CENTURION
CENTURION main 'battle tank by Lt. CoL David Eshel andSimon Dunstan "
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CENTURION This is our first...
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CENTURION
CENTURION main 'battle tank by Lt. CoL David Eshel andSimon Dunstan "
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CENTURION This is our first issue in the new series WAR DATA. Designed to meet the minutest requirements of the
military and aviation enthusiast, this series will at last
close a long-existing gap in military literature- de
scribing in authoritative detail the weapon systems
and combat techniques of the armed , forces of the
Middle East. .' Specially commissioned colour art drawings of men
and equipment, technical drawings made to scale, to
gether with detailed descriptions of the materiel, their
development and combat record - authoritatively
written by top experts - will surely make this highly
interesting 'series into an indispensable reference for
every military student. We invite our readers to comment freely - thus
participating in the exciting creation of our series by
contributing their knowledge and experience; selected
readers' letters will be published in ou r Reader's
Corner in future issues.
'I'-- "
Introducing CENTURION - the amazing main
tank, which has almost no equal in 'its long
service life.
Created too late for combat action in the Second ,~
World War, it saw battle in Korea for the first time, later serving with many armies, among them the
Australians in South Vietnam. Its zenith was, however,
with the Israeli Armoured Corps, whose mainstay it
was in all the arduous battles in Sinai and the Golan
Heights, fighting the ultra-modern Soviet equipment,
with highly successful results.
We describe here the many improvements made to
the tank, and present, for the first time, full details of
the Israeli modifications achieved by its Ordnance
Corps - turning an almost obsolete armoured vehicle
into a modern fighting machine, capable of taking on
any of the supermodern Soviet arsenal made availahle
to Its opponents. .., ,_ . . ''i:
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R-R Meteor IV 570/620-2500
R-R Meteor IV 600/650-250C " 11 0 9 8 RR-MeteorIVA 650-2550 24 9'h 11 07:;" R-R Meteor IVB 650-2550 25 2 " 9'3"
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An upgunned Centurion Mk3, its camouflage netting being removed before starting up.
Although th ey had already taken part in many bat d es all over th e world , the Centurions first came into -heir own in th e Middle East. There, as the spearhead and mainstay of th e Isra el Armoured Corps , they \,-pre to prove th emselves as a major weapon system ::econd to none. Centurions entered service with the ID F in 1960; :t took a long time, however, for them to be fully ac cepted by Israeli tank crews. They had long been tEed to the relatively simple Sherman tanks, which ran under almost any conditions, especially after having been modified with th e Cummings Diesel en ~ ne. The Israeli Shermans mounted the high-velocity French-made 75mm. AMX 13 gun which, the crews considered, could outgun eve n the modern T-54s employed by the Arabs. The first results with th e newly acquired British tanks had been disappointing. In the barren, dusty :\egev Desert, where the Israelis t rained their tankers, the Centurions performed badly . Their radiators clog ged up with dust and mud, causing the engines to
overheat and seize up. The minutely detailed pre march maintenance and closing-down checks were too complex for the inexperienced tankers, resulting in many mechanical breakdowns which were blamed on the tank's supposedly inadequate technical stan dards. Many tanks ran away from their crews, skid ding downhill at all angles. Brakes burned out, causing severe accidents. During one exercise, several tanks overheated and caught fire before the very eyes of the Chief of Staff! To make matters worse, the 20 pound er guns, not being properly zeroed, performed very erratically compared to the Sherman; hits on target were considered by th e crews as flukes. All in all it was not surprising that tank officers turned down offers to join the Centurion battalion , preferring to stay in their old Sherman units. Indeed , those ordered to Centurions considered themselves punished~ In an attempt to improve the tank's reputation , the Cen~u nons were incorporated into the premier Israeli tank regiment, E prestigious unit that hali. served with great distinction in the two previous wars. Even this, however, did not solve matters . 37
Upgunned Centurion Mk3 negotiating heavy dust in the Negev Desert.
