War Thunder Wiki - User contributions [en]

P-26A-34 M2

2022-07-15T08:37:12Z

U14177576: added info and grammar edits

{{About
| about = American fighter '''{{PAGENAME}}'''
| usage = other versions
| link = P-26 (Family)
}}
{{Specs-Card
|code=p-26a_34_m2
|images={{Specs-Card-Image|GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg}}
|cockpit=cockpit_p-26a_34_m2.jpg
}}

== Description ==

The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a rank {{Specs|rank}} American fighter {{Battle-rating}}. It has been in the game since the start of the Open Beta Test prior to Update 1.27.

The P-26A-34 M2 Peashooter is a reserve fighter for the American aviation tree. The majority of American fighters are most effective when using boom and zoom tactics, and the P-26A-34 M2 is no different.

The P-26A-34 M2 Peashooter differs from the other two P-26s in that it carries a single 12.7 mm M2 Browning machine gun with 200 rounds in the place of one of the 7.62 mm machine guns. This is the same set up as on the later [[P-36A]] and [[F3F-2]]. The 12.7 mm is much more powerful, takes longer to overheat, has a longer reload time, and has a slightly lower rate of fire than the 7.62 mm.

== General info ==
=== Flight performance ===
{{Specs-Avia-Flight}}

The P-26 possesses great manoeuvrability for a monoplane thanks to its small wings and low weight. However, its reserve counterparts are biplanes, which are much more manoeuvrable than it. Outturning monoplanes is almost always possible, but outturning biplanes is usually out of the question.

The P-26 is soundly average speed-wise, with many of the reserve biplanes outpacing it. It is still capable of catching some of the slower reserve fighters and many slow low-tier bombers.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="70%"
! rowspan="2" | Characteristics
! colspan="2" | Max Speed (km/h at 2,286 m)
! rowspan="2" | Max altitude (metres)
! colspan="2" | Turn time (seconds)
! colspan="2" | Rate of climb (metres/second)
! rowspan="2" | Take-off run (metres)
|-
! AB !! RB !! AB !! RB !! AB !! RB
|-
! Stock
| 364 || 351 || rowspan="2" | {{Specs|ceiling}} || 18.6 || 19.7 || 8.2 || 8.2 || rowspan="2" | 170
|-
! Upgraded
| 387 || 377 || 17.7 || 18.0 || 18.6 || 12.0
|-
|}

==== Details ====
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="50%"
|-
! colspan="5" | Features
|-
! Combat flaps !! Take-off flaps !! Landing flaps !! Air brakes !! Arrestor gear
|-
| X || X || ✓ || X || X 
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="50%"
|-
! colspan="7" | Limits
|-
! rowspan="2" | Wings (km/h)
! rowspan="2" | Gear (km/h)
! colspan="3" | Flaps (km/h)
! colspan="2" | Max Static G
|-
! Combat !! Take-off !! Landing !! + !! -
|-
| {{Specs|destruction|body}} || {{Specs|destruction|gear}} || N/A || N/A || 240 || ~12 || ~8
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="4" | Optimal velocities (km/h)
|-
! Ailerons !! Rudder !! Elevators !! Radiator
|-
| < 260 || < 180 || < 340 || > 190
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="3" | Compressor (RB/SB)
|-
! colspan="3" | Setting 1
|-
! Optimal altitude
! 100% Engine power
! WEP Engine power
|-
| 1,829 m || 600 hp || 666 hp
|-
|}

=== Survivability and armour ===
{{Specs-Avia-Armour}}

The P-26 is a typical mid-1930's design, and just like all its contemporaries (other reserve fighters) does not have pilot armour, but is upgraded with self-sealing fuel tanks. Pilot, engine, and fuel is centrally located, but its simple design (no flaps and retractable gear) has less that could be damaged. One major advantage is excellent visibility to easily spot threats in SB battles.

=== Modifications and economy ===
{{Specs-Economy}}

== Armaments ==
{{Specs-Avia-Armaments}}
=== Offensive armament ===
{{Specs-Avia-Offensive}}

{{main|M2 Browning (12.7 mm)|Browning (7.62 mm)}}

Both of the P-26's guns are mounted in the nose, preventing gun convergence issues and allowing accurate fire at all ranges.

The P-26A-34 M2 is notably better than the other two P-26s thanks to the addition of a M2 Browning 12.7 mm machine gun. The 12.7 mm Browning will soon become the standard armament of American fighters, so learning its ballistics early is advantageous. The 12.7 mm Browning on the P-26A-34 M2 is only able to use the "early" set of belts, which consist mostly of less-effective armour-piercing rounds instead of the incendiary rounds that make the 12.7 mm so powerful, but it still represents a huge upgrade over the 7.62 mm Browning, which has very poor damage output.

The best belt for the 12.7 mm is likely either Universal (if you need tracers) or Stealth (if you can aim without tracers or in Arcade Battles). Default is also viable, although it contains a mostly-useless ball round. These belts have M1 Incendiary bullets in them, which translates to a higher fire chance, which is where most of your damage will come from when using machine guns.

The best belt for the 7.62 mm is Universal or Stealth, as both contain a good mix of AP rounds (best damage with rifle-caliber machine guns) and incendiary rounds (a little bit of fire chance).

The '''''{{PAGENAME}}''''' is armed with:

* 1 x 12.7 mm M2 Browning machine gun, nose-mounted (200 rpg)
* 1 x 7.62 mm Browning machine gun, nose-mounted (500 rpg)

=== Suspended armament ===
{{Specs-Avia-Suspended}}

{{main|AN-M30A1 (100 lb)}}

The P-26 can mount two 100 lb bombs, which drop together. These bombs can be used to decent effect against light ground targets, such as AI artillery and player-controlled open-top tanks. A direct hit will be needed to destroy harder targets such as tanks.

The '''''{{PAGENAME}}''''' can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

* Without load
* 2 x 100 lb AN-M30A1 bombs (200 lb total)

== Usage in battles ==


Generally, to do well in the P-26 never, ever turn fight, as it has a huge turning radius compared to other reserves. Ideally practice "Boom & Zoom" tactics, that is climb above, dive in, attack, climb up again for a new attack. Also, use the "Stealth" ammunition belt, it is the hardest hitting belt for this aircraft and targets will not see where you are, giving you another second or two advantage. Stealth is harder to use, but it's worth it. While a mediocre at best reserve fighter, it is a very good ground attacker carrying 2 x 100 lb AN-M30A1 bombs with 24.5 kg of TNT each, which is effective against even some Rank 3 tanks and Rank 2 ships.

A big plus to this P-26 variant is the .50 Cal M2 (12.7 mm) upgrade machine gun with 2.5x the penetration power making it much deadlier to targets (don't forget it will be on separate trigger).

Qualify the crew to "Expert", it is very cheap (1,000 SL), and put Crew points to Pilot Vitality (resist injury) and Weapon Maintenance, good to take and give damage.

Study your opponents, this is critical on how to counter them as there is no single way to counter all targets. The Japanese Ki-10 and Soviet I-15 are this aircraft's greatest threats, if they get on your six evade like crazy and hope they overshoot (never turn); teammates are also very helpful. Bombs with 0.5 secs delay could work. Others like the German He 51 you could outrun them, but do not turn. With higher BR units you may be just able to outmanoeuvre, but the best is constantly scan the sky for threats. Other rank 1 aircraft vary in threat level. Besides fighters, attacking bombers is a viable option, however, be mindful of defensive turrets as there are a few 12.7 mm machine guns and 20 mm cannons out there.

=== Manual Engine Control ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="7" | MEC elements
|-
! rowspan="2" | Mixer
! rowspan="2" | Pitch
! colspan="3" | Radiator
! rowspan="2" | Supercharger
! rowspan="2" | Turbocharger
|-
! Oil !! Water !! Type
|-
| Not controllable || Not controllable Not auto controlled || Not controllable Not auto controlled || Not controllable Not auto controlled || Separate || Not controllable 1 gear || Not controllable
|-
|}

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* Decently fast for its rank
* Good armament thanks to the use of a .50 calibre machine gun
* It is a monoplane reserve plane
* Turning is okay

'''Cons:'''

* Not as manoeuvrable as other fighters at its rank
* Slower than some late biplanes
* No armour
* Poor dive characteristics
* Poor energy retention
* Slightly worse climb rate than most reserve aircraft

== History ==

The Boeing P-26 Peashooter was a plane both ahead of its time and quickly made obsolete. First flown in 1932, the P-26 is the oldest plane in the game. It was one of the first all-metal monoplanes adopted into military service in 1933 (in comparison, the He 51 and Ki-10 entered service in 1935), making it one of the fastest fighters in the world at the time, but it suffered from poor flight performance and dangerous landing characteristics. However, as newer fighters entered service around the world, the P-26s advantages diminished and its disadvantages became vulnerabilities. By the time of World War Two, the P-26 was hopelessly obsolete.

The P-26 saw the of its combat serving in the Chinese Nationalist Air Force during the Second Sino-Japanese War, against Japanese Ki-10s, and notably A5Ms in some of the first all-metal monoplane dogfights. Although it performed admirably in the pursuit role (bomber interception), in air-to-air combat with Japanese fighters, the deficiencies of the model showed.

In US service, the P-26 had a similar record. During the Japanese invasion of the Philippines, the P-26s scored only a handful of air-to-air kills against Japanese attackers. On December 24, 1941, their crews burnt the remaining planes to prevent their capture. Of the one hundred and fifty-one built, only nine airworthy P-26s remained on Christmas 1941, a single squadron defending the Panama Canal Zone, which was removed from service shortly after.

=== In-game description ===
Many problems were revealed when the P-26's operation began. Due to its narrow landing gear tread and a landing speed too fast for its time, the aircraft was prone to nose over. When this happened, the pilots often lost their lives, although the planes themselves were not seriously damaged. As a result, the fuselage spine fairing was redesigned. Its height was increased by 20 cm, and the reinforced structure could endure a load of more than 12 tons if hit. The 29th production P-26А was the first to obtain this enlarged fuselage spine fairing, and the planes already produced were modified directly on the front lines.

New wing flaps allowed the aircraft's landing speed to be reduced. The plane was also equipped, in the event of an emergency landing on water, with two inflatable sacks occupying the containers in the wing roots. Beginning at the 26th production aircraft, this equipment became standard for the P-26А, but it was not installed on the aircraft already produced. There is no documented evidence that this system was ever used for its intended purpose, but one aircraft crashed after the raft kit opened spontaneously during flight.

P-26Аs produced later had reinforced armament: one synchronous 7.62 mm Browning M1 machine gun to the left of the fuselage and one synchronous large-calibre 12.7 mm Browning M2 .50 cal machine gun to the right. The magazine capacity of the large-calibre machine gun was 200 rounds.

A combined total of 111 machines of the P-26A variant were produced. The 20th Fighter Group was the first in the USAAC to be armed with Peashooters. It was followed by two more: the 1st Fighter Group based in Selfridge, Michigan, and the 17th Fighter Group at March Air Force Base, California. At various times, P-26s were operated in 22 USAAC fighter squadrons.

Peashooters were flown by many pilots who later occupied high positions in the USAAF and then in the USAF, including Henry Harley "Hap" Arnold, future Commander-in-Chief of the USAF.

== Media ==


;Skins
* [https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?vehicle=p-26a_34_m2 Skins and camouflages for the {{PAGENAME}} from live.warthunder.com.]

;Videos
{{Youtube-gallery|pSfjJcDS1Aw|'''P-26A-34 M2 Peashooter ACE''' - ''ArnoMedia''}}

== See also ==


;Related development

* [[P-26 (Family)]]

;Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

* Heinkel [[He 112 (Family)|He 112]]
* Polikarpov [[I-16 (Family)|I-16]]
* Mitsubishi [[A5M4]]
* Dewoitine [[D.500]]

== External links ==
''Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:''
* ''topic on the official game forum;''
* ''other literature.''

{{AirManufacturer Boeing}}
{{USA fighters}}

Lvtdgb m/40

2021-09-02T07:00:02Z

U14177576: Added text to many sections as well as detailed armor info

{{Specs-Card
|code=sw_tgdgb_m40_lv
|images={{Specs-Card-Image|GarageImage_Lvtdgb_m40.jpg}}
}}

== Description ==

The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a rank {{Specs|rank}} Swedish SPAA {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced in [[Update 1.97 "Viking Fury"]].

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===
{{Specs-Tank-Armour}}


'''Armour type:'''
* Rolled homogenous armour (Armour plates over cab, sides and rear of flatbed, ammo bin covers)
* Wood (Flatbed)
* Structural steel (Remainder of vehicle)

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front (Slope angle) !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 15 mm (32°) + 3 mm ''Engine'' 0-15 mm (9°) ''Cab'' || 0-3 mm ''Cab, engine'' 10 mm ''Flatbed'' || 15 mm || 3 mm ''Engine'' 10 mm ''Cab, ammo''
|-
| Turret || Open || Open || Open || Open
|-
|}

'''Notes:'''
* Wheels are 10 mm thick. Suspension frame is 30 mm thick.
* Turret base is 30 mm thick.
* Barrel is 20 mm thick.
* Gun is volumetric structural steel, 180-250 mm thick from the side and about a meter thick from the front.

