Conqueror (tank)

FV 214 Conqueror
Conqueror Mk I at The Tank Museum, Bovington (2008)
Type	Heavy gun tank
Place of origin	United Kingdom
Service history
In service	1955–1966 (only in West Germany)
Production history
Designed	1944
Manufacturer	Royal Ordnance Factory, Dalmuir
Produced	1955–1959
No. built	185
Specifications
Mass	64 tonnes (71 short tons; 63 long tons)
Length	38 feet (12 m) gun forward, 25 feet 4 inches (7.72 m) hull
Width	13 feet 1 inch (3.99 m)
Height	10 feet 5 inches (3.18 m)
Crew	4
Armour	5 inches (130 mm) hull front, 13 inches (330 mm) turret front
Main armament	L1 120 mm rifled gun
Secondary armament	2×L3A1 7.62 mm machine guns
Engine	Rolls-Royce Meteor M120 810 hp (604 kW)
Power/weight	12 hp/tonne
Suspension	Horstmann suspension
Operational range	161 km (100 mi)
Maximum speed	35 km/h (22 mph)

The FV 214 Conqueror, also known as tank, heavy No. 1, 120 mm gun, Conqueror was a British heavy tank of the post-World War II era. It was developed as a response to the Soviet IS-3 heavy tank. The Conqueror's main armament, an L1 120 mm gun,^[1] was larger than the 20-pounder (83.4 mm) gun carried by its peer, the Centurion. The Conqueror's role was to provide long range anti-tank support for the Centurion. Nine Conquerors were issued for each regiment in Germany, usually grouped in three tank troops. In the British Army both the Conqueror and the Centurion were replaced by the Chieftain.

The Conqueror's origins trace back to the initiation of the A 45 program in 1944, for a heavy infantry tank to complement the A 41. This new design was to be based on that of the A 41, sharing as many components as possible but on a larger and more heavily armoured vehicle. As WWII came to a close, the project was redesignated FV 200 and reworked to fulfill the role of a "Universal Tank" capable of serving as the as the platform for a variety of specialist vehicle types (self-propelled artillery, armoured personnel carrier, various armoured recovery vehicles, gun tractor etc.). The main gun tank of the series, the FV 201, was to be armed with the 20 pounder. By 1949 however, with several of the specialist variants being cancelled due to escalating costs, the Centurion now also receiving the 20 pounder and the vehicle was no longer being considered a match for newer Soviet types, the decision was made to shelve the program.

Despite the cancellation of the FV201 there was still a pressing need for a new heavy gun tank, now requiring a 120 mm armament. Due to the urgency of the situation with the Soviets the existing hull design was repurposed for the new specification, however it was estimated that the new turret would not be ready until at least 1954. In order to familiarise crews with the new tanks a production order was placed for the hulls, which in 1952 were combined with 20 pounder-armed Centurion Mk 3 turrets to produce the FV 221 Caernarvon Mark I.^[2][3] The Caernarvon was only used for chassis development work serving in troop trials. In 1955, the first Conqueror was produced.

The new, larger-calibre gun design chosen for Conqueror was the Royal Ordnance OQF 120mm Tank L1, a British adaptation of the American M58 gun used on the US M103 heavy tank;^[4] using two-piece ammunition. The charge was not bagged but supplied in a brass cartridge, which offered some safety advantages, but reduced shell capacity to 35.^[5] Secondary armament was provided in a pair of L3A1 machine guns, the British designation for the Browning M1919A4. One was mounted coaxially with the main gun while the other was fitted to the commander's cupola.

The armour was very heavy for the time, especially in the front, where it could be up to either 18.8 or 26.7 inches (480 – 680 mm) thick in the horizontal plane, depending on the source.^[6] Unfortunately, this, along with the weight of the huge turret required to house the large gun and the very large hull volume, made the vehicle very heavy, giving it a relatively low top speed and making it unreliable. Also, few bridges could support its weight. However, rather like the Second World War Churchill tank, the Conqueror had exceptional terrain handling characteristics.