Centurion crew in gunnery practice.
The General Staff realised a more radical solution was required to overcome the problems of the Centu rion . Accordingly, a team of Ordnance Corps experts, who had gathered much experience in modifying the Sherman, were ordered to define a plan to modify the tank to meet Israeli requirements. At this time, firefights with the Syrians - known as the Water War - were escalating. Positioned high on the Golan hills, the Syrians fired constantly on Is raeli settlements, hampering all work in the Hula Valley. Retaliation was difficult, both militarily and politically, as neither side wished to b e drawn into a full-scale war. An efficient tank gun was necessary to engage the Syrians accurately and effectively; the Sherman gun was considered insufficient for the task. The IDF Ordnance Corps, by this time, had mounted the newly acquired l05mm. L 7 guns on the Mark 5, following the British experience in upgunning their Centurions. The newly upgunned tanks, manned by specially trained crews, were rushed to the Syrian border. The results of the first action were awaited eagerly, many high-ranking officers taking up vantage positions to watch the engagement. They did not have long to wait. At noon, as usual, the Syrians opened fire on an Israeli patrol moving along the bor der track , covering the work of a tractor from a near by settlement. Following the Syrian fire, the con cealed Centurions moved up to their fire positions and opened up with their l05mm. guns. All hell broke loose as the high-velocity rounds crashed into the enemy positions. The Syrians retaliated with all they had; accurate artillery fire fell on the Israeli tanks, raising great curtains of dust. Several Syrian Pz IV s, dug into the hilltops, also cracked into action, their 75mm. guns, even though of WWII vintage, still effective. The Centurions fired non-stop, but had dif ficulty in observing their targets b ecause of the dust cloud that now covered the valley. The Syrians, firing from the hilltops, still had a clear view, and most of their targets registered. After a duel of several hours, a cease-fire was reached by UN intervention. The results, when evalu ated, were most disappointing; th e crews, who had entertained th eir doubts before the battle, were now totally disgusted. Blaming the shortcomings on the ex cellent l05mm. gun was actually an injustice. How ever, after their unpleasant experience with the tank, the crews were difficult to convince. The nearby Sherman crews jubilantly watched their rivals' plight and further dejected the Centurion crews by knocking out several enemy tanks in their next skirmish with the Syrians. The dejection, however, came to an end with the appointment of a new com mander of the Israel Armoured Corps. General Israel
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was not a rna n to consider a tank deficiency an ;olubl e probl em. On the contrary: his t echnical xperience mad e him realize th at he not only could, It had to , vindi cate the Centurion once and for .i..I . He first assembl ed all armour officers above the nk of captain and lectured th em on th eir short ) mings , pointing out in great detail the deficiencies . gu nnery maintenance and command procedures 'h ich h e had observed in th e recent actio ns. Special .ain tenance crews were appointed to zero the tank ;-.1 11 5, and gunnery courses for regular and reserve - e W S set up. Maintenance procedures were worked It and enforced by strict di scipline. Long·range tank ~lI1 n er y areas were built and firing competitions be ~ 'e e n crews instituted. Promotions b eca me geared t o iiiciency tests. As the results improved , morale 'hich had sagged for a long time - rose and never : ain fell even during th e arduou s tank b attles of th e r m Kippur War.
Centurion Mk5. Note the SCR 608 radio antennae and 0.5" Browning MG, as well as the US-type tankers' helmet used at the time by Israeli tank crews.
Centurions with 20 pdr gun on tank infantry support, Samaria, 7967.
39
Israel's modified Centurion
BEN-GURION
Centurion climbing the Golan Heights - note the mud under the tracks. Most Centurions in the Golan had their bazooka plates removed to prevent clogging by mud.