The {{PAGENAME}} has essentially no armour from the side and only very minimal armour from the front. Three of the four crewmembers are located on the completely unarmoured turret, meaning machine guns can destroy the vehicle without having to shoot at the cab. The armour will not detonate most APHE rounds, but any HE or HEAT shell, artillery, machinegun, or autocannon will make quick work of the {{PAGENAME}}.

=== Mobility ===
{{Specs-Tank-Mobility}}


{{tankMobility|abMinHp=199|rbMinHp=124}}

The {{PAGENAME}} does not have a particularly high top speed, especially for a wheeled vehicle, but it does have good acceleration. It is quick to accelerate both on and off roads, and has enough horsepower to climb hills with some effectiveness. While tough terrain such as snow and mud does slow it down, it remains effective. Turning performance is poor due to the vehicle's long wheelbase, but overall the {{PAGENAME}} is more than capable of maneuvering effectively in combat and using its speed to flank the enemy.

=== Modifications and economy ===
{{Specs-Economy}}

== Armaments ==
{{Specs-Tank-Armaments}}
=== Main armament ===
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|1}}

{{main|lvakan m/36 (40 mm)}}
The {{PAGENAME}}'s gun is a renamed Bofors 40mm cannon, which is used on other AA guns such as the [[Crusader AA Mk II]] and the [[M19]]. The main difference is that the gun can fire {{Annotation|SAPHEI|Semi armour-piercing high-explosive incendiary}} shells, which act like APHE, penetrating tanks and then exploding inside. These shells can be very effective against enemy vehicles, but do not have as much penetration as the standard AP shells. These shells can make the gun quite effective against light and even medium tanks at the {{PAGENAME}}'s tier, but the inaccuracy of the gun makes using them a challenge. At ranges beyond around 100 meters it becomes difficult to hit weak spots reliably, even when firing the gun semi-auto. Automatic fire is rarely accurate enough to even land shots on target at this range. The gun has both high dispersion and recoil, which causes the unstable truck chassis it is mounted on to jiggle back and forth. Nevertheless, with trigger discipline and at closer ranges the gun can tear apart enemy tanks, especially from the side or rear.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
|-
! colspan="6" | [[lvakan m/36 (40 mm)|40 mm lvakan m/36]] || colspan="5" | Turret rotation speed (°/s) || colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! Mode !! Capacity (Belt) !! Fire rate !! Vertical !! Horizontal !! Stabilizer
! Stock !! Upgraded !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
! Stock !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
|-
! ''Arcade''
| rowspan="2" | 144 (8) || rowspan="2" | 120 || rowspan="2" | -6°/+85° || rowspan="2" | ±180° || rowspan="2" | N/A || 18.49 || 25.60 || 31.08 || 34.37 || 36.56 || rowspan="2" | 0.65 || rowspan="2" | 0.58 || rowspan="2" | 0.53 || rowspan="2" | 0.50
|-
! ''Realistic''
| 12.50 || 14.70 || 17.85 || 19.74 || 21.00
|-
|}

==== Ammunition ====

* '''Default:''' {{Annotation|APC|Armour-piercing capped}}{{-}}{{Annotation|HEFI-T|High-explosive fragmentation incendiary tracer}} - This belt type works fine, although half of the shots (APC) in this belt is for fighting tanks, while the other half (HEFI-T) is for fighting planes. Use them if you don't know what you'll encounter.
* '''slsgr m/36C:''' {{Annotation|HEFI-T|High-explosive fragmentation incendiary tracer}}{{-}}{{Annotation|HEFI-T|High-explosive fragmentation incendiary tracer}}{{-}}{{Annotation|HEFI-T|High-explosive fragmentation incendiary tracer}}{{-}}{{Annotation|APC|Armour-piercing capped}} - Versus planes and open combat compartment vehicles. Most planes will only take a few shots before going down.
* '''slhpgr m/43:''' {{Annotation|SAPHEI|Semi armour-piercing high-explosive incendiary}}{{-}}{{Annotation|SAPHEI|Semi armour-piercing high-explosive incendiary}}{{-}}{{Annotation|SAPHEI|Semi armour-piercing high-explosive incendiary}}{{-}}{{Annotation|HEFI-T|High-explosive fragmentation incendiary tracer}} - Best belt type to use against tanks. The SAPHEI shells have decent penetration and an explosive filler. It may be advisable to bring some default belts if the extra penetration is required.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Belt
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)'''
|-
! 10 m !! 100 m !! 500 m !! 1,000 m !! 1,500 m !! 2,000 m
|-
| Default || 79 || 75 || 60 || 46 || 35 || 26
|-
| slsgr m/36C || 79 || 75 || 60 || 46 || 35 || 26
|-
| slhpgr m/43 || 66 || 62 || 48 || 34 || 25 || 18
|-
|}

==== [[Ammo racks]] ====

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Full ammo
! 1st rack empty
! 2nd rack empty
! 3rd rack empty
! 4th rack empty
! 5th rack empty
! 6th rack empty
! Visual discrepancy
|-
| '''18''' || __ ''(+__)'' || __ ''(+__)'' || __ ''(+__)'' || __ ''(+__)'' || __ ''(+__)'' || __ ''(+__)'' || __
|-
|}

== Usage in battles ==


As any anti-aircraft vehicle, the {{PAGENAME}} is to be used against aerial targets to cover teammates from aerial attacks. The low fire rate of the 40 mm gun can make this task difficult, but one hit with the cannon's high-explosive shells should be sufficient in knocking down a plane from the skies.

Although being classified as an Anti-Air vehicle, one manner the {{PAGENAME}} can be used to great effect is as a tank destroyer. Due to the high penetration of the 40 mm AP shells, the {{PAGENAME}} can take advantage of most tanks having weak armor at its battle rating even frontally. However, caution is required as the gunner is exposed and the {{PAGENAME}} is not fast enough to be able to retreat once under attack.

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* Powerful 40 mm gun
* Effective in an anti-tank role
* AP shells have 79 mm of penetration
* SAPHEI shells have 66 mm of penetration and explosive filler
* 40 mm HE rounds make short work of enemy planes
* Very versatile - can take down both tanks and planes

'''Cons:'''

* Gun is inaccurate at longer ranges and when firing full-auto
* Slow turret traverse
* Hard to hit ground targets forward of the vehicle due to poor gun depression
* Not very agile due to it being on a truck chassis
* Four man crew of which three are in the open - susceptible to strafing enemy aircraft, artillery and machine gun fire
* Very little armour protection

== History ==
''Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the vehicle in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/History" (example: <nowiki>https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History</nowiki>) and add a link to it here using the <code>main</code> template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <code><nowiki><ref></ref></nowiki></code>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <code><nowiki><references /></nowiki></code>. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under <code><nowiki>=== In-game description ===</nowiki></code>, also if applicable).''

== Media ==
''Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.''

== See also ==


;Other vehicles of similar configuration and role

* [[Sd.Kfz. 6/2]]
* [[ZiS-43]]
* [[CCKW 353 AA]]

== External links ==
''Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:''

* ''topic on the official game forum;''
* ''encyclopedia page on the tank;''
* ''other literature.''

{{Sweden anti-aircraft vehicles}}
[[Category:Wheeled ground vehicles]]

Stuart III

2021-08-23T14:32:35Z

U14177576: Added to intro, clarified some numbers

{{About
| about = British light tank '''{{PAGENAME}}'''
|usage = other versions
|link = M3 Stuart (Family)
}}
{{Specs-Card
|code=uk_m3a1_stuart
|images={{Specs-Card-Image|GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg}}
}}

== Description ==

The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a rank {{Specs|rank}} British light tank {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced in [[Update "Starfighters"]]. The main difference from its predecessor, the [[Stuart I]], is a welded turret that has thicker mantlet armor and better sloping, as well as a lower profile thanks to the removal of the cupola. This turret also boasts the upgraded M6 cannon, which can fire higher-penetrating versions of the previous ammo. The transmission is also improved, and is capable of slightly higher speeds both forward and backward.

== General info ==
[[File:M3A1 screenshot 3.jpg|thumb|M3A1 takes hits while engaging enemy vehicles.]]
=== Survivability and armour ===
{{Specs-Tank-Armour}}


Being a light tank the Stuart III has fairly thin armour, it can generally protect against most machine guns and some smaller (20mm) cannons, but will usually not stand up against the main weapons of most enemy tanks at its battle rating. There is a fair amount of empty space inside the tank thanks to the addition of seats for the turret crew. This means that some poorly placed shots can go through your tank without causing much damage.

'''Armour type:'''

* Rolled homogeneous armour
* Cast homogeneous armour (Gun mantlet)

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 38.1 mm (18°) ''Driver Port'' 15.8 mm (69°) ''Front Glacis'' 44.4 mm (5-43°) ''Lower Glacis'' || 25.4 mm || 25.4 mm || 12.7 mm
|-
| Turret || 50.8 mm ''Mantlet'' 38.1 mm (13°) ''Turret Face'' || 31.8 mm || 31.8 mm || 12.7 mm
|-
|}

=== Mobility ===
{{Specs-Tank-Mobility}}


{{tankMobility|abMinHp= 406|rbMinHp= 232}}
[[File:M3A1 Turning Demo.gif|thumb|400px|Demonstration of the slow and fast turning of the Stuart III]]
The Stuart III has competitive mobility with a ratio of 20.8 hp per ton. At lower speeds (5-10 km/h) the turning can feel rather sluggish, but once a bit of forward movement is applied and the speed is increased the turning will feel much smoother and faster. The forward drive of the Stuart III can max out at 47 km/h off-road and 58 km/h on-road which will usually allow you to reach capture points or desirable camping spots quickly. The 6 km/h reverse speed of the Stuart III is certainly usable in most situations.

=== Modifications and economy ===
{{Specs-Economy}}

== Armaments ==
{{Specs-Tank-Armaments}}
=== Main armament ===
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|1}}

{{main|M6 (37 mm)}}

The main weapon on the Stuart III is a 37 mm M6 cannon featuring two rounds, AP & APCBC. This is a fairly standard gun for early American tanks as it is also featured on the [[M5A1]], [[M22]] & [[LVT(A)(1)]] although some of these vehicles also include a HE round that the Stuart III lacks. This gun packs a fierce punch if aiming at the correct area and firing at the correct distance. It is a small calibre fast-firing gun with a maximum penetration of 84 mm at 100 m (M51B1/B2 shell), being able to penetrate most of the opponents it will face. The penetration power and gun accuracy drop a lot beyond 500 m and become unreliable past 700 m. The gun is equipped with a vertical stabiliser, giving the Stuart III a huge advantage in some cases as you can fire precisely while moving, but keep in mind that it activates only when the tank is driving under 10 km/h.

While it lacks the post-penetration damage to disable most enemies in one shot, it can quickly finish them off with its fast reload. Knowledge of enemy vehicle layouts is essential with ammunition lacking post-penetration explosive damage. Make sure to target modules and crew positions to maximise the damage. Disabling the enemy gunner on your first shot will be critical to win engagements as you'll most likely need several shots to destroy an enemy vehicle.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[M6 (37 mm)|37 mm M6]] || colspan="5" | Turret rotation speed (°/s) || colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! Mode !! Capacity !! Vertical !! Horizontal !! Stabilizer
! Stock !! Upgraded !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
! Stock !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
|-
! ''Arcade''
| rowspan="2" | 106 || rowspan="2" | -10°/+20° || rowspan="2" | ±180° || rowspan="2" | {{Annotation|Vertical|up to 16 km/h}} || 19.04 || 26.35 || 32.00 || 35.39 || 37.65 || rowspan="2" | 3.77 || rowspan="2" | 3.33 || rowspan="2" | 3.07 || rowspan="2" | 2.90
|-
! ''Realistic''
| 11.90 || 14.00 || 17.00 || 18.80 || 20.00
|-
|}

==== Ammunition ====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)'''
|-
! 10 m !! 100 m !! 500 m !! 1,000 m !! 1,500 m !! 2,000 m
|-
| M74B1 || AP || 79 || 76 || 65 || 54 || 45 || 37
|-
| M51B1/B2 || APCBC || 87 || 84 || 73 || 60 || 50 || 41
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="10" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" | Velocity (m/s)
! rowspan="2" | Projectile Mass (kg)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse delay (m)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse sensitivity (mm)
! rowspan="2" | Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
! colspan="3" | Ricochet
|-
! 0% !! 50% !! 100%
|-
| M74B1 || AP || 883 || 0.87 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 47° || 60° || 65°
|-
| M51B1/B2 || APCBC || 883 || 0.87 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
|}

==== [[Ammo racks]] ====
[[File:Ammoracks_M3A1_Stuart.jpg|right|thumb|x250px|[[Ammo racks]] of the {{PAGENAME}}]]

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Full ammo
! 1st rack empty
! 2nd rack empty
! 3rd rack empty
! Visual discrepancy
|-
| '''106''' || 71 ''(+35)'' || 36 ''(+70)'' || 1 ''(+105)'' || No
|-
|}

=== Machine guns ===
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|2}}
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|3}}

{{main|M1919A4 (7.62 mm)}}

The Stuart III employs a turret top machine gun and a coaxial machine gun, both of which are the same 7.62 mm M1919A4, these guns are limited to a single AP & T belt type with up to 10 mm of penetration.