One feature of particular note was the rotating commander's cupola, which was at the heart of the Conqueror's fire control system and was advanced for its time. The commander could align the cupola on a target independently of the turret, measure the range with a coincidence rangefinder, and then direct the gunner on to the new lay mechanically indicated to him by the cupola. In theory, when the gunner traversed to the new lay, he would find the target already under his sights, ready to be engaged. Meanwhile, the commander was free to search for the next target. The Soviet bloc also used similar devices, such as the TPKU-2 and TKN-3, on all of their post–World War II tanks, though theirs did not include a rangefinder.

It was the largest and heaviest tank used by the British Army at the time the first Conqueror was completed in 1955. In all, before production ceased in 1959,^[1] 20 Mark 1 and 165 Mark 2 Conquerors were built, including those converted from Caernarvons. Once the Centurion was upgraded to use the L7 105 mm gun the tactical relevance of the Conqueror, and dedicated heavy gun tanks in general, faded as the Main Battle Tank rose to prominence.

The variants of the Conqueror tank and developments directly related to its development are:

• FV 214 Conqueror
  • Mk I (had three periscopes for the driver).
  • Mk II (included better join of frontal armour plates, a single periscope for the driver, and an improved exhaust system).
  • Mk II/I/H – rebuilt Caernarvons.^[7]
• Tank, heavy No. 2, 183 mm gun, FV 215

Design study of Conqueror chassis with limited traverse turret mounting 183 mm gun. Wooden mockup produced.^[8]

• FV 221 Caernarvon
  • Mk I – prototype.
  • Mk II – experimental series, 21 built.
• FV 222 Conqueror armoured recovery vehicle (ARV)
  • Mk I – 8 produced.
  • Mk II^[9] – 20 produced. Weight: 57 tons. Winch capacity: 45 tons (direct pull).

•  United Kingdom: 1955–1966. Deployed with BAOR in West Germany only.

In the United Kingdom, Conqueror tanks are displayed at The Tank Museum, Bovington,^[10] at the Land Warfare Hall of the Imperial War Museum Duxford and at the Defence Capability Centre in Shrivenham. Other tanks are in the collections of the Musée des Blindés in France, the Gunfire Museum in Brasschaat, Belgium (a Mark 2), the Kubinka Tank Museum, Russia, and the Royal Tank Museum, Amman, Jordan. One is privately owned in the United States as part of the Littlefield Collection and another is in use as a gate guardian outside the Royal Tank Regiment Officers' Mess, which was restored by 2nd Royal Tank Regiment Light Aid Detachment (REME) in 2009, having previously been in a deteriorating state at Castlemartin Ranges (where it had previously been the guardian "Romulus" before being replaced by a German Leopard MBT).

There are also two MkII ARVs at the Military History Museum on the Isle of Wight in an unrestored condition. A MkII ARV is held by the REME Museum of Technology, although it is not on display.^[11] There was formerly a Conqueror gate guardian at Base Vehicle Depot Ludgershall – informally known as "William". It is now part of the Isle of Wight Military Museum.

A Conqueror ARV remained in service at the Amphibious Experimental Establishment AXE, at Instow in North Devon, UK. It was used for beach tank recovery practice. At least one Conqueror exists in poor condition on the grounds of Kirkcudbright Training Area in Scotland, where it was used as a gunnery target. A number of Conquerors remain on the Haltern Training area in Germany.

• M103 heavy tank – American heavy tank sharing the Conqueror's main armament.
• AMX-50 – French heavy tank also armed with a 120 mm gun.
• IS-3 – Soviet heavy tank which the Conqueror was designed to counter.
• T-10 tank – Soviet heavy tank in service at the same time as the Conqueror.

Notes

Bibliography

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Conqueror tanks.

• Photo gallery at svsm.org Archived 19 October 2020 at the Wayback Machine
• REME Museum of Technology: Conqueror Armoured Recovery Vehicle Mark 2