Al th ough General Tal achieved mu ch by energy efficiency, the Centurion still needed major modi l ti ons to turn it into a modern fightin g ma chine. A _r.cial t eam of experts was commissioned to build :h a prototyp e and given the necessary funds to do The t ask before them was immense. f irst priority was given to replacing the long obso -:e and und er-powered Meteor engine , whose short ~;: ofte n made it necessary to change engines in th e ':dd. This was an intricate and complicat ed t ech :qu e compl et ely unsuited to field maintenance oper __ :ons, as it t ook five trained t echnicians, working i th heavy ordnan ce equipment, 20 hours to com t e - the longest tim e for such an operatio n in th e -orld! A suitable di esel replacement which would both ..mprove performance and fit into the existing engine _o mpartm ent was not easy to find. Finaqy , aft er lI ch delib erati o n, th e American Continental A VDS ~ :-90-2AC 12 cylinder V 90 0 air cooled engine giving ;50 h.p. at 2400 r.p.m. was chosen. It also simplified _ogistics, as this same engine was used in Israeli modi :led M48s and M60s, and the standardisation on diesel J.
Turret modification lint:; "A "-type barrels being removed from the original turrets. Note the M4 Sherman bogey wheel, upper right.
Israel Ordnance Corps modification line workshops. Note the new 105mm. gun on the first tank 's turret' the other tanks still mount the old 20Pdr "A "-type barrel.
41
fuel eased the problems of th e supply organisation. Fitting th e new power pack into the engine co mpart men t was an exacting task, necessitating over 300 modifications to the engine alone. Several parts were manufactured locally, encouraging an industry which later was of vital importance in th e developm ent of th e Israeli Merkava tank. Despite its being Israel's most mod ern tank except for the lighter AMX 13, the Centurion was the slow est. To improve performance further , the bulky Merritt-Brown gearbox, with fiv e forward and two reverse gears, was replaced by a modern hy draulic Allison box with only two forward and one reverse gears. This made driving easier by eliminating con stant gear shifting, which in the pressure of co mbat could endanger a crew's performance dur.ing long engageme nts. The clutch mechanism was entirely eli minated. The new engine and Allison gearbox rotated inver sely to the old. A complete adaptation oLall trans mission moving parts - a t echni cal challenge of the highest order - was necessary. The fi nal driv e housing remained unchanged; new parts were made t o fit within it. After many tests, the new transmission performed perfectly . Modified Centurion belonging to a reserve battalion in Sinai. \
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42
Improving the cooling syst em was th e next chal lenge. A mod ern, easy- to-maintain air cooling system was installed in place of th e existing unreliable water cooled type. As th e width of the hull was insufficient to fit air intake grilles, without which there would have been a serious pressure drop, special air louvers were positioned over the tran~mission compartment. Care was taken to produce a h erm eti cally sealed sys tem; special air filters, suited to withstand the heavy desert du st of th e Middle East, were installed in place of the easily clogged British ones. An advanced st eering mechanism, with a single handle, which improved both steering and turning, was introduced in place of the old two -lever driving system. This facilitated manoeuvering and cut down the danger of th e tank slipping out of co ntrol when changing direction at high speed. Driving downhill had always b een a problem, as the dry-type brake drum s tended to overheat and become unserviceable very quickly, resulting in the tank run ning out of control - a harassing experience if it happ ened on rocky and undulating ground. A new fri ction disc, oil cooled braking system was adopted. The fire extinguishing system was also improved . In the old system, carbon dioxid e was disc harged into
Modified Centurion, rear view, gun traversed, Golan 1978.
Maintenance in the field. In the foreground, a Continental A VDS 1790·2AC engine, removed for changing.
43
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..::r A troop of Centurions moving at speed in Sinai.