The machine gun is only enough to destroy poorly protected vehicles such as the [[AS 42]], [[Flakpanzer I]], and [[GAZ-AAA (4M)|GAZ-AAA]]. The penetration of around 10 mm is not enough to go through the frontal armour of not-so-weakly-armoured tanks like [[SU-5-1]], [[Panzerjager I]], or [[15cm sIG 33 B Sfl]]. If you are skilled, the two machine guns can be used effectively against low-flying biplanes.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="50%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[M1919A4 (7.62 mm)|7.62 mm M1919A4]]
|-
! Mount !! Capacity (Belt) !! Fire rate !! Vertical !! Horizontal
|-
| Coaxial || 3,200 (250) || 500 || N/A || N/A
|-
| Pintle || 3,000 (250) || 500 || -5°/+70° || ±60°
|-
|}

== Usage in battles ==

[[File:M3A1 Screenshot 1.jpg|thumb|M3A1 attacking a StuG III]]
Due to its light armour, it is advisable not to use the Stuart III frontally at closer ranges, especially not against higher rated enemy vehicles that will go through your strongest frontal armour (50.8mm) without issue. The ideal tactic to use is to employ your competitive speed to flank the enemy and find a position that will allow you to attack them will little resistance, even in a match against higher rated enemy vehicles your rounds will have no issue going through the side armour of said enemy vehicles, common maps such as [[Eastern Europe (Ground Forces)|Eastern Europe]] and [[Cargo Port]] offer clear opportunity's to flank the enemy vehicles with good amounts of cover, this is especially clear on [[Eastern Europe (Ground Forces)|Eastern Europe]] where you can flank on the other side of the river that runs through the map, this puts you at close range to the side of enemy vehicles, allowing you to prevent them reaching capture points such as the central B point.

To take down enemy vehicles it is advisable to destroy both their turret and engine to prevent escape and stop them engaging you or your allies, due to the fast reload (at best 2.9s) you can hit both parts of an enemy quickly, usually before they can fire back, if they are still not dead after the gun and engine have been hit, shots into the crew compartment should finish the job, but most enemies are usually eliminated by the first 2 shots, it is common for any side shot against an enemy to pen and cause a fair level of damage, even if the enemy is not killed your fast reload will grant you a second chance quickly to place an adjusted shot into the enemy. Even at longer ranges, the Stuart III can be a competent sniper, especially if facing lighter vehicles with flat armour or the side armour of a targeted enemy, firing from long range is another way to ensure that your light armour does not hold you back, being at long range will usually prevent or make it difficult for enemies to successfully hit your vehicle.

'''Enemies worth noting:'''

Specific enemy vehicles that bear mentioning are firstly any Germans with the [[KwK38 (20 mm)|20 mm KwK/FlaK38]] cannon, this gun might be small but can have up too 64 mm of penetration, which is enough to go through the Stuart III at almost any point, these guns can also fire 10 rounds at 280 rounds/min before having to reload the clip, this means that they will very easily take out your crew before you have a chance to respond, as far as countering the best chance you have is to angle your frontal armour which can make it difficult for the PzGr 40 rounds to pen. Keeping your distance to those tanks will also help, as their cannons lose all penetration after 500-700 m.

The Russian [[T-50]] and [[T-126]] are vehicles you will also see commonly, these have fairly thick & angled frontal armour that will prevent you from easily getting through, these tanks also poses an APHEBC round that will destroy you in one shot with little difficulty, to counter you should use your speed to attempt to get a side shot into either the turret or engine if the T-50 cannot move you can outrun its turret and finish it without much difficulty.

It is likely that the M3 will encounter some rough heavies, like the B1 bis. The best tactic against this type of targets is to use the M3A3's fast speed, get within 200 m from then and attack, with shooting at point-blank range being the most effective way. Before conducting an attack, check the M3A3's and the enemy's surroundings to make sure no one will ambush the M3A3. While charging, use the M3A3's quick turns to suddenly change direction to avoid being shot if they are aiming and firing at the M3A3. Once the tank is at the ideal distance, manoeuvre so that the gun is vertical to their armour. Do not shoot if the enemy is angling! The small calibre 37 mm gun is very likely to bounce off or not penetrate against sloped armour.

For the B1 specifically, either aim for the near-vertical frontal armour plate at the right side of the hull, or the turret ring to incapacitate the commander/gunner. Or simply move to its side and knock out the crews one by one by hitting its flat side armour.[[File:M3A1 Screenshot 2.jpg|thumb|M3A1 flanking on Eastern Europe]]

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* Frontal armour useful against MGs and light cannons
* Competitive mobility
* Reliable gun with a good rate of fire
* Ammo has good penetration
* Lots of empty space, so poorly aimed shots tend to not do much damage

'''Cons:'''

* All crew members can be eliminated by a well-placed shot
* Brakes are weak
* Turning is sluggish at slower speeds
* No AP ammunition with HE filler

== History ==


===Development===
The American light tank design prior to World War II, the [[M2A4|M2 light tank]], was seen as obsolete after observing Germany's Panzer forces tear through Europe. The design was to be upgraded with more armour, a better suspension, and a new gun recoil system. The revised version was designated the '''[[M3_Stuart|Light Tank M3]]''', which the British named the ''Stuart''. At its basis, the light tank had a 37 mm cannon with a similar layout as the M2 light tank, with the radial engine at the rear and the transmission on the front, though the radial engine was in high demand so the Guiberson diesel T-1210 were fitted in some models to substitute the engine. The design used the VVSS bogie system seen on previous American tank designs. The tank had a crew of four: driver, assistant driver, gunner, and commander, who doubled as the loader.

The first variant of the M3 ''Stuart'' light tank was very similar to the M2 light tanks. It had five machine gun armaments scattered around like the M2 but featured better armour and a better cannon with the 37 mm M6 cannon. The design did not have a turret basket for the crew and it was constructed out of rivets, which increased the chance of spalling in the tank. Nevertheless, the first variant M3 saw about 5,811 units produced. The second variant, the '''Light Tank M3A1 ''Stuart'' ''', featured a new turret with no cupola on it, plus an added gun stabilizer. The machine guns on the hull sides were removed, so now the total machine guns were reduced from five to three. The design also featured a welded armour design to remove the weakness of riveted armour. 4,621 of this variant was produced from May 1942 to February 1943. The most used variant, the '''[[M5A1|M5A1 Stuart]]''', had a completely redesigned hull and turret, with the hull most notably having a full sloping frontal armour than the previous designs. This variant had about 6,810 units produced. All in all, the M3 light tank design and its variants were produced in massive quantities from March 1941 to October 1943 with a total of 25,000 units produced.

===Combat usage===
The British were the first to use the M3 ''Stuart'' in Africa in 1941, using it in Operation Crusader. However, the result ended with heavy losses, due to the better training the German Afrika Korps had compared to the British tank doctrine. The encounter also pointed out many flaws in the M3, mainly the cramped interior and limited operational range, but was praised for its high mobility and reliability when compared to the British contemporary designs. In 1942, the ''Stuarts'' were generally kept as recon units rather than combat units, and some were even modified to improve speed and range by removing the turret, and others were converted to armoured personnel carriers and command vehicles. Though the British used it extensively, it was still in small proportion compared to American usage. The Soviet Union was also another user of the M3 but found it unfavourable due to their own logistics, plus it was not made to withstand the Russian ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rasputitsa Rasputitsa]'' or even the winter. The Soviet eventually turned down any more offers for the ''Stuart'' by 1943. The M3s also supported the British and Chinese forces in Asia against the Japanese Army, and also France and Yugoslavia in Europe against the German Wehrmacht.

The Americans used it widely in both operational theatres. In the Pacific, the M3s were the first tanks America used in a tank vs. tank operation against the Imperial Japanese Army, where five M3s fought [[Ha-Go|Type 95 Ha-Gos]] in the Phillippines. Though the ''Stuarts'' were newer than the Japanese tank designs by about five years, they were seen as equal in performance and firepower, but the M3 benefited by the support of the American industry arm. The ''Stuarts'' served in the Pacific slightly better than its heavier counterparts such as the [[M4|M4 ''Shermans'']] due to its lighter weight and manoeuvrability in the poor jungle terrain, but the M3 ''Stuarts'' in the Pacific were gradually replaced by M4 ''Shermans'' due to heavy losses from its thinner armour. The M3 was also some of the first US tanks to be converted into flamethrower tanks, named as the ''"Satan"''. The Satan tanks provided favourable results to the concept of a flamethrower tank and were replaced by flamethrower-equipped M4 ''Shermans'' in 1945.

In Europe, the M3 formed a large part of the American tank battalions, though following the British path by sidelining the ''Stuarts'' from combat duties after heavy losses and to serve alongside ''Shermans'' as scouting units. A typical tank battalion for the US Army consisted of three companies of ''Shermans'' and one of ''Stuarts''. Other than scouting, the M3s were also used in cavalry roles and infantry support since their cannon are unable to compete with the German tank designs. Despite their dwindling capabilities in battle, the M3 was kept in service up until the end of the war due to the large production numbers.

After World War II, the ''Stuarts'' were given out as cheap surplus, countries such as China, India, and Pakistan picked up a few and used them in their conflicts. Portuguese also picked up a few M3s for the war in Angola, and the South African Corps continued using the ''Stuarts'' until 1955, where some were still kept in service until 1968 due to available parts. Today, Paraguay is still a user of the M3 light tanks, though as the only tracked armour used in the country.

The ''Stuart'' light tank design was also quite versatile that it was made into different variants for different roles on the battlefield. It served as an infantry support vehicle as to the ''[[M8 Scott|75mm GMC M8]]'' and experiments were also taken to see if it could be adapted to an anti-aircraft gun and a flamethrower as well. However, the M3 was becoming an ageing design with inferior armour, cramped interior layout, and a small 37 mm gun, so a program to replace the light tank began in 1943 and became the [[M24|M24 ''Chaffee'']], which would eventually replace the M3 Light Tank mostly after World War II.

=== In-game description ===
Production of the M3A1 Stuart modification got underway in April 1942, with its primary changes affecting turret construction. The turret was a horseshoe-shaped M3, though it did not have a cupola, and two triangular hatches on its roof served as exits for the crew. The gunner and reloader had periscopes. The turret rotated using a power traverse as opposed to the manually rotated M3. Its faster rotation speed required changes in its construction, in particular a basket fitted with seats for the crew members.

The M23 mantlet was fitted with a 37 mm M6 cannon featuring a gyro stabilizer that significantly boosted accuracy while on the move. That did, however, require more training for gunners, a difficult assignment under battlefield conditions. The sponson-mounted immobile M1919A4 machine guns were replaced with additional ammunition storage, pushing the tank's capacity to 116 shells and 6,400 bullets.

From April to August of 1942 the M3A1 was produced alongside the M3. Changes were made gradually, meaning that some later M3s featured welded bodies and new turrets. They lacked, however, the basket and power traverse, and were called Stuart Hybrids. Some early M3A1s had sponson-mounted machine guns (the intervening models plugged up the openings) and riveted bodies. By the end of February 1943, 4,621 M3A1s had been assembled, 211 of them with the Guiberson T-1020-4 engines (called Stuart IVs by the British). It is worth noting that the M3A1s with welded bodies should have been designated M3A2s, though that never actually happened.

== Media ==


== Media ==


;Skins
* [https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?vehicleCountry=britain&vehicleType=tank&vehicleClass=light_tank&vehicle=uk_m3a1_stuart Skins and camouflages for the {{PAGENAME}} from live.warthunder.com.]

;Images
<gallery mode="packed-hover" widths="280" heights="180" perrow="3">
File:Stuart III side view.jpeg|A side view of the Stuart III tank.
File:Stuart III high front view.jpeg|A front view of the Stuart III tank.
File:Stuart III rear view smoke.jpeg|A rear view of the Stuart III tank.
File:Stuart III high side view.jpeg|A front view of the Stuart III tank.
File:Stuart III ground view.jpg|A front view of the Stuart III tank.
File:Stuart III.jpg|A front view of the Stuart III tank.
</gallery>

== 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 ==

''Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:''
* ''topic on the official game forum;''
* ''other literature.''

{{Britain light tanks}}

Stuart I

2021-08-23T14:18:30Z

U14177576: Fixed some grammar and wording

{{About
| about = British light tank '''{{PAGENAME}}'''
|usage = other versions
|link = M3 Stuart (Family)
}}
{{Specs-Card
|code=uk_m3_stuart
|images={{Specs-Card-Image|GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg}}
}}

== Description ==

The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a rank {{Specs|rank}} British light tank {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced in [[Update "Starfighters"]].

== General info ==
[[File:M3 Stuart Screenshot 3.jpg|thumb|M3 Stuart driving in the Snow ([[Frozen Pass (Ground Forces)|Frozen Pass]])]]
=== Survivability and armour ===
{{Specs-Tank-Armour}}

Being a light tank the Stuart I has fairly thin armour. It can generally protect against most machine guns but will usually not stand up against the main weapons of enemy tanks at its battle rating. The inside of the tank is fairly cramped with the two turret members standing, this means that the likelihood of a crew member being hit is fairly high.

