Your Ideal Tank Contest

MrVic: HMS Dudley (Formerly RN1-Tank)
(Nicknamed "Admiral Pound's Kraut Pounder")

HMS Dudley History
HMS Dudley's origin starts in 1938. A conversation between Robert Warwick and
Admiral Sir Dudley Pound in a local London pub. Robert Warwick being a Engineer
working for Vickers-Armstrongs, the same company responsible for the creation of
the Valentine II British Tank. Admiral Sir Dudley Pound was previously the CinC
of the Mediterranean and was promoted to Admiral of the Fleet and First Sea Lord 1939-1943.
During this chance meeting in a London pub where Admiral Pound supposedly said to
Warwick in Late 1938... " If these recent events boil over into a war with Germany,
those krauts will be lucky that my ships cannot walk on land. For no enemy can stand
against the guns of The Royal Navy" That conversation stuck with Warwick for some weeks.
Consumed with the ideas from his conversation that fateful night floating around his head,
Warwick approached the British War Office with his ideas. After a short deliberation
and some pressure from the Royal Navy and a determined Admiral they cleared project
designated "RN1-Tank"
Now Warwick started to wonder if he really could effectively mount a large naval
gun onto a land based mobile platform. As the weeks passed he began to put the pieces together.
First he needed a naval gun to base his design on. The choice was simple
the Navy's 4.7"/45 (12 cm) QF Mark XII. The 4.7"/45 had seen some improvements from
powder bag charges to utilizing a cartridge some years before. This combined with a
50 Lbs (22.68 kg) round (HE and AT) a muzzle velocity of 2,650 fps (808 mps) with a
range of 15,800 yards (14,450 m) and still maintaining the ability to penetrate 2.5" (76 mm)
of armor at 6,500 yards (5,950 m) Meant there was no armored target the RN1-Tank could not defeat.
The original idea was to use the RN1-Tank in a indirect fire mode, but with the speed of
German tanks and tactics used, Warwick decided to plan for a direct fire role as well. This meant
increasing its frontal armor and improving the traverse range of his hull mounted main gun.
The major drawback quickly became keeping the size of the RN1-Tank’s foot print as small as
possible and still provide adequate firing platform and room to operate the large main gun.
This resulted in increase in weight and width being the two biggest issues Warwick had to address.
Seeing as the war in Europe means traveling on narrow roads and even narrower streets in the
cities usually the increased width of 3.65 m (12' 2") meant travel challenges for the RN1-Tank
were unavoidable. The second challenge the weight, Warwick had to find a engine capable of moving
his Tank at speeds that would enable it to keep up with a advancing force or to retreat in the
threat of a sudden break through. The solution was found with the recent purchasing of a newly
modified Russian aircraft engine the GAM-34BT by the War office to be reverse engineered for
possible use in their newer tank designs. The engine had the sufficient power and was quickly
adapted to the two RN1-Tank prototypes. Due to the engine being gas powered Warwick decided to
isolate the engine in a rear armored compartment so that even if the RN1-Tank took a hit to its
engine compartment the damage could be contained. Since his main gun was not driven by electric
the loss of a engine did not mean the tanks total combat effectiveness would be lost.
With no engine power the RN1-Tank with its increased armor could act as a fixed Artillery position
or a defensive AT bunker. With a 20 degree R/L traverse due to the extra wide hull and crew
compartment layout his tank would maintain a rather respectable field of fire even immobile.
Warwick's last few improvements were focused on crew operations and a newly acquired
TZF5a German sight that was easily duplicated. The improvements to the crew operations mainly
focused on the operation of the 4.7"/45 (12 cm) QF Mark XII main gun. Due to the size of the
rounds fired it was decided that two loaders assisted with mechanical load assist equipment would
be a much needed addition. This combined with a rear hatch to eject spent casings greatly
increased the rate of fire of the RN1-Tank. In honor of The Royal Navy's help and contributions
and Admiral Sir Dudley Pound's words of enlightenment the RN1-Tank became the HMS Dudley. After
its first combat action the Germans quickly learned to fear the distant bang of the HMS Dudley
for truly the Royal Navy could now reach them anywhere!
General Specifications
Formal Designation......HMS Dudley
Manufacturer(s).........Factory No.9 Ural Heavy Machinery Factory (UTZM or Uralmash)
Production Quantity.....2 (110 Ordered)
Production Period.......March 1940 - ?
Type....................Heavy Tank
Crew....................6
Length overall..........9.45 m (31' 0")
Width...................3.65 m (12' 2")
Height..................2.13 m ( 7' )
Barrel Overhang.........0.762 m (2.5')
Combat Weight...........55000 kg (121000 lbs)
Radio Equipment.........No.19
ARMAMENTS
Primary Armament........4.7"/45 (12 cm) QF Mark XII (Naval)
Ammunition Carried......76
Traverse (degrees)......Manual (20°L - 20°R)
Elevation (degrees).....-3° to +30°
Traverse speed (360°)...NA
Sight...................TZF5a
Secondary Armament......1 x 7.92mm Besa MG (Hull)
Ammunition Carried......4350
ARMOR
-------------------------Front------------------Side-------------------Rear-----------------Top/Bottom
Upper Hull...........60mm@35°..........60mm@70°.........45mm@80°.......20mm@0°
Lower Hull...........70mm@55°.........60mm@90°.........50mm@60°.......20mm@0°
Mantlet..............75mm@round.......NA......................NA....................NA
MOBILITY
Engine Make & Model.....GAM-34BT
Type & Displacement.....V12, 45.8 liters
Horsepower (max.).......850hp@1850rpm
Power/Weight Ratio......15.5 hp/tonne
Gearbox.................5 forward, 1 reverse
Fuel....................Gasoline (Petrol)
Range on/off road.......220/160 km
Mileage on road.........600 l/100km
Fuel Capacity...........about 1320 l
Speed on/off road.......35 km/h
Track Links.............120/track
Track Width.............70.0 cm (28")
Track Ground Contact....585 cm (230")
Ground Pressure.........0.67 kg/cm2 (9.6 psi)
Ground Clearance........0.50 m (1' 8")
Gradient................30°+
Vertical Obstacle.......1.2 m (3' 11")
Fording.................1.7 m (5' 7")
Trench Crossing.........3.0 m (9' 10")
Designer Notes
Well this orginally started as a Multi main gun tank or Possibly 2 turrets. Then the "ideal" part came to mind and I went off course!
I think it went off course in a good direction tho. Due to having to balance my weight as I add and remove things from the tank I have
found I now have to keep a large data base of materals and data for reference LOL. I started out with a hull mounted main gun with a
smaller turret topside. Sadly to scale the hull weapon up to the size I wanted it would of had issues in its traverse. As the breach
ect extends a rather large distance into the tank. Bigger the gun the longer its "rear". So mounting anything to the size I wanted
in the hull and having a turret I ran into problems. Turrets tend to operate with a basket underneath that traverses as the turret does
So the larger gun in the hull would come into conflict as I try to traverse the hull mounted weapon. another option was to do away with
turret basket and have the commander/gunner shift or move or even help with the main gun operations when it was in use. But in the end
I was wasting Tonnage on only being able to utilize one weapon system at a time in that layout. Sigh I think I am thinking to hard about
engineering side of this lmao