years I served on them, what a privilege that was :)
Excellent video. Thanks for posting! How did you enjoy the Challenger 2 MBT?
tank used by israeli in 65 .67.70.73.76.78.82. wars .. on golan in 73 ..israeli had 4 tanks left took on 100 russia builded tsnk T55 and T62 israeli win war
The Centurion truly is a wonder. One of the best tanks. Looks like modern MBTs. I just want to badly see the FV4202. If i get the chance, ill go to that musuem.
Does anyone else thinkthe prototype seen at 02:54 looks remarkably like the German Panther tank? It's the first B&W image of a prototype Centurion and it has a 20mm? cannon in a ball mount next o the main gun.
I'm not saying they are 100% alike, I just think the Centurion is a child of Mr Panther and Mrs Comet, if you follow.
Today I saw one of these in perfect condition in a scrap yard in Kent!
Where?
+Thomas Jones I don't exactly know the name of the place, but I'll give info ASAP
Ok, thanks, let me know please.
+Thomas Jones yep
+Thomas Jones Hope Farm, Sellidge, United Kingdom
Nice video as always challenger
Now thats a proper intro to inside the cheiftain pls use it for other episodes
Inside the tank*
I have a photo of myself leaning on a Centurion at the Australian War Memorial; such a gorgeous tank. It's my favourite tank in WoT and would love to see the Action X on Xbox soon.
In 69/70 I served as a gunner on a Centurion in South Vietnam. Despite reservations from some politicians and military (non-armour) hierarchy before it's deployment, it proved itself a valuable asset (excepting ambushes where the creaks and groans from all the cooling metal annoyed the grunts no end). Great at penetrating thick jungle and bunker busting. Proved extremely reliable in the heat, rain and mud. The actual tank I crewed, 169110 callsign 2, has been restored to full operational condition and is stored in the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. If you are interested you might like to research Fire Support Bases Coral and Balmoral, the Battle for Binh Ba (Operation Hammer) and Operation Hammersley in the Long Hai Mountains. FYI the tanks main gun was the 20 pdr, 30 cal co-ax, 50 cal ranging gun and 30 cal flex (all Browning MGs).
I like the stowage bins on either side of the turret. The Centurion looks like it has ears :-)
7:14 damn if only it had that accuracy and RoF in WoT... And if it looked that cool.
Also it'd be great if the mk 10 (or 13) was a tier X, could easily be done.
Couple of points, shame you didn't briefly mention the Conway at the end there, and I though that Bovington's working Centurion was a modified mk V AVRE?
the cent AX is a cent X....its only problem is that WG fitted an other turret on it. it should have kept the same turret as the cent 7/1. it would be an awesome tank if it was the case (I honestly think the cent 7/1 turret is miles better than the AX turret)
Some time ago the BBC did a series on the restoration of various vehicles, and one was a Centurion , the story is on TH-cam ( or was until recently) . And It’s well worth watching as it turns out that this particular tank was the longest serving tank in the 1st gulf war ,and it seems that the Americans were taking the mickey out to this old lady while on there way to land on the beach ,and I suppose it was only natural as she was built before some of there fathers were born ??1950 but when they landed on the beach the big Abraham’s found it hard to get a grip in the soft sand ,while the old Centurion was half way to Baghdad before they managed to catch up with her. They actual program is well worth watching ,but where it is now I don’t know .
This story is nearly true - The vehicle you're referring to was a Mk5 Centurion AVRE (with a 165mm demolition gun) commanded by Cpl Fozzie Foster and nicknamed "Fosgene" - th-cam.com/video/CorYKJ-CHg4/w-d-xo.html - it was great that they tracked him down on the programme as I hadn't seen him since 1991. Centurion and Chieftain AVRE's together with Chieftain AVLB's and other assorted equipment were deployed to Saudi Arabia during the 1st Gulf War by 32 Armoured Engineer Regiment RE. They did not land on the beach but were unshipped (and later reshipped) at the docks at Al Jubail. They were indeed the oldest AFV in theatre and went through the whole campaign culmination in the clearance of the vast number of destroyed vehicles on the Basra highway at Mutla Gap - a grim job. Cent' AVRE's were much loved by their crews, but they were hard work to drive and maintain. A trusted vehicle that could indeed keep trundling on where many other, more modern and sophisticated, vehicles found themselves wanting!.
Also I have never heard that the 4202 was to have the 120mm, I'm sure it only had the 20pdr.
I was driving them when they uparmoured the glacis plate at the front. I have no idea what that represented in thickness. If you are not sure. it is the one where you can see spare track links on it.
Yes! Was waiting for this!
Was the gun shield on the Mk I 150mm? Some sources say 127mm on the first tanks with 76mm on the hull.front.
Love these videos, keep 'em coming!
THE CHALLENGER IS BACK :D
I'm just getting knowledgeable regarding tanks after 2 years of watching ww2 videos. My question is Britain/Sweden/U.S. used this tank but who was the original designer/creator of this game changing tank post ww2 ? Thank You Patrick from the states.
Missed out the 'than'. Great series of tank reviews.
more of these and make them longer please
South Africa still in use called the Oliphant there Mk2 version having a 120mm L44 gun though not in service and Israel and Jordan have up armored Heavy APC versions.
I found the gunners position on the challenger 2 rather comfortable. But it was a pain in the ass to get out.
Hopefully the gunner and loader were cross trained so that they could exchange positions and the gunner could stretch a bit.
The loader/gunner/driver can all do each others job. When you joined your regiment you either came as a gunner or driver and then got trained up on the other job. Essentially you can 3 man fight this tank if 1 crew member gets injured. Used to get paid more as a full crew member. You can then specialise in a certain job....Gunner mech...Driver mech or Consig (Control signaller). Which gave you more indepth knowledge.
2:55 isnt that Centurion Prototype with a Pz. 5 Panther Turret?
What a nice tribute to "chatty" Taylor. I met him once at Bovvy. Lovely bloke.
the womble: I was wondering if that was his tank. I served with him in Germany and Sharjah during the 60s and 70s.....he was the only person I knew who got "booked" for speeding in a tank (an American Sheridan tank which was being trialled in desert conditions, 1969) !!
Used to drive one of these lovely centurion tanks. We used it as an O.P. Vehicle.
Awesome videos!
Really good video. Thanks