'''Armour type:'''

* Rolled homogeneous armour
* Cast homogeneous armour (lower frontal plate)

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 38.1 mm (18°) ''Driver Port'' 15.8 mm (69°) ''Front Glacis'' 44.4 mm (21°) ''Lower Glacis'' || 25.4 mm || 25.4 mm || 12.7 mm
|-
| Turret || 38.1 mm || 25.4 mm || 25.4 mm || 12.7 mm
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels, bogies and tracks are 15 mm thick.
* Most of the mantlet reaches 76.2 mm thickness due to overlapping plates.

[[File:M3 Stuart turning updated.gif|thumb|426x426px|Stuart I Turning Demo at Slow and Fast speeds]]

=== Mobility ===
{{Specs-Tank-Mobility}}


{{tankMobility|abMinHp= 406|rbMinHp= 232}}The {{PAGENAME}} feels fresh compared to most early British vehicles, and not even the Tetrarch can compare to its swiftness and maneuverability. The Stuart's speed both forward and backward is equal or better to the other vehicles in Rank I.

The Stuart I can reach a speed of 49 km/h off-road and up to 50 km/h on road. It can feel sluggish while turning at a slower speed as it lacks neutral steering, but when moving forward the turning is much smoother and quicker. The vehicle reverses at up to 6 km/h which, while somewhat slow, is still usable in most situations on the battlefield.

You will find this vehicle very useful at climbing up hills and flanking through the sides of the map. It feels better in the countryside or open places rather than urban areas. This helps it reach its full flanking potential and prevents it from being confined to close quarters.

Reverse speed, while still rather slow, is a refreshing leap from the usually lacking British reverse gear. Learn how to use it and remember it's not the same with all British tanks.

=== Modifications and economy ===
{{Specs-Economy}}

== Armaments ==
{{Specs-Tank-Armaments}}
=== Main armament ===
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|1}}

{{main|M5 (37 mm)}}

The main gun of the Stuart I is a 37 mm M5 cannon. This gun is also featured on the [[M2A4]] and [[M3 Lee]]. On the Stuart I the M5 can use 2 round types, either M74 (AP) or M51 (APCBC) with the latter being a Tier 1 modification.

The overall firepower is decent. The main cannon has an adequate penetration of about 60 mm which is more than enough to go through most tanks below 2.0, such as the T-26, Pz.III and Pz.35t. Although the available ammunition is all solid shells, they still make quite a bit of shrapnel when penetrating which is enough to one-shot compact tanks like the T-26 and Pz.35t. For larger tanks like the LVT(A), accurate shots pinpointing the crew are required which might be a little hard for new players. The cannon has enough accuracy to precisely knock out the enemy's crew within 500m. If one shot misses, the reload time of around 3.5 seconds allows quick following shots.

The cannon is provided with a nice shoulder stabiliser, which is a big advantage when exchanging fire, as it allows you to move out of cover and fire (usually before the enemy) without having to wait for your tank to stop wobbling. The stabiliser should be utilised to maximise your chance of surviving and killing. Note that it only works below 10 kph, so remember to slow down or it will not stabilise the gun.

Targets like the 15cm sIG 33 B Sfl or M3 GMC can be quite hard to destroy, as their armour is thin enough to create little shrapnel, but are also thick enough to stop MG bullets. Against them, you can only rely on your fire rate, accuracy and of course your knowledge of their crew position to knock out their crew one by one. Always go for the gunners or drivers first, because if you fail to do so they can always fight back and one-shot you.

The main cannon is only effective in close quarters combat (usually within 200m) or against weakly armoured targets, since the penetration drops drastically as the range increases, plus the small caliber makes the shells easy to ricochet. When encountering fairly well armored tanks like the M13/40 or H.35, try and break their gun barrels first or track them. If they are too far away, pin them on the map and call teammates to help.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[M5 (37 mm)|37 mm M5]] || colspan="5" | Turret rotation speed (°/s) || colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! Mode !! Capacity !! Vertical !! Horizontal !! Stabilizer
! Stock !! Upgraded !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
! Stock !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
|-
! ''Arcade''
| rowspan="2" | 103 || rowspan="2" | -10°/+20° || rowspan="2" | ±180° || rowspan="2" | {{Annotation|Vertical|up to 16 km/h}} || 19.04 || 26.35 || 32.00 || 35.00 || 37.65 || rowspan="2" | 3.77 || rowspan="2" | 3.33 || rowspan="2" | 3.07 || rowspan="2" | 2.90
|-
! ''Realistic''
| 11.90 || 14.00 || 17.00 || 18.80 || 20.00
|-
|}

==== Ammunition ====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)'''
|-
! 10 m !! 100 m !! 500 m !! 1,000 m !! 1,500 m !! 2,000 m
|-
| M74 shot || AP || 67 || 65 || 56 || 46 || 38 || 32
|-
| M51 shot || APCBC || 75 || 72 || 62 || 51 || 43 || 35
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="10" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" | Velocity (m/s)
! rowspan="2" | Projectile Mass (kg)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse delay (m)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse sensitivity (mm)
! rowspan="2" | Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
! colspan="3" | Ricochet
|-
! 0% !! 50% !! 100%
|-
| M74 shot || AP || 792 || 0.87 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 47° || 60° || 65°
|-
| M51 shot || APCBC || 792 || 0.87 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
|}

==== [[Ammo racks]] ====
[[File:Ammoracks_M3_Stuart.jpg|right|thumb|x250px|[[Ammo racks]] of the {{PAGENAME}}]]

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Full ammo
! 1st rack empty
! 2nd rack empty
! 3rd rack empty
! Visual discrepancy
|-
| '''103''' || 69 ''(+34)'' || 35 ''(+68)'' || 1 ''(+102)'' || No
|-
|}

=== Machine guns ===
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|2}}
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|3}}

{{main|M1919A4 (7.62 mm)}}

Alongside the main gun, the Stuart I has 2 additional [[M1919A4 (7.62 mm)|7.62 mm M1919A4]] machine guns. The first machine gun noted is in a coaxial mount aligned with the gun, second is mounted on the turret top in a pintle mount. Unlike its American counterpart, the Stuart I lacks the two machine guns mounted on the hull sides. The Stuart I does also have a hull front machine gun but this cannot be fired.

The machine gun is only enough to destroy poorly protected vehicles such as AS 42, FlakPz I and GAZ-AAA. The penetration of around 10 mm is not enough to go through the frontal armour of those not-so-weakly-armoured tanks like SU-5-1, Panzerjager 1 or 15cm sIG 33 B Sfl. If you are skilled the two MG can effectively damage low-flying biplanes.

The machine guns will allow you to shoot low-flying planes, but do very poor damage. Biplanes may be easily shot down, but anything more durable will likely be too tough to damage significantly. The pintle MG has good elevation allowing it to aim high enough to target even planes almost directly above, but its traverse speed is often too slow to keep up with aircraft. Moving the turret or sometimes the hull itself may be necessary in order to successfully attack an airplane.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[M1919A4 (7.62 mm)|7.62 mm M1919A4]]
|-
! Mount
! Capacity (Belt capacity)
! Rate of fire (shots/minute)
! Vertical guidance
! Horizontal guidance
|-
| Pintle || 3,000 (250) || 500 || -10°/+70° || ±60°
|-
| Coaxial || 3,200 (250) || 500 || N/A || N/A
|-
|}

== Usage in battles ==

When driving the Stuart I, it is best to maintain some distance from enemy vehicles, this is advisable due to the somewhat thin armour and closely packed crew that you have to work with, if you are on a smaller map where keeping distance from enemy vehicles is not possible then it would be a good idea to use buildings and landscape features for cover and to keep your vehicle concealed.

'''Offensive rear support'''

A way to use this tank is as a support vehicle behind the main tank offensive, with your high reloading gun, velocity and decent pen you will be able to provide quick support firing for the vehicles advancing.

In the majority of cases, you will be able to go through the frontal armour of enemy tanks (best pen is 75 mm) although some vehicles with heavily angled front armour may be able to stop your round being effective. A consistently effective tactic is to flank an enemy vehicle and fire into the side of the crew compartment, aiming near the turret to disable their ability to fire is a good way to use your first shot, thanks to the quick (at best 2.9s) reload of the Stuart I, you can then put second and third shots into the enemy if needed to finish off their crew.

If the assault seems deemed to fail, you can quickly turn back and speed your escape out the frontline, this thanks to its highly mobile transmission.

'''Flanker'''

Another aspect worth mentioning here is the mobility of the Stuart I, while not the fastest vehicle at its BR it certainly still has competitive mobility that will allow it to reach capture points in quickly or get to a good camping or flanking position before most enemy or friendly vehicles alike.

Using the map to your advantage, choosing rather lonely areas of the map and lurking in the smallest of the corners is the little Stuart's job. Covering with the forest or using the landscape for attacking the enemy with surprise by the sides, or the rear. This tactic applies even when using the vehicle in an up-tiered battle rating match, as there will be plenty of light tanks trying to do the same as you.

'''Enemies worth noting'''

'''German tanks'''

Specific enemy vehicles that bear mentioning are any German vehicles with the [[KwK38 (20 mm)|20 mm KwK/FlaK38]] cannon, this gun might be small but can have up to 64 mm of penetration, which is enough to go through the Stuart I at almost any point even frontally, these guns can also fire 10 rounds at 280 rounds/min before having to reload the clip, this means that they will easily take out your crew before you have a chance to respond. As far as countering, the best chance you have is to angle your frontal armour, which can make it difficult for the PzGr 40 rounds to penetrate. It will also help to to maintain distance from enemy, because the PzGr 40 round loses penetration very quickly. However generally speaking you will not stand much of a chance against vehicles equipped with this gun if you are openly exposed to their fire.

Some German medium tanks can be surprisingly tough frontally. Use the Protection Analysis feature in the hangar to know where to properly shoot them.

'''Swedish tanks'''

Swedish tanks are usually lacking in the armour department, so the Stuart I, it's able to do good work with its gun. Keep in mind that they have powerful guns and fast-firing tanks. Be aware of their APDS shells, which are very fast and easy to aim at long ranges, don't try to fight them at long distances. Tankers must be precise when engaging them. Their shaped turret is capable of even bouncing some of the inbound shots, it is best to always aim for the centre area of the hull or the turret.

[[File:M3 Stuart Screenshot 2.jpg|thumb|An M3 Stuart attacking a [[BT-7]]]]

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* Good front armour, can deflect weak shells when angled
* Fast and agile, competitive with the BT-5
* Decent firepower: good rate of fire and penetration
* -10 degrees gun depression means good terrain adaptation

'''Cons:'''

* Crew are located close together, lowering survivability
* Brakes are weak especially at high speed
* Turning can be bad at slower speeds
* No ammunition with HE filler (only solid shots) meaning poor damage
* Despite being a small tank, quite tall and boxy profile

== History ==

===Development===
The American light tank design prior to World War II, the [[M2A4|M2 light tank]], was seen as obsolete after observing Germany's Panzer forces tear through Europe. The design was to be upgraded with more armour, a better suspension, and a new gun recoil system. The revised version was designated the '''Light Tank M3''', which the British named the ''Stuart''. At its basis, the light tank had a 37 mm cannon with a similar layout as the M2 light tank, with the radial engine at the rear and the transmission on the front, though the radial engine was in high demand so the Guiberson diesel T-1210 were fitted in some models to substitute the engine. The design used the VVSS bogie system seen on previous American tank designs. The tank had a crew of four: driver, assistant driver, gunner, and commander, who doubled as the loader.

The first variant of the M3 ''Stuart'' light tank was very similar to the M2 light tanks. It had five machine gun armaments scattered around like the M2, but featured better armour and a better cannon with the 37 mm M6 cannon. The design did not have a turret basket for the crew and it was constructed out of rivets, which increased the chance of spalling in the tank. Nevertheless, the first variant M3 saw about 5,811 units produced. The second variant, the '''[[M3A1 Stuart|M3A1 Stuart]]''', featured a new turret with no cupola on it, plus an added gun stabilizer. The machine guns on the hull sides were removed, so now the total machine guns were reduced from five to three. The design also featured a welded armour design to remove the weakness of riveted armour. 4,621 of this variant was produced from May 1942 to February 1943. The most used variant, the '''[[M5A1|M5A1 Stuart]]''', had a completely redesigned hull and turret, with the hull most notably having a full sloping frontal armour than the previous designs. This variant had about 6,810 units produced. All in all, the M3 light tank design and all its later variants were produced in massive quantities from March 1941 to October 1943 with a total of 25,000 units produced.

===Combat usage===
The British were the first to use the M3 ''Stuart'' in Africa in 1941, using it in Operation Crusader. However, the result ended with heavy losses, due to the better training the German Afrika Korps had compared to the British tank doctrine. The encounter also pointed out many flaws in the M3, mainly the cramped interior and limited operational range, but was praised for its high mobility and reliability when compared to the British contemporary designs. In 1942, the ''Stuarts'' were generally kept as recon units rather than combat units, and some were even modified to improve speed and range by removing the turret, and others were converted to armoured personnel carriers and command vehicles. Though the British used it extensively, it was still in small proportion compared to American usage. The Soviet Union was also another user of the M3 but found it unfavourable due to their own logistics, plus it was not made to withstand the Russian ''Rasputitsa'' or even the winter. The Soviet eventually turned down any more offers for the ''Stuart'' by 1943. The M3s also supported the British and Chinese forces in Asia against the Japanese Army, and also France and Yugoslavia in Europe against the German Wehrmacht.

