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Built to meet the needs of World War I style trench warfare, the main emphasis of the tank was to navigate shell cratered ground and demolish infantry obstacles such as barbed wire. It was redesigned in 1940 based on the swift battles in Poland and France as the A22, but still kept many of the same features that would cause it a disadvantage confronted with the rapid nature of blitzkrieg tactics.
The hurried production and lack of field tests caused the tank to suffer from great mechanical problems and it performed poorly during the disastrous Dieppe Raid.
After numerous modifications, the tank did begin to see better performance in the North African Campaign though, as its exceptionally heavy armor, low silhouette and good climbing abilities gave it a resonable degree of success. The main complaints against it were its very low speed and poor armament, two weaknesses that would haunt it throughout its entire career. The Churchill tank further served in both the Mediterranean Theater and the Battle of Normandy.
The Churchill went many variations, including many specialised modifications. By wars end, the late model Churchills had more armor then even the dreaded tiger tank.
Churchill I
Churchill II
Churchill IIcs (close support)
Churchill III
Churchill IV
Churchill V
Churchill VI
Churchill VII
Churchill VIII
Churchill IX
Churchill X
Churchill XI
Churchill OKE
Churchill AVRE (Armored Vehicle Royal Engineers)
Churchill NA 75 (North Africa 75)
Churchill Crocodile
Black PrinceVariations
Like all British tanks prior to the end of World War II, the Churchill has a rather complicated naming scheme. Due to this, it is presented here in a hopefully more intuitive way.
Equipped with a 40mm (2 pdr.) gun in the turret, and both a Besa Machine gun and a 3" howitzer in the hull, this tank was noted for poor mechanical reliability. It was the main tank issued to the Canadian forces at Dieppe.
Removed the expensive howitzer for another machine gun. Sometimes referred to as Churchill Ia.
Placed the gun in the hull and the howitzer in the turret, available in very limited numbers. Sometimes called Churchill II.
The III was the first major armament overhaul of the series, eliminating the hull howitzer and equipping the tank with a more powerful 57mm (6 pdr.) gun. Unlike early versions, it had a welded turret. Some were later upraded by having their guns rebored to 75mm (75mm Mk V) to utilize American ammuntion, and hence have access to both HE and AT rounds. Not as many III's were modified as the IV.
The IV was the most numerous Churchill produced, and was virtually identical to the III, the largest change being its return to the less costly cast turret. Many of these were also upgraded later with the 75mm gun.
Churchill III / IV were equipped with 95mm howitzer in place of the main gun.
Along with several minor improvements, it was produced standard with the 75mm Mk V. Few were built due to the near release of the VII and current upgunning of III / IV. Performance is similar to the upgraded III / IV and NA 75.
The first major redesign from previous models, the VII used the 75mm gun, has an increased width and adds much more armor. It is sometimes called the Heavy Churchill.
A Churchill VII which replaced the main gun with a 95mm howitzer.
Churchill III / IV rebuilt with turret and armor of VII. If the old turret was retained, it took on the additional designation of LT.
VI with armor upgraded to that of the VII.
Churchill V upgraded to VII armor.
Replaced one of the hull machine guns with a flamethrower. There were three present at Dieppe which were quickly destroyed.
Equipped with a 290mm Petard mortar, it was designed for the quick levelling of fortifications. It could also be equipped with numerous other attachments, such as mine flails, facine rollers, and bridge layers.
Churchill III / IV with upgraded weaponry using the turret and mantlet from destroyed Shermans. Only around one hundred such modifications took place.
One of the more notable Churchills, it replaces the hull machine gun with a flamethrower. The Crocodile towed a fuel trailer.
Also known as the Super Churchill, it had a 76mm (17 pdr.) gun and a slightly wider hull then the VII. Never got past prototype stage as the Centurain tank was shown to be better.
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