Centurion Mk.5/1

Description

The Centurion Mk.5, developed in 1955, was a modified Mk.3 with the addition of extra machine guns and minor design changes. In a further modification, Centurion Mk.5/1, an additional armour plate was fitted to the Centurion's lower glacis. A total of 221 tanks of this modification were produced. Some were converted from Australian Centurion Mk.3 and Mk.5 models, 58 of which were later used by Australia in the Vietnam War. They remained in service with Australia until the 1980s, when they were replaced by Leopard 1s.

Introduced during Update "Hot Tracks" as a reward for Battle Pass: Season II, "Steel Centurion", the Centurion Mk.5/1 is not only a combination of good protection, allowing it to withstand fire from potential opponents, and a powerful 20-pounder gun with AP and APDS rounds, but it also has a two-plane stabiliser, which allows for accurate firing on the move. However, the mobility of the Centurion Mk.5/1 leaves something to be desired, so it often lags behind allies when moving across the battlefield. It differs from the Centurion Mk 3 by having reinforced frontal armour on the lower glacis and a coaxial 12.7 mm machine gun.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour - hull, turret roof, external fuel tank
• Cast homogeneous armour - turret (except roof)

Notes:

• Road wheels - 20 mm, tracks - 20 mm
• Main gun - 20 mm, machine guns - 5 mm
• External fuel tank - 12.7 mm
• Fenders and stowage boxes - 4 mm

Your upper front glacis plate may bounce a shell or two but all side skirts have been removed. It means that HEATFS, and HESH rounds become much more effective as there is only 50.8 mm of RHA on the sides.

Mobility

Modifications and economy

Armaments

Main armament

Ammunition

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the Centurion Mk.5/1

Notes:

• Shells are modeled individually and disappear after having been shot or loaded.
• Racks 8 and 9 are first stage ammo racks. They total 8 shells and get filled first when loading up the tank.
  • These racks are also emptied early: the depletion order at full capacity is 8 - 9 - 1 - 2 - etc. until 7.
  • Full reload speed will be realized as long as shells are available in the ready racks 8 and 9. If the ready racks are empty, a penalty to reload speed will occur.
  • Simply not firing when the gun is loaded will move ammo from racks 1-7 into racks 9 then 8. Firing will interrupt the restocking of the ready racks.

Machine guns

Usage in battles

Take advantage of your good gun depression of -10° and powerful 20-pdr cannon to snipe from long distances. If you want to play close quarters, use cover as much as possible since your armour is something you shouldn't rely upon. The gun stabilizer means you can shoot faster than most tanks at that BR without needing to come to a stop. The night vision is a bonus and paired with the IR spotlight on the front side of the turret the vehicle can be excellent in night battles.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Powerful APDS round with high velocity
• Good mobility of a Centurion plus decent reverse speed
• Accurate cannon with stabilizer
• Extra sloped armour plate on UFP, making the frontal armour on the Mk.5/1 equal to the Centurion Mk 10
• Decent frontal turret armour
• Night vision for driver, gunner and commander is an uncommon feature at this BR
• Generous amount of ammunition available for the 20-pounder gun: APCBC, APDS, smoke and HE shells
• Browning .50 calibre HMG with 3,000 rounds as coaxially mounted machinegun - noticeable upgrade over the standard British BESA machinegun
• Decent frontal turret armour, -10° gun depression and a powerful gun make the Centurion Mk.5/1 (RAAC) a powerful hulldown vehicle
• Rear mounted fuel tank offers a slight increase in protection against shells aimed at your engine

Cons:

• Only fires solid shots without explosive filler
• Weak side armour
• Frontal ammo stowage (can be mitigated by bringing fewer than 30 rounds)
• Low top speed
• Fuel tanks over the engine deck restrict gun depression while turret is facing backwards
• Unlike other Centurions, no turret mounted smoke grenade launchers
• IR spotlight can give your position away when activated during night battles
• Mediocre turret traverse
• Gun is slow to elevate and depress
• Slight loss in protection against shaped-charge munitions due to the missing sideskirts
• Reverse speed of -12 km/h is a noticeable upgrade over previous British tanks, but still quite underwhelming when you need a quick getaway

History

The Royal Australian Armoured Corps (RAAC) received Centurion Mark 3 tanks in 1955. The Mark 3 Centurion introduced the 20-pounder (84 mm) gun in the completely cast turret of the Mark 2. It was the first Centurion to include a new gunsight and a two-plane stabilization system for the main gun, as well as to have replaced the coaxial 20 mm Polsten gun with a 7.92 mm BESA machine gun. Additionally, the Mark 3 introduced a more powerful version of the Meteor engine - producing 650 horsepower. The RAAC upgraded their Mark 3 tanks to the Centurion Mark 5/1 standard. The Mark 5 replaced the coaxial BESA machine gun with a 7.62 mm L3 machine gun, a version of the American M1919 Browning, and added a second L3 machine gun on the commander's cupola; a 12.7 mm L6A1 machine gun (based on the American M2HB Browning) was mounted coaxial for ranging of the 20-pounder main gun. A layer of armour was added to the upper glacis to increase frontal protection.

Australian Centurion Mk 5/1 tanks of the C Squadron, 1st Armoured Regiment were deployed to Vietnam in February 1968. They were mainly used in the infantry support role due to a lack of enemy armour in the theatre. The Australian Centurions proved to have a high level of mobility during the conflict but were too heavy for most South Vietnamese bridges. Notable combats involving RAAC Centurions included defensive actions at the Coral and Balmoral firebases where RAAC Centurions were instrumental in the Australian victory. RAAC Centurions had been withdrawn from Vietnam by August 1971 and were replaced in the RAAC by the German Leopard 1 soon after. During their time in Vietnam 42 out of 58 Centurions took combat damage, of which six were irreparable. Despite this, only two Centurion crew members were killed in the conflict.

While in Vietnam, Australian tank crews removed the sideskirts from around the suspension in order to prevent a build-up of muck in the suspension. A 100 gallon fuel tank was bolted onto the rear of the hull in order to increase the very limited range of the Centurion. The standard ammunition loadout for Centurions deployed in Vietnam was 62 rounds of 84 mm ammunition, 4,000 rounds of 12.7 mm ammunition, and 9,000 rounds of 7.62 mm ammunition. Some Australian Centurions had their smoke grenade launchers removed while in Vietnam.

Devblog

Since 1951, the Royal Australian Armoured Corps has been replenished with Centurion Mk.3 and Mk.5 tanks, arriving both from the United Kingdom and other British-controlled regions. By the end of the 60s, all Centurion tanks were upgraded to the Mk.5/1 modification - among other works, the modernisation involved the installation of new sighting and commander machine guns, as well as the welding of additional armour plates, which were 50.8 mm thick, to the upper front plate of the hull.

In 1965, Australia announced the introduction of its military contingent into Vietnam. For this mission, Centurion tanks were additionally equipped with night vision devices: a removable IR searchlight appeared on the front of the tower, and the driver's, gunner's, and commander's sights all received infrared night vision devices. The final standardisation of all available Centurions took place in 1973 after the return of the Australian troops from Vietnam. The Centurion Mk.5/1 was the main battle tank of the Australian Royal Tank Corps until the 1980s, later replaced by Leopard 1 tanks.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the Centurion Mk.5/1 from live.warthunder.com.

Images

Videos

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the series of the vehicles;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

• [Devblog] Battle Pass vehicles: Centurion Mk.5/1 (RAAC)