The British Centurion Main Battle Tank served the British and other militaries through many of the wars and conflicts that filled the latter half of the twentieth century from 1945 through to 2003.
Fast Facts
- The Centurion tank was created during the Second World War and served through no less than thirteen Marks, and a number of sub-variants, all the way from 1945 up to 2003.
- The Centurion became an iconic British tank and served in many conflicts in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.
- A Mk 13 Centurion is up for sale on Bring a Trailer at time of publication.
The British Centurion Main Battle Tank is regarded as one of the greatest of Britain’s tanks and it served the British Army from its first appearance in a conflict zone in early 1945 up to its last excursion into war during the Iraq War of 2003.
The Centurion was made in thirteen Marks (with a few sub-marks added to that), and another eight specialized variants.
This tank was born of the lessons learned during the Second World War with design and development work beginning in 1943 as the war raged. So it was thoroughly thought through from its armor, maneuverability, ergonomics, and mechanical reliability.
The design work that would produce the Centurion began under the leadership of Sir Claude Gibb, who was a South Australian Engineer.
The design brief called for a tank that would have a reasonably fast speed, both forward and reverse, possess armor sufficient to withstand the anti-tank ordnance that might be sent against it, and the mines it might encounter. Of particular concern was that it had to be able to withstand a hit from the German 88mm gun, which had given allied forces significant doses of discomfort when they found themselves on the receiving end.
In their development work Sir Claude Gibb’s team created a 51 ton tank with Horstmann type suspension comprising three horizontally sprung, externally mounted two-wheel bogies on each side, with the drive being to the rear by a drive sprocket with a corresponding idler wheel at the front.
This arrangement provided a good compromise between ride quality and both internal space inside the tank, and better ease of repair in case of damage.
The Centurion was powered by a 27 liter Rolls Royce Meteor 4B SOHC V12 petrol engine which delivered 650hp @ 2,550rpm. In the Mk 13 Centurion was also typically fitted a four cylinder side-valve Morris USHNM Mk 2 water-cooled, petrol engine producing 20bhp to drive the 3kW dynamo which charged the batteries and provided the electrical power for the turret.
The Mk 13’s range was about 280 miles, which was significantly more than the early Marks of Centurion. Fuel consumption was in the order of 3-4 gallons per mile depending on driving conditions and top speed was 21mph.
The transmission was a 5-speed Merrit-Brown and it provided two reverse gears – i.e. normal and “let’s get out of here fast” which provided about the same speed as second gear: very useful if the tank crew found themselves in a bit of a tight spot from which it was wise to rapidly exit.
Steering was by a controlled differential system.
There were many variants in the armaments of the Centurion versions but the Mk 13 had a 105mm Royal Ordinance Factories L7A2 main gun, typically complimented with a 50cal Browning machine gun for sighting purposes, and a 30cal machine gun for defensive action against infantry.
The Centurion served in quite a number of the post World War 2 wars including the Korean War and Vietnam War aimed at preventing the spread of communism through Asia. They were also used by the Israel Defense Forces in the 1967 Six Day War, and the 1973 Yom Kippur War (Yom Kippur meaning Day of Atonement).
Centurions also served in the 1970-1971 “Black September” Jordanian Civil War fought between the Kingdom of Jordan and the Palestine Liberation Organization led by Yassar Arafat.
Additional to these is quite a long list of conflicts in which Centurions served up to the Iraq War of 2003.
So the Centurion tank has featured in many of the conflicts that shaped the history of the last half of the twentieth century.
One of these tanks, a Mk 13, is currently up for sale on Bring a Trailer, with the sale set to close in a few days from the publication of this post.
This presents an opportunity to acquire a fascinating example of a British military icon.
Picture Credits: All pictures courtesy Bring a Trailer.
Jon Branch is the founder and senior editor of Revivaler and has written a significant number of articles for various publications including official Buying Guides for eBay, classic car articles for Hagerty, magazine articles for both the Australian Shooters Journal and the Australian Shooter, and he’s a long time contributor to Silodrome.
Jon has done radio, television, magazine and newspaper interviews on various issues, and has traveled extensively, having lived in Britain, Australia, China and Hong Kong. His travels have taken him to Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan and a number of other countries. He has studied the Japanese sword arts and has a long history of involvement in the shooting sports, which has included authoring submissions to government on various firearms related issues and assisting in the design and establishment of shooting ranges.