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the cooling system before the engine came to a stand· still - not a very effective method. The new system held more material and was more efficient. The 105mm. L 7 gun had necessitated t emporary modifications, including a rearrangement of th e turret layout to make room for the larger ammunition stow age. The results were unacceptabl e, as the turret had to be fr equ entl y t raversed to gain access to the ammu nition stowed below. This impeded the driver and was even more serious under combat conditions, as the gun swung off target. The fighting compartment was rearranged to overcome this deficiency. A further difficulty with the fighting compartm ent was that the loader's position did not rotate as the turret traversed . This meant that he either had to "chase" the turret or wait for it to stop in position which, in turn, redu ced combat effi ciency. Accord ingly, the rear deck superstru cture was redesigned and the traversing control modified to enable th e free rotation of the gun over the rear. A locall y developed automatic device controlled gun elevation . To improve th e tank's limited range, a greater amount of fuel had to be stowed in th e hull.l-iowever, the larger dimensions of the new engine and th e add ed airflow channels mad e this an acute problem. To 44
overcome it the team devised specially-shaped mould ed fuel tanks which fitted snugly into every available corner of the engine compartment. In all, the deVelopment programme took 40 ,000 working hours over some three years. Invaluable ex perience, eventually leading to the development of the Merkava battle tank in 1976, was gained in th e process. The new Centurion resembled the old one only in shape. It was to become a highly effective combat system , the backbone of the Israel Armoured Corps and it was soon to prove itself in battle. Modified Centurions took part in a small but sharp action against a Jordanian stronghold in the Hebron hills shortly before the Six Day War. Firing concrete busting HESH ammunition, th ey destroyed a Jordan ian fortified police post within minutes: The action brought the Jordanian 12th Tank Regim ent equipped with Centurion Mark 5s '~o th e area. They remained there until captured by th e Isra elis in the Six Day War, having taken no active part in combat. The Six Day War brought Centurion into its own. Crashing through the cactus hedges at Rafa, the lead battalion started what was to b e the classic tank thrust of modern warfare. Knocking out several
Egyptian T-34s dug in at the Rafa crossroads, Centu rions smashed through the drawn-out Egyptian 7th Division defences and gained EI-Arish, some 40 miles '..'est of the ceasefire line, within a few hours - a tre mendous feat. Two reserve Centurion brigades of another division meanwhile made their way along an uncharted desert track, their new diesel engines achieving an unprecedented standard of performance in extreme desert conditions. By the morning of the second day, the first Centu rions were astride the main Sinai axis in time to ambush the advancing 4th Egyptian Armoured Divi sion with its modern Soviet T-55's. The Centurions caused devastation by firing APDS at extreme ranges. The T -55's never even had a chance to get within range. By now the race to the Suez Canal was on. The Centurions won, reaching the Mitla Pass in time to close it before the retreating Egyptian armies. In the ensuing battle, they fired continuously, creating an unprecedented havoc of destruction. Armour-infantry cooperation with air observer, (in helicopter, above), Centurion near the crossing site at Deversoir, 17 October 1973,
45
Israel's Centurions performed brilliantly in the Six Day War. By 10 June 1967, the last day of the War, Israeli crews had full confidence in the easily driven Centurion , armed with the hard-hitting 105mm. gun and powered by the safer, more reliable Continental engine. The uLtimate t est in ruggedness - the Yom Kippur War - was, however, still to come. After the Six Day War Israel purchased further Centurions from various sources, many of them Mark 5s.. All were modified to IDF standards by the Ordnance Corps, which ran a regular production line. During the so-called War of Attrition in 1969/70, Centurions went into action both on the banks of the Suez Canal and in the Golan Heights. In a sharp clash with the Syrians in 1970 , IDF Centurions knocked out several Syrian T-54's. This encounter represented the first Syrian use of Snapper AT missiles - with negligible effect. At noon on 6 October 1973 - Yom Kippur - the Arab onslaught fell on the IDF positions in the Golan and the Bar Lev line. At the time, Centurions held the Golan sector, the Sinai being defended mainly by M48 and M60 Pattons. The Pattons rushed forward to relieve the stricken Bar Lev outposts, only to be