The Americans used it widely in both operational theatres. In the Pacific, the M3s were the first tanks America used in a tank vs. tank operation against the Imperial Japanese Army, where five M3s fought [[Ha-Go|Type 95 Ha-Gos]] in a well-known action in the Phillippines. In total 108 M3s served with the 192nd and 194th Tank Battalions, also known as the 1st Provisional Tank Group, in the 1941 U.S. defence of the Phillippines, despite having no HE ammo issued. More than 30 were captured by the Japanese, who equipped their 7th Tank Regiment with them, who used them to defend the Philippines again, against the US in 1944. M3s were also used by Company B of the 1st Marine Tank Battalion at Guadalcanal in 1942. Though the ''Stuarts'' were newer than the Japanese tank designs by about five years, they were seen as equal in performance and firepower, but the M3 benefited by the support of the American industry arm. The ''Stuarts'' served in the Pacific slightly better than its heavier counterparts such as the [[M4|M4 ''Shermans'']] due to its lighter weight and manoeuvrability in the poor jungle terrain, but the M3 ''Stuarts'' in the Pacific were gradually replaced by M4 ''Shermans'' due to heavy losses from its thinner armour. The M3 was also some of the first US tanks to be converted into flamethrower tanks, named as the ''"Satan"''. The Satan tanks provided favourable results to the concept of a flamethrower tank and were replaced by flamethrower-equipped M4 ''Shermans'' in 1945.

In Europe, the M3 formed a large part of the American tank battalions, though following the British path by sidelining the ''Stuarts'' from combat duties after heavy losses and to serve alongside ''Shermans'' as scouting units. A typical tank battalion for the US Army consisted of three companies of ''Shermans'' and one of ''Stuarts''. Other than scouting, the M3s were also used in cavalry roles and infantry support since their cannon are unable to compete with the German tank designs. Despite their dwindling capabilities in battle, the M3 was kept in service up until the end of the war due to the large production numbers.

After World War II, the ''Stuarts'' were given out as cheap surplus, countries such as China, India, and Pakistan picked up a few and used them in their conflicts. Portuguese also picked up a few M3s for the war in Angola, and the South African Corps continued using the ''Stuarts'' until 1955, where some were still kept in service until 1968 due to available parts. Today, Paraguay is still a user of the M3 light tanks, though as the only tracked armour used in the country.

The ''Stuart'' light tank design was also quite versatile that it was made into different variants for different roles on the battlefield. It served as an infantry support vehicle as to the ''[[M8 Scott|75mm GMC M8]]'' and experiments were also taken to see if it could be adapted to an anti-aircraft gun and a flamethrower as well. However, the M3 was becoming an ageing design with inferior armour, cramped interior layout, and a small 37 mm gun, so a program to replace the light tank began in 1943 and became the [[M24|M24 ''Chaffee'']], which would eventually replace the M3 Light Tank mostly after World War II.

=== In-game description ===
At the beginning of 1940 the Ordnance Department put together technical requirements for a new tank, the need for which was clear at the beginning of World War II. The first prototype was refashioned after the M2A4 at the Rock Island Arsenal. The tank had a riveted turret with few viewing slits, and the new M22 mantlet had thicker armor. The hull's frontal armor was also thickened to 45 mm and the turret to 38 mm. The tank hull was assembled from rolled armor plates on a frame made from angle sections and flat bars using rivets, though later releases were partially welded. From the end of 1941 to the beginning of 1942 a lack of standard gas-powered Continental aircraft engines forced some tanks to be outfitted with 265 hp Guiberson T-1020-4 diesel-powered, nine-cylinder, air-cooled radial engines capable of reaching 2,250 rpm. The diesel tanks could be recognized by their Vortex air filters and were generally designated M3 diesels. At the end of 1941 the tanks with carburetor engines were equipped with two cylindrically-shaped external fuel tanks, each with a capacity of 102 liters, that were connected to the engine supply system. After being exhausted, the external tanks could be jettisoned by the crew without leaving the tank. Adding the new tanks doubled the M3's range.

On July 5, 1940, the new light tank was standardized and released under the M3 designation. It was more widely known by the moniker General Stuart, given it by the British, who received a significant number of them in 1941 and 1942 via Lend-Lease.

Production of the M3 began in March 1941 at the American Car & Foundry factory. March 1941 through August 1942 saw 5,811 built, 1,285 of which were equipped with the Guiberson T-1020-4 engine.

M3 Stuart light tanks were also delivered to the Red Army and the UK via Lend-Lease to be used on all fronts in World War II beginning in 1941.

== Media ==


;Skins

[https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?vehicleCountry=britain&vehicleType=tank&vehicleClass=light_tank&vehicle=uk_m3_stuart Skins and camouflages for the {{PAGENAME}} from live.warthunder.com.]

== 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 ==

''Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:''

* ''topic on the official game forum;''
* ''other literature.''

{{Britain light tanks}}

A13 Mk II

2021-08-23T13:36:49Z

U14177576: Fixed some armor numbers

{{About
| about = British light tank '''{{PAGENAME}}'''
| usage = other uses
| link = A13 (Family)
}}
{{Specs-Card
|code=uk_a_13_mk2
|images={{Specs-Card-Image|GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg}}
}}

== Description ==

The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a rank {{Specs|rank}} British light tank {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced along with the initial British tree line in [[Update 1.55 "Royal Armour"]]. Featuring the [[Ordnance QF 2-pounder (40 mm)|QF 2-pounder]] as the main armament coupled with good mobility, this vehicle is a typical light tank and plays as such.

This tank is a good representative of later rank 2-3 British tanks: good mobility, flat and thin frontal armour, bad reverse speed and minimal post-penetration damage.

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===
{{Specs-Tank-Armour}}

'''Armour type:'''

* Rolled homogeneous armour
* Cast homogeneous armour (Gun mantlet)

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 30 mm ''Front plate'' 14 mm (62°) ''Upper glacis'' 30 mm ''Front glacis'' 14 mm (64°) ''Lower glacis'' || 7 + 7 mm || 14 mm (0-62°) || 14 mm
|-
| Turret || 14 mm (0-15°) ''Turret front'' 14 mm (1-63°) ''Gun mantlet'' || 14 (40°) + 14 mm (21°) || 14 (21-30°) + 14 mm (2°) || 14 mm
|-
! Armour !! Sides !! Roof
|-
| Cupola || 14 mm || 14 mm
|-
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels and tracks are 15 mm thick.
* There is a 14 mm thick firewall between the engine bay and the crew compartment.

=== Mobility ===
{{Specs-Tank-Mobility}}


{{tankMobility|abMinHp=527|rbMinHp=301}}

Even though the A13 has good mobility, it sometimes feels weird: it loses speed on turns, does not accelerates quite as fast as it's overpowered engine(38.19 HP/ton, stock) should provide it and hill-climbing feels hard. All of these flaws come from the gearbox, which has bad and uneven ratios, resulting in a kick when changing speed. Knowing that you should always keep an eye on the "gear" counter top-left of your screen (activate it in the options menu) since it provides you crucial information on how your tank will react to your commands. With a bit of practice, one should swiftly masters these peculiarities.

=== Modifications and economy ===
{{Specs-Economy}}

== Armaments ==
{{Specs-Tank-Armaments}}
=== Main armament ===
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|1}}

{{main|QF 2-pounder (40 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[QF 2-pounder (40 mm)|40 mm QF 2-pounder]] || colspan="5" | Turret rotation speed (°/s) || colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! Mode !! Capacity !! Vertical !! Horizontal !! Stabilizer
! Stock !! Upgraded !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
! Stock !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
|-
! ''Arcade''
| rowspan="2" | 87 || rowspan="2" | -15°/+20° || rowspan="2" | ±180° || rowspan="2" | Vertical || 15.23 || 21.08 || 25.60 || 28.31 || 30.12 || rowspan="2" | 3.64 || rowspan="2" | 3.22 || rowspan="2" | 2.97 || rowspan="2" | 2.80
|-
! ''Realistic''
| 9.52 || 11.20 || 13.60 || 15.04 || 16.00
|-
|}

Since the QF 2-pounder is used on most tanks of Rank I, it's important to know it well. This cannon has a major disadvantage at distances since its rounds lose around 20 mm of penetration for every 500 m it travels, which is a lot. As if this was not enough, it has poor accuracy, even with Adjustment of fire, hence, one should target large components (crewmen, engine, transmission), of the enemy or, as distance increases (500 m or more), the general centre of the foe. Firing it, you will easily notice its last but not least flaw: it does almost no post-penetration damage, which means you will need to snipe crew members, one by one. Combine this difficulty with a bit of distance and this task can prove tricky pretty quick, sometimes leaving the enemy enough time to replenish its crew before you finish it off.

On the other hand, this cannon has 5 major advantages: reload speed, close-quarter penetration, a primitive stabilizing system, LOTS of ammo and awesome gun depression. Its fast reloading speed allows it to compensate its poor accuracy: missed a shot? why not take another even before you can reposition! Close quarter penetration, one of the best at its tier, is also a plus: your enemies will only block you shot if you happen to hit a steep-angled plate of armour. Does this tank have good mobility? nice !, it can fire on the move too, at low speeds and on the relatively flat road though but still, it is much more precise than the comparable [[BT-7]] with its [[20-K (45 mm)|20-K]]. Last but not least, small bullets means more bullets: the A13 can bring up to 87 bullets into the game, much more than you need to knock out 3-4 tanks, which means you can try to suppress an enemy and keep it into cover by constantly firing near it (at this rank, this tactic can prove effective against new players). Finally, its good gun depression enables it to fire over hills, peeking only it's a small turret, shooting and disappearing swiftly. Use these features cunningly.

==== Ammunition ====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)'''
|-
! 10 m !! 100 m !! 500 m !! 1,000 m !! 1,500 m !! 2,000 m
|-
| Shot Mk.1 AP/T || AP || 72 || 68 || 52 || 37 || 27 || 19
|-
| Shot Mk.IXB APCBC/T || APCBC || 89 || 86 || 77 || 66 || 57 || 50
|-
| Shot Mk.1 APHV/T || AP || 80 || 75 || 58 || 41 || 30 || 21
|-
| Shell Mk.1 AP/T || APHE || 66 || 62 || 49 || 36 || 26 || 20
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="10" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" | Velocity (m/s)
! rowspan="2" | Projectile Mass (kg)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse delay (m)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse sensitivity (mm)
! rowspan="2" | Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
! colspan="3" | Ricochet
|-
! 0% !! 50% !! 100%
|-
| Shot Mk.1 AP/T || AP || 792 || 1.08 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 47° || 60° || 65°
|-
| Shot Mk.IXB APCBC/T || APCBC || 792 || 1.24 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
| Shot Mk.1 APHV/T || AP || 853 || 1.08 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 47° || 60° || 65°
|-
| Shell Mk.1 AP/T || APHE || 792 || 1.08 || 1.2 || 9 || 20.9 || 47° || 60° || 65°
|-
|}

==== [[Ammo racks]] ====

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Full ammo
! 1st rack empty
! 2nd rack empty
! 3rd rack empty
! 4th rack empty
! 5th rack empty
! 6th rack empty
! 7th rack empty
! 8th rack empty
! 9th rack empty
! 10th rack empty
! 11th rack empty
! 12th rack empty
! 13th rack empty
! 14th rack empty
! 15th rack empty
! 16th rack empty
! Visual discrepancy
|-
| '''87''' || 78 ''(+9)'' || 75 ''(+12)'' || 72 ''(+15)'' || 69 ''(+18)'' || 66 ''(+21)'' || 62 ''(+25)'' || 60 ''(+27)'' || 56 ''(+31)'' || 51 ''(+36)'' || 47 ''(+40)'' || 43 ''(+44)'' || 41 ''(+46)'' || 36 ''(+51)'' || 31 ''(+56)'' || 16 ''(+71)'' || 1 ''(+86)'' || No
|-
|}
[[File:Ammoracks_A13MkI.png|right|thumb|x250px|[[Ammo racks]] of the {{PAGENAME}}]]

Center hull empty: 41 ''(+46)''

==== Optics ====
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="50%"
! colspan="3" | {{PAGENAME}} [[Optics]]
|-
! Which ones
! Default magnification
! Maximum magnification
|-
! Main Gun optics
| x1.85 || x3.5
|-
! Comparable optics
| colspan="2" | [[AMR.35 ZT3]]
|-
|}

=== Machine guns ===
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|2}}

{{main|Vickers (7.7 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="50%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[Vickers (7.7 mm)|7.7 mm Vickers]]
|-
! Mount !! Capacity (Belt) !! Fire rate !! Vertical !! Horizontal
|-
| Coaxial || 3,500 (250) || 390 || N/A || N/A
|-
|}

== Usage in battles ==

The A13 Mk II is a Cruiser tank and plays very much like one. The relative lack of armour and high mobility allow the A13 to easily flank the enemy team. While the armour upgrades in the Mk II do not help against much more than heavy machine gun rounds, the A13 still has its speed as its biggest advantage. The 2 pounder main armament is an excellent weapon, and allows the A13 to engage effectively at any range. Generally the Shell Mk.1 AP/T (APHE) round should be used, as it has the largest post penetration effect, however for tougher foes the solid AP rounds will easily penetrate. A13 commanders should use cover and try to outmanoeuvre opponents, engaging whenever they see fit.

Some notable enemies the A13 might face are German Panzer II tanks. These vehicles have auto cannons that will shred through the A13s armour. Commanders should be extra cautious when facing these. Generally it is advisable to try and bait out their volley with a quick push forward and retreat, and then try to take them out while they reload. The A13 is at a disadvantage against these vehicles, its only real advantage being the fact that the 40 mm 2 pounder is shoulder stabilized, meaning it is easier to get the first shot off when slowing down.

Since the addition of smoke in War Thunder, light tanks have it easier. Use your forward-launching smoke to create a wall of smoke in a strategic place. It can be used to cover your allies, when capturing a point, flanking in a street (urban environment),

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* Decent fast-firing gun for its rank
* Is fast and agile thanks to good HP/ton ratio
* Slim target
* Has a "lock", a primitive form of stabilisation
* Brings lots of ammo
* Has forward-launching smoke launchers
* Alright turret sewing rate
* -15° gun depression allows it to fight in the most uneven terrains

'''Cons:'''

* Thin armour all round, can be penetrated by HMG
* Small gun caliber resulting in very poor post-penetration damage
* Loses speed when traversing the hull
* Wiggles when trying to turn on 5th gear
* Poor reverse speed, can sometimes be fatal

== History ==

===Development===
The British development on their cruiser tanks advanced greatly with the implementation of the Christie suspension system, which they acquired from an American firm. The tank underwent a development program under the name ''Cruiser Mk III (A13)'' and the first accepted variant for the military was the ''[[A13 Mk I|A13 Mk.I]]''. The Mk.I featured 15 mm of armour, a 2-pounder cannon, and a Vickers machine gun as its coaxial armament. An order of 65 of these tanks were asked for in 1939 at the Nuffield Mechanization & Auto Limited, but only 30 were made before the a decision was made to upgrade the existing model with more armour and different armament.

The redesigned cruiser tank, the ''' A13 Mk.II, Cruiser Tank Mk IV''', had a new armour thickness of 30 mm and additional sloping armour was put onto the sides and rear of the turret. The Vickers machine gun used as the coaxial armament was also replaced by the BESA machine gun, a licensed Czech ZB-53 machine gun, due to issues with the Vickers gun. Around 225 to 665 A13 Mk.II tanks were produced from 1940 until late 1941.

===Combat Usage===
The A13 first saw combat in the Battle of France under the British Expeditionary Force in 1940. The A13 encountered many trouble during its employment, the crew have little to no training with the new tanks due to their rushed adoption into service, the tanks were in poor condition and some were even missing parts. The A13s were used in the 1st Armoured Division, but many were either destroyed by the superior German armoured forces or abandoned at Calais during the evacuation of Allied troops at Dunkirk, which forced the units to leave behind their heavier equipment.

After the disaster at France, the A13 were still used to support the war. Some were sent to Greece to support their defense against Germany in the Battle of Greece, but a majority were sent to North Africa as part of the Western Desert Campaign near Libya under the 7th Armoured Division. Compared to the time in France, the A13s in North Africa fared much better, ironing out most of its initial defects, and was even more suited to the environment than other tank designs. The A13 was popular with the crew for its high speed, reliability, and a powerful 2-pounder cannon that could engage a majority of Axis tanks in 1941. However, there was an insufficient number of A13s available for use, so tank units were mixed with the faster cruiser tanks and slower infantry tanks, which caused tactical and logistical difficulties trying to accommodate all of the tanks. Another deficiency with the tank and every other British tank with the 2-pounder was the lack of high-explosive shell issued to the tankers, which made them vulnerable to anti-tank guns, which caused a majority of British tank losses in the North African Campaign. Still, the A13 fared very well with its armour and armament until the late 1941 where better armoured [[Pz.III L|Panzer IIIs]] and [[Pz.IV G|Panzer IVs]] began to appear on the battlefield.

Due to its growing obsolescence on the battlefield, the A13 was replaced in 1941 by the better armoured [[Crusader Mk II|A15 Crusader tank]].

== Media ==


;Skins

* [https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?vehicleCountry=britain&vehicleType=tank&vehicleClass=light_tank&vehicle=uk_a_13_mk2 Skins and camouflages for the {{PAGENAME}} from live.warthunder.com.]

;Videos
{{Youtube-gallery|4_cJ1CpEatw|'''Best gun depression''' discusses the {{PAGENAME}} at 1:33 - ''War Thunder Official Channel''|mjacUnmi2iY|'''David Fletcher's Tank Chats #1: The A13 Cruiser''' - ''The Tank Museum''}}

== 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 ==
''Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:''

* ''topic on the official game forum;''
* ''encyclopedia page on the tank;''
* ''other literature.''

{{Britain light tanks}}

M4A2

2021-06-15T20:55:57Z

U14177576: grammar edits plus some content additions

{{About
| about = American medium tank '''{{PAGENAME}}'''
| other
| usage-1 = other M4 Shermans
| link-1 = M4 Sherman (Family)
| usage-2 = other uses
| link-2 = M4 (Disambiguation)
}}
{{Specs-Card
|code=us_m4a2_sherman
|images={{Specs-Card-Image|GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg}}
}}

== Description ==

The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a rank {{Specs|rank}} American medium tank {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced along with the initial American ground tree in [[Update 1.45 "Steel Generals"]]. It is the third of the Sherman medium tank series and the last 75 mm variant before unlocking the 76 mm equipped models. It represents a "Sherman 2.0" design with a new front armour scheme angled at an uninterrupted 47 degrees and a better cast turret.

Compared to its predecessors, the {{PAGENAME}} is the only 75 mm Sherman with an uninterrupted and welded front glacis sloped at 47 degrees. This eliminates most of the weak points of the earlier [[M4A1|M4A1]] and [[M4|M4]] models, though by this battle rating most enemy weaponry can penetrate the front glacis of the Sherman. As compensation for the stronger opposition the {{PAGENAME}} has access to T45 APCR ammunition for its 75 mm gun.

Another noted difference is the loss of the turret appliqué armour on the right side of the gun mantlet. This results in the reemergence of a weak spot on the turret cheek.

Finally, the {{PAGENAME}} runs with the General Motors 6046 diesel double-engine. This does not impact automotive performances greatly, but it does change the engine deck shape, exhaust emission, and engine noise.

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===
{{Specs-Tank-Armour}}

'''Armour type:'''

*Rolled homogeneous armour (Hull, turret roof)
*Cast homogeneous armour (Turret, lower glacis, MG port)

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front (Slope angle) !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 63.5 mm (47°) ''Upper glacis'' 51-108 mm (12-56°) ''Transmission housing'' || 38.1 mm || 38.1 mm (7-10°) || 19.5 mm
|-
| Turret || 76 mm (3-65°) ''Turret front'' 89 + 51 mm (2-62°) ''Gun mantlet'' || 51 mm (2-64°) || 51 mm (2-60°) || 19.5 mm
|-
! Armour !! Sides !! Roof
|-
| Cupola || 51 mm || 19.5 mm
|-
|}
'''Notes:'''

* Suspension wheels are 15 mm thick, the bogies are 10 mm, and the tracks are 20 mm thick.
* Small applique panels are placed on the side hull armour over the ammunition, increasing armour by 25.4 mm.
* A small patch on the turret front right side is thinner (51 mm) than the rest (76 mm).
* There is a 9.5 mm thick sheet of armour dividing the engine bay and crew compartment.

=== Mobility ===
{{Specs-Tank-Mobility}}


{{tankMobility|abMinHp=635|rbMinHp=363|AoAweight=1.15}}

=== Modifications and economy ===
{{Specs-Economy}}

It is advisable to research ''Parts'' first, then ''Fire Protection Equipment'', then the ''M61 shot'' round. Following that, engine upgrades are advisable, as the tank is much less manoeuverable than it could be when it is stock.

== Armaments ==
{{Specs-Tank-Armaments}}
=== Main armament ===
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|1}}

{{main|M3 (75 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[M3 (75 mm)|75 mm M3]] || colspan="5" | Turret rotation speed (°/s) || colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! Mode !! Capacity !! Vertical !! Horizontal !! Stabilizer
! Stock !! Upgraded !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
! Stock !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
|-
! ''Arcade''
| rowspan="2" | 97 || rowspan="2" | -10°/+25° || rowspan="2" | ±180° || rowspan="2" | {{Annotation|Vertical|up to 24 km/h}} || 22.8 || 31.6 || 38.4 || 42.5 || 45.2 || rowspan="2" | 6.50 || rowspan="2" | 5.75 || rowspan="2" | 5.30 || rowspan="2" | 5.00
|-
! ''Realistic''
| 14.3 || 16.8 || 20.4 || 22.6 || 24.0
|-
|}

==== Ammunition ====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)'''
|-
! 10 m !! 100 m !! 500 m !! 1,000 m !! 1,500 m !! 2,000 m
|-
| M72 shot || AP || 91 || 88 || 78 || 67 || 57 || 49
|-
| M48 shell || HE || 10 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 10
|-
| M61 shot || APCBC || 104 || 101 || 90 || 78 || 68 || 59
|-
| T45 shot || APCR || 139 || 135 || 121 || 105 || 91 || 79
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="10" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" | Velocity (m/s)
! rowspan="2" | Projectile Mass (kg)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse delay (m)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse sensitivity (mm)
! rowspan="2" | Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
! colspan="3" | Ricochet
|-
! 0% !! 50% !! 100%
|-
| M72 shot || AP || 619 || 6.3 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 47° || 60° || 65°
|-
| M48 shell || HE || 463 || 6.3 || 0 || 0.1 || 666 || 79° || 80° || 81°
|-
| M61 shot || APCBC || 618 || 6.79 || 1.2 || 14 || 63.7 || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
| T45 shot || APCR || 868 || 3.81 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 66° || 70° || 72°
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! colspan="7" | Smoke shell characteristics
|-
! Ammunition
! Velocity (m/s)
! Projectile Mass (kg)
! Screen radius (m)
! Screen deploy time (s)
! Screen hold time (s)
! Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
|-
| M89 || 259 || 3 || 13 || 5 || 20 || 50
|-
|}

==== [[Ammo racks]] ====

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Full ammo
! 1st rack empty
! 2nd rack empty
! 3rd rack empty
! 4th rack empty
! 5th rack empty
! 6th rack empty
! 7th rack empty
! 8th rack empty
! Visual discrepancy
|-
|| '''97''' || 91 ''(+6)'' || 88 ''(+9)'' || 86 ''(+11)'' || 78 ''(+19)'' || 63 ''(+34)'' || 46 ''(+51)'' || 31 ''(+66)'' || 1 ''(+96)'' || No
|-
|}
[[File:Ammoracks_M4.png|right|thumb|x200px|[[Ammo racks]] of the M4 Sherman.]]
Notes:

* To go into battle with the turret basket empty of ammo, pack 78 ''(+19)'' shells (racks 1 to 4 emptied).
* To go into battle with the turret basket and the flanks empty of ammo, pack 31 ''(+66)'' shells (Racks 1 to 7 empty).
* The 8th rack is large and located at a a weak spot: the bottom section of the armour. In case of penetration, there is a high risk of ammo rack detonation. Make sure not to expose your flanks unnecessarily.

=== Machine guns ===
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|2}}
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|3}}

{{main|M2HB (12.7 mm)|M1919A4 (7.62 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="50%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[M2HB (12.7 mm)|12.7 mm M2HB]]
|-
! Mount !! Capacity (Belt) !! Fire rate !! Vertical !! Horizontal
|-
| Pintle || 300 (200) || 577 || -10°/+25° || ±60°
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="50%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[M1919A4 (7.62 mm)|7.62 mm M1919A4]]
|-
! Mount !! Capacity (Belt) !! Fire rate !! Vertical !! Horizontal
|-
| Coaxial || 3,000 (250) || 500 || N/A || N/A
|-
|}

== Usage in battles ==

The general playstyle of this tank is to be a support tank. This tank does not have the armour to function effectively on the front lines. Surviving on the front lines will be quite hard, though not impossible. Try to stay in the 2nd or 3rd line and support the team, or hide behind heavily armoured teammates and help them assault the enemy. Capturing objectives is also a good use for this vehicle, thanks to its speed. Be wary of German tanks, as well as T-34s. German vehicles have guns that can easily penetrate the {{PAGENAME}}'s armour even if angled well. It is best to use hull down tactics, or shoot first and knock-out their gunner. T-34s are much tougher, but have weaker guns. They can still very easily one shot the {{PAGENAME}} from the side, so keep the sides protected. T-34s have fairly thin armour but it is highly sloped, and if angled are hard to destroy with hull shots, so aim for the turret.

The best tactic to use is to not stay in the same place. Move after every shot so the enemy has to relocate you or potentially move themselves, leaving them exposed. Any accurate return fire from tanks at your tier will likely result in your incapacitation or destruction, so try to keep enemies from knowing where you are at all, and aim to kill with the first shot.