decimated by the Egyptian human anti-tank killer teams. The Centurions on the Golan, however , stood their ground although outnumbered by as many as 15 to 1. Their deadly 105mm. L7 guns proved more than a match for the Soviet 115mm. smooth bore T-62 guns, firing fin-stabilised APFSDS ammunition; the efficient gunnery of the highly trained Centurion crews knocked out hundreds of the Syrian T -55s and ultra modern T -62s. The young tank crews of the 7th Armoured Brigade, which had spearheaded the way in all previous wars, particularly distinguished themselves. The reserves, mostly manning Centurions, finally broke the Syrian onslaught, following with a lethal counterattack. After a sharp encounter with Iraqi reinforcements and the destruction of the Jordanian crack 40th Armoured Brigade with its Cen turions also mounting the 105mm. , the fighting in the Golan was over. The IDF Armoured Corps had gained a trem endous victory against great odds. Meanwhile Centurions had also joined battle in Sinai, taking a leading part in the great tank battle of 14 October, when over 2,000 tanks from both sides locked in mortal combat. Firing from well-prepared positions , the Israeli Pattons and Centurions - all
Latest version of modified Centurions, complete with Xenon searchlight, on the move.
46
Modified Centurion, Golan 1978. Note 0.5" Browning MG mounted up front, additional front plate and gun sleeve. Modified Centurion Mk5s on the Golan Heights, 1973.
47
mounting the lethal 105mm. gun - knocked out over 300 Egyptian tanks in a matter of hours. Shortly Comparison Data Table (sample-part) afterwards, a brigade of Centurions completely de stroyed th e Egyptian 25th Armoured Brigade on th e Original T ype banks of the Bitter Lake, knocking out over 100 T-62s with no loss to th e mselves. Centurions were Combat weight 51 also among the first to cross th e Suez Canal at Dever· 20 Pdr (83 .6mm) Armament soir on 16 Octob er, roaming the Egyptian rear to the 0.3" Co·Axial MG 0.3" Anti·Aircraft MG gates of Suez, where the last battles of the war were Muzzle Velocity VO m/sec fought against the encircl ed Egyptian Third Army. APDS 1433 Although Israe1i tank losses were heavy, many of HE 602 the disabled Centurions were repaired under combat Power Plant conditions and return ed to battle. This - in addition METEOR Mk4B Main Engine to its combat performance - proved beyond doubt Rolls Royce Manufacturer Petrol Type of carburant that the Centurion was a rugged fighting machine, Water Cooling system able to withstand battle conditions more severe than Cylinders + Fan Fan operating any previously encountered in modern warfare. Max HP 650 The lessons learned with Centurions during the Oil and Water Ca~acity arduous battles in th e Sinai and the Golan brought 64 Main engine lubrication It Air cleaners oil cap It about the development of th e all-Israeli Merkava 9 4 Auxiliary engine oil cap b a ttle tank. Despite the Merkava , however, th e Centu 0.5 Auxiliary engine air cleaners rion remains a major combat weapon in th e Middle Cooling liquid (water) It 150 East and will surely remain so for many years to comc . ·*For more information on Israeli armour, read: "Born in Battle" 1\0. 4, available now.
Israeli "Ben·Gurion" Modified 53 105mm L7 7.62mm 7 .62mm 1475 732 Hesh
Continental V12 Continental Mi ch Diesel oil Air Mechani cal 750
68 nil nil nil nil
The newest addition to the IDF: the Merkava main battle tank. Developed by Gen. Israel Tal, this all-Israeli tank's characteristics are based on IDF Armoured Corps experience. The main engine, mounted up front, adds further pro tection for the crew. Main armament is still the veteran 105mm. tank gun; many other features, however, make it an interesting new arrival on the tank development scene.
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THE INCREDIBLE STORY WHICH TRAIL BLAZED THE AVIATION WORLD COMPLETE DETAILSofKFIR
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