''[[:Category:Game_modes|Arcade Battles]]'' 
When in this game mode: The tank is fast, but weakly armoured. Its gun is pretty decent with enough penetration to take on most opponents with accurate fire. Capture zones and support the team by firing at enemy medium tanks.

''[[:Category:Game_modes|Realistic Battles]]'' and ''[[:Category:Game_modes|Simulator Battles]]'' 
The tank performs its role as medium tank very well. Both speed and strong frontal armour give this tank an edge over the enemy in a head-on engagement. However, it has very thin side armour that can be penetrated by essentially any tank, as well as many vehicles armed with autocannons. Watching the sides and rear is very important, and neglecting to protect them can often result in a destroyed {{PAGENAME}}.

When engaging enemy vehicles it is recommended to turn into their fire with the front of the tank. The {{PAGENAME}}'s glacis is thicker than most installed on tanks at its BR, and this can often save the tank from an untimely end. However, if the engagement begins with you taking a shot to the side it is unlikely you will get the chance to fight back, so always try to have your front toward the enemy to begin with.

When fighting against the {{PAGENAME}}, try to flank it if possible, as a side shot under the turret will be an almost guaranteed kill. A shot to the side of the turret will kill the turret crew, and a second shot once the crew has replenished will generally kill the tank. If forced to engage from the front, remember that you need about 110 mm of penetration to get through the upper glacis reliably. If you have this, you will be able to kill the tank easily. With a weaker gun, you will have to aim. Weak points include the very top of the lower glacis, which is almost flat; the machine gun port, which will result in a kill of at least half the crew if penetrated; the bottom right turret cheek (left from the attacker's viewpoint), which is much thinner than the rest of the turret; and the cupola, which if hit with an APHE shell will result in a kill of most of the turret crew. All of these weak points are quite difficult to hit, especially from range, and it may be better to retreat if you don't feel confident in your shot or if the Sherman is hull down.

'''Enemies worth noting:'''

M4A2 / [[M4A4 (1st PTG)|A4]]: these Sherman tanks are widely used by both the Allied and the Axis side, so no matter which nation you play they can be quite tough to destroy in the hands of a skilled tanker. Given the rather weak penetration of your short 75 mm gun, their hull can be almost impossible to penetrate when angled, hull down or 300 m away. For an M4A4, there are 2 apparent bulges on the upper front plate, a penetration through there can guarantee a knock out most of the times. But in case the opponent covers them up or when it's an M4A2, aim for the middle parts of the gun mantlet or the turret armour unprotected by the mantlet, you can at least make them defenceless. Note that their guns are equally weak against you, so wiggle around to disrupt their aim while you reload, you have a good chance of bouncing some shells.

[[KV I C 756 (r) (Germany)|KV I C 756 (r)]]:

A vehicle that the M4 Sherman will have trouble against is this German KV-1. While the [[KV-1 (L-11)|L-11]] is underpowered, the [[KV-1 (ZiS-5)|ZiS-5]] is potent enough to punch through the Sherman's front, and the Sherman is unable to penetrate the KV-1's thick armour especially with its dd-on armour plates. If this heavy tank is encountered and if it's angling the hull, aim at the gun mantlet as it is only 50mm thick. You can knock out its gunner easily. Or shoot at the thin copula, there's also some chance to knock out the gunner. Of course, the best way is to shoot at its sides and rear without any angle, where its armour is unsloped, though it will still have to be at a close range to penetrate the armour. In addition, shots to the sides will most likely hit fuel tanks or ammunition storage, causing a fire or ammunition detonation and at best, time to reassess the situation.

[[Churchill Mk I]], [[Churchill Mk III]], [[Pz.Kpfw. Churchill (Germany)|Pz.Kpfw. Churchill]]:

The Churchills, with their complex hulls and sturdy turrets, can be quite hard to penetrate at range. Again, maneuver as close to them as possible, the idea distance being no more than 200m. If they are angling their hull but facing their turret at you, only go for the turret. For the Mk I Churchills, aim at the near-vertical part of their rounded cheeks to ensure successful penetrations. For the Mk III and the German Churchill, also aim for their flat turret which is at most 89mm. The shell should go in easily and knock out most, if not all of the crew. Only when you are facing their hull without any angles should you shoot the hull, otherwise shoot the turret only, as their big tracks can easily get in front of the frontal hull. The side hull have multiple layers of armour, some of which are weirdly angled and can absorb plenty of shells.

[[Pz.IV F2]]/[[Pz.IV G|G]]/[[Pz.IV H|H]]/[[Pz.IV J|J]]:

The historical nemesis of any Sherman, the Panzer IV is one of the Shermans biggest threats at this rank. The long barrel 75mm gun will easily penetrate the Sherman from the front. The F2 variant is admittedly easy to deal with. A single APCBC to its hull or turret should end it pretty quickly, even at long range. The other variants are slightly harder to deal with. They have thicker hull armour, at 80mm, which will be much harder to penetrate with the APCBC over 500m. Luckily the turret armour remains the same at 50mm. Either aim here with APCBC or sacrifice damage potential and use the AP round to penetrate the hull.

[[StuG III F]]/[[StuG III G|G]]:

Another historical nemesis of the Sherman, and another big threat. The StuG III packs the same punch as the Panzer IV line with its long barrel 75mm gun, whilst losing the turret, which turns out to be both an advantage and a disadvantage. Lacking a turret means that it will have to traverse the whole vehicle to target an enemy, but it also means that it has a lower profile. The StuG's armour profile is also more complex than the Panzer IV, with less flat areas. Certain areas are sloped and very bouncy. Luckily, there is a big weak spot. There are two flat plates on the front of the hull. The flat plate on the right is the drivers port. Shoot that and you are able to incapacitate the driver, gunner and loader in one go. This is a very efficient way to destroy this vehicle. With the F variant, you can use APCBC to instantly one-shot this vehicle. With the G variant, it is more reliable to use AP at ranges within 500m to ensure penetration.

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* Excellent gun depression of -10° plus the angled frontal turret allows it to utilise hills very well
* Great firepower: adequate penetration and post-penetration damage when using M61 shells; can frontally penetrate and one-shot most opponents like the [[Pz.IV F2]], [[Chi-Nu]] and [[StuG III F|StuG III]] F. It also has APCR for hitting thick, flat armour up close, for example the [[Pz.Kpfw. Churchill (Germany)|Pz.Kpfw. Churchill]]
* Great turret traverse speed allows it to deal with multiple threats easily
* Well angled frontal hull provides protection against small calibre / low-penetration guns (eg. 75mm M3, 50mm KwK39), and even large calibre guns when angled correctly. The side armour can be boosted with add-on armour
* Adequate top speed allows it to get to positions in time, or to do tactical manoeuvres like flanking
* Pintle-mounted HMG provides an anti-aircraft defence or anti-tank duty against tanks like [[Marder III]]
* Fitted with a vertical stabilizer, allowing more accurate fire on the move compared to other tanks, as well as better usage of shoot-n-scoot tactics

'''Cons:'''

* Large profile and weak side armour; flankers like the Sd.kfz.234/2 can easily see and penetrate it
* Frontal armour is still inadequate, will get penetrated and one-shot by tanks like [[Pz.IV F2]] / G, [[StuG III F]] / G, [[M10 (Family)|M10]]
* M61 and T45 all struggle to penetrate angled targets like [[StuG III G]], Churchill Mk.III or even the T-34 and M10
* Trajectory is curved and velocity is low due to its short barrel, thus distant/moving targets are hard to shoot at
* Hull traverse is quite slow, making it sluggish in a turn. Also the narrow tracks offer poor ground flotation, thus poor off-road capabilities. Can only reach its top speed on paved or hard surfaces
* Roof armour of 19.5 mm thick is vulnerable to airstrikes with AP cannons. For example the widely used MG151 15/20mm
* Acceleration even more sluggish than previous Shermans due to the two tons weight increase

== History ==

===Development===
The Battle of France in 1940 proved to America that their current tank arsenal would not be able to withstand a German assault. The only tanks in their inventory at that time was the [[M2A4|M2 Light Tanks]] and the [[M2|M2 Medium Tank]], both are inadequate against the German [[Pz.III F|Panzer IIIs]] and the [[Pz.IV F1|Panzer IVs]]. The US Army, in response, ordered for a tank armed with a 75 mm gun. While a 75 mm gun was available for use, a turret able to mount the gun was not. So while the turret and tank design underwent development, the 75 mm would be mounted on the stopgap design, the [[M3 Lee|M3 Lee]] tank in a sponson mount. This interim design put the 75 mm on a lower and limited traverse mount that restricted its firing angle, but it did give the Allies a tank with the gun, so it was issued by the thousands until a better design could be made.

During the M3's development, the designs of the 75 mm armed vehicle were being drawn up and submitted by the Ordnance Department. Specifications on the tank design were strict, with restrictions made on the tank's height, width, and weight in order to make it able to be transported over bridges, roads, railroads, and on ships. These specifications would help the army by making the tank be very flexible on strategic, logistical, and tactical grounds. On April 1941, the Armored Force Board chose the simplest of the designs, which was a redesigned M3 hull and chassis with a turret mounting the 75 mm gun designated the ''T6'', completed in September 1941. This tank would then designated the '''Medium Tank M4''' in American service. The tank would become the most used Allied tank during World War II as it was lent out by the thousands in the Lend-Lease program to the Allied countries. The British called the M4 the "Sherman", which coined into the tank's name '''M4 Sherman''' that it would be known as in history. The production for the Shermans began on October 1941 and would continue to be produced until the end of the war in 1945 with around 50,000 units produced, making it the second most-produced tank in World War II before the [[T-34 (1942)|T-34 tank]].

===Design===
Many variants of the Shermans were produced, but they all followed a similar layout. The driver and bow gunner sat in the front driving compartment, the fighting compartment in the middle housed the turret its three crew member, and in the back was the engine compartment. The Sherman used many features present in previous American tank designs, the vertical volute suspension system (VVSS) and radial engine from the M2 light tanks, and the sloping armour of the M2 Medium. This became a contributing factor on Sherman's reliability on the field, as most of the design flaws were ironed out with the previous tank designs. The tank-mounted the [[M3 (75 mm)|75 mm M3 gun]], giving the tank very good AP and HE capabilities. The Sherman's turret traverse speed was very fast, able to traverse a full 360 degrees in only 15 seconds, which is considerably faster than the traverse speed on most German tanks. Another unique feature on the Sherman was the installation of a [[Gun stabilizer|gyroscopic stabilizer]] on the gun and sight, making the Sherman one of the first produced tanks to incorporate those features. While the stabilization was only done for the vertical plane, it kept the gun stable enough to be able to shoot on the move effectively, with a study showing a 70 % hit probability on an enemy 300 to 1,200 yards away when moving at a speed of 15 mph. However, this feature was controversial among the crew and experiences with it vary.

The '''M4A2 Sherman''' model ran on a GM 6046 diesel engine. The Sherman model in-game is one of the later production models, featuring improvements on the turret and hull design to maximize armour thickness. The tank's hull was welded, with the earlier models having the front armour plate placed on a 56-degree sloping angle. However, this design had protrusions on the driver and assistant driver hatches that created "shot traps" as these protrusions gave less protection than the frontal armour plate. This was fixed on later models with a 47-degree angling instead, which eliminated the shot traps and made the frontal armour more effective than before. Up to 8,053 M4A2s were produced from April 1942 to May 1944, out of the 49,234 Sherman units produced in the war. Throughout the war, the M4A2 was mostly given out to other allies or used by the US Marine Corps as the US Army doctrine called for the use of only gasoline-engine Shermans such as the M4A3.

===Combat usage===
====European theater====
The Shermans first saw combat in the North African Campaign in the Second Battle of El Alamein on October 1942 in the hands of the British. It was much quicker to reinforce the British armoured divisions with the more than 300 M4 Shermans sent to North Africa than it was to create new American ones. It proved much better than the German [[Pz.III F|Panzer IIIs]] and [[Pz.IV F1|Panzer IVs]], able to eliminate them at distances more than 2,000 yards away. The Americans received their first Shermans in the next month in Operation Torch. However better the Shermans were to the German tanks at the time, the Allied armoured units still suffered casualties against the German tanks and anti-tank guns, most notably in the Battle of Kasserine Pass. In Italy, the Shermans proved much more mobile than the German Panzers, able to travel cross-country on the hilly terrain with ease. However, it was at this stage that the Sherman's shortcoming began to take face in the advent of the newer German tanks, the [[Tiger H1|Tiger Is]] and [[Panther D|Panthers]]. These two tanks featured armour that proved impenetrable when fired at the front, and with guns that could take out the Shermans from farther than the Sherman's effective combat range. The Shermans have to hit the side of these tanks for penetration, and at ranges that were considered suicidal. Although programs were initiated to [[M4A1 (76) W|up-gun the Sherman with a 76 mm gun]], American leaders determine that the Panther and Tigers would not be produced in large quantities and were not as great as a threat as these two vehicles could still be destroyed by the 75 mm gun and standard anti-tank equipment.

During the Invasion of France, it was clear that the Sherman's current build with a 75 mm gun was no longer going to cut it against the German armoured forces. While the Sherman was adequate against what little Panzer III and IVs the Germans have left and against infantry and fortifications with the 75 mm gun, the Panthers and Tigers were in much large quantity than expected, and proved better in armour and firepower to the Shermans. Though in the bocage country of France, the Allies lost more tanks to hidden anti-tank guns and infantry weapons than to tanks. Despite these losses, the mass production of M4 Sherman back in the United States ensured that enough tanks were available for the Allied Forces as they spearhead through France, plus the lack of any other capable tanks meant they had to use the Shermans for the time being. The large quantities of Shermans produced during the war gave the Allied armoured units a major advantage of being fully equipped as the German panzer divisions were rarely in full strength, with some US infantry divisions having more tracked vehicles than some of the panzer divisions. Due to the high attrition rates, tank crews sometimes add [[Add-on Armor|improvised armour]] onto their Shermans in the form of sandbags and logs in hopes of increased survival, but these were determined to be ineffective from evaluations. A more effective method was to have metal armour welded on in improvisation, and an official project was made for such "assault tanks" that ended with the [[M4A3E2|M4A3E2 "Jumbos"]] with 250 made for the Battle of Normandy. During the Battle of Normandy, the first 76 mm Shermans on the M4A1 were put into combat in Operation Cobra in limited numbers. The Allies continued to primarily use the 75 mm Shermans until the Battle of the Bulge in Winter 1944, when the commanders request only 76 mm Shermans to be brought into Europe as the battle showed the intense armour disparity with the German's large numbers of [[Panther G|Panthers]] and [[Tiger II (H)|Tiger II's]]. While new units arriving in Europe were armed exclusively with 76 mm armed-Shermans, the veteran units kept the 75 mm Shermans, to which it continued to do well against softer targets with little threat from German armour due to their extreme declining numbers.

====Pacific theater====
The M4 Sherman's importance in the Pacific theatre was less than that of the European theatre due to the different tactical doctrine established from the amphibious nature of combat. Only about 20 tank battalions fielded by the US Army were sent to support the Pacific theatre of operations, compared to the total of 16 armoured divisions and 70 tank battalions they have in service. The low priority in tanks was due to the following reasons. Firstly, the jungle terrain on most of the islands fought for against the Japanese were unsuitable for the deployment of large-scale armoured units, relegating armour support to light tanks such as the [[M3 Stuart|M3 Stuarts]]. Secondly, the Japanese forces' armoured units were rather inferior to the American tank forces by 1943. While the Japanese Type 95 Ha-Go tank was comparable to the M2A4 light tank, the Shermans out gun these tanks by a large margin. Such a large margin that the tank crew prefer to use high-explosive shots against the Japanese tank than regular armour-piercing as the AP rounds would penetrate straight through without causing much damage in the interior of the tank. The Japanese developed the Type 3 Chi-Nu and the Type 4 Chi-To to fight back the Shermans, but these two never saw combat as they were kept at the Japanese Homeland for the defence against the Allied invasion.

The Shermans, when deployed, were superior to most of the Japanese anti-tank equipment and often were essential to some of the Marine's advances on some of the island assaults. In 1945, the equipping of flamethrower Shermans known as ''M4A3R3'', nicknamed "Zippos", were a significant boost to the infantry's firepower in having a very long range of fire compared to the standard infantry-modelled flamethrowers with the benefit of being in an armoured vehicle. The Zippos are able to flush out enemy combatants from within heavily fortified bunkers and caves that would be dangerous for even flamethrower infantry to take out. The Japanese solution against the Shermans, other than with their 47 mm anti-tank guns, were often suicidal tactics ranging from placing satchel charges right onto the tank, using pole-mounted anti-tank mines to reach and destroy the tank or even simply throwing oneself underneath a tank with mine or other explosive and triggering it manually.

====Lend-Lease====
The Sherman tank was given out in large numbers to American Allies during World War II under the Lend-Lease policy. While America retained about 20,361 Shermans in the Army and Marine Corps, 17,184 went to Britain (about 34% of Shermans produced and 78% of Shermans given out) and the Soviet Union obtained 4,102 Shermans.<ref name="ZalogaArmorT2">Zaloga Steven. ''Armored Thunderbolt: The U.S. Army Sherman in World War II'' Stackpole Books, 2008, "The British Sherman"</ref> China obtained 812 Shermans, Brazil with 53, and New Zealand and Australia for 153 Shermans total. Other countries using the Shermans were Poland, Free France, and Czechoslovakia. The British deployed the Sherman among their armoured squadrons in such a large number to become the standard tank of their armoured forces. The increased threat of German tanks in the European theatre also provoked the British to up-gun the M4 Sherman with a more capable gun, resulting in the [[Sherman Firefly|Firefly]].

====Post-War====
After the war, the Shermans continued serving America and its allies as the [[M4A3 (76) W|M4A3E8]] with a new suspension and 76 mm gun. The [[M26|M26 Pershing]] that was introduced late in World War II was phased out for the Shermans due to its unreliability, and the Sherman stayed until the [[M46|M46 Patton]] was introduced. After being phased out of American service, many other countries still used the Sherman as their main tank, mainly Israel where they up-gun the tank with the much powerful post-war French [[SA50 (75 mm)|75 mm]] and [[CN-105-F1 (105 mm)|105 mm]] gun as the [[M4A4 (SA50)|M-50]] and M-51 respectively (nicknamed "Super Shermans"). These proved successful as they were able to fight against the Soviet-supplied [[T-54 (1947)|T-54 tanks]] and [[T-34-85]]s in Middle East service, proving the Sherman as a successful and adaptable design for many years to come.

=== In-game description ===
The second mass produced modification differed from the M4 in that two GMC 671 diesel engines were installed to make up for the Continental's insufficiencies. The engine and transmission were pulled from M3A3 and M3A5 medium tanks. In April 1942 the first M4A2 prototype was tested, with full-scale production subsequently beginning.

The tank had a welded hull, and the front plate initially had viewing slits cut out, though armour covers were later welded on and periscopes added. From the beginning of 1944 the front plate was made from a single piece, while the driver and gunner hatches were moved to the roof of the hull. The angle of the frontal armour went from 56° to 47° from vertical. The low-revving diesel engine gave the M4A2 better off-road ability and significantly more range as opposed to carburetor engines.

Approximately 8,000 M4A2s were produced between April 1942 and December 1943.

The tanks saw action in Africa and Italy, on the Western and Eastern fronts, and on Pacific islands through 1945. Lend-Lease included 1,992 of them delivered to the USSR.

In 1943 problems with the M4A2 were exposed by the Russian winter: those sent to the USSR had a smooth rubber protector for their tracks that made it tough to move across frozen roads. The difficulty finding traction was further complicated by a high center of gravity, giving the tank a habit of flipping over. Overall, it was the equivalent of the Soviet T-34 and was used similarly. The Sherman was much quieter than Soviet tanks, also lending itself to more effective infantry fire from behind its armour while on the move due to its lighter suspension.

== Media ==


;Skins
* [https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?vehicleCountry=usa&vehicleType=tank&vehicleClass=medium_tank&vehicle=us_m4a2_sherman Skins and camouflages for the {{PAGENAME}} from live.warthunder.com.]

;Videos
{{Youtube-gallery|yvXOwseJqi4|'''{{PAGENAME}} Sherman Tank Review''' - ''NUSensei''}}

== See also ==


;Vehicles equipped with the same chassis
* [[M4A2 (76) W]]
* [[M4 748 (a) (Germany)]]
* [[M4A2 (USSR)]]

== External links ==


=== References ===
<references/>

{{USA medium tanks}}

Light AA Mk I

2021-02-20T06:15:56Z

U14177576: Added info to the subsections and fixed some minor grammar errors

{{Specs-Card
|code=uk_vickers_mk_6_aa_mk_1
|images={{Specs-Card-Image|GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg}}
}}

== Description ==

The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a rank {{Specs|rank}} British self-propelled anti-aircraft gun {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced in [[Update 1.79 "Project X"]].

This tank makes for a good entry-level anti-aircraft vehicle; good speed, manoeuvrability and a devastating short to medium range AA weapon. This vehicle should be used in the rear echelon of an assault, watching the skies for incoming bogies. However, the real ace is that the guns trade accuracy for sheer volume of fire, filling the skies with a hailstorm of bullets that can discourage bandits from lining up on an attack run. However, anything beyond effective range won't be struck down effectively.

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===
{{Specs-Tank-Armour}}

* Cast homogeneous armour (Turret)
* Rolled homogeneous armour (Hull)

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Armour!!Front (Slope angle)!!Sides!!Rear!!Roof
|-
|Hull||14 mm ''Front plate'' 14 mm (0-73°) ''Upper glacis'' 14 mm (22-69°) ''Lower glacis''||14 mm||14 mm (0-52°) ''Upper'' 4 mm (53-75°) ''Lower''||4 mm
|-
|Turret||14 mm (0-64°) ''Turret front''
|14 mm||14 mm||N/A
|}

The {{PAGENAME}} has very little armour. Most of the hull has 14 mm of armour, which is sufficient only against rifle-calibre rounds. However, the gunner is exposed to machine gun fire, and being that there are only 2 crew members, if he dies, the entire vehicle is destroyed. This means even enemy machine guns can kill you if they hit your gunner. You may be able to somewhat protect the gunner by aiming upwards with the machine guns, but this is not reliable. In any case, the {{PAGENAME}} is vulnerable to any vehicle in the game.

=== Mobility ===
{{Specs-Tank-Mobility}}


{{tankMobility|abMinHp=125|rbMinHp=78}}

The {{PAGENAME}} is decently quick and maneuverable, and its small size allows it to fit into areas many other vehicles cannot. It can easily get around the map, and can quickly take cover from aircraft or other tanks when necessary. However, it is too light to drive through many obstacles easily, such as walls and small trees, and its suspension is too bouncy to allow it to fire with much accuracy while moving.

=== Modifications and economy ===
{{Specs-Economy}}

== Armaments ==
{{Specs-Tank-Armaments}}
=== Main armament ===
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|1}}

{{main|BESA (7.92 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
|-
! colspan="6" | [[BESA (7.92 mm)|7.92 mm BESA]] (x4) || colspan="5" | Turret rotation speed (°/s) || colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! Mode !! Capacity (Belt) !! Fire rate !! Vertical !! Horizontal !! Stabilizer
! Stock !! Upgraded !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
! Stock !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
|-
! ''Arcade''
| rowspan="2" | 3,600 (225) || rowspan="2" | 600 || rowspan="2" | -10°/+65° || rowspan="2" | ±180° || rowspan="2" | N/A || 52.8 || 73.1 || 88.8 || 98.2 || 104.5 || rowspan="2" | 7.8 || rowspan="2" | 7.0 || rowspan="2" | 6.4 || rowspan="2" | 6.0
|-
! ''Realistic''
|37.5||42.0||51.0||56.4|| 60.0
|-
|}

The four BESA machine guns the {{PAGENAME}} is armed with can be devastating to open-topped vehicles thanks to their high fire rate, but are completely ineffective against anything with armor. They are also less effective and less accurate against planes than the cannons or heavy machine guns most other anti-aircraft vehicles are armed with, although a well-placed burst will still tear the fragile biplanes you are likely to face apart. Each belt is large enough to enable sustained fire, allowing you to compensate for your poor accuracy through sheer volume of bullets.

==== Ammunition ====

* '''Default:''' {{Annotation|Ball|Omni-purpose}}{{-}}{{Annotation|T|Tracer}}{{-}}{{Annotation|IT|Incendiary tracer}} - The worst option, due to the highest quantity of poorly-damaging ball and tracer rounds.
* '''Universal:''' {{Annotation|AP|Armour-piercing}}{{-}}{{Annotation|T|Tracer}}{{-}}{{Annotation|IT|Incendiary tracer}}{{-}}{{Annotation|Ball|Omni-purpose}} - Better than default, but still has regular tracers and ball rounds which hurt damage output.
* '''API-T:''' {{Annotation|IT|Incendiary tracer}}{{-}}{{Annotation|IT|Incendiary tracer}}{{-}}{{Annotation|AP|Armour-piercing}}{{-}}{{Annotation|T|Tracer}} - Contains a lot of incendiary tracer rounds, which have a higher chance of starting fires in aircraft. Once a fire is started, it is likely to destroy the plane, making this belt very effective.
* '''AP-T:''' {{Annotation|AP|Armour-piercing}}{{-}}{{Annotation|AP|Armour-piercing}}{{-}}{{Annotation|IT|Incendiary tracer}}{{-}}{{Annotation|T|Tracer}} - AP rounds are still ineffective against armour, despite the name, but deal more damage to aircraft components. With good aim, this belt can tear wings off and destroy engines.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="7" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Belt
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)'''
|-
! 10 m !! 100 m !! 500 m !! 1,000 m !! 1,500 m !! 2,000 m
|-
| Default || 8 || 7 || 5 || 3 || 3 || 3
|-
| Universal || 13 || 11 || 9 || 7 || 4 || 3
|-
| API-T || 13 || 11 || 9 || 7 || 4 || 3
|-
| AP-T || 13 || 11 || 9 || 7 || 4 || 3
|-
|}

==== [[Ammo racks]] ====
[[File:Ammoracks_{{PAGENAME}}.png|right|thumb|x250px|[[Ammo racks]] of the {{PAGENAME}}]]
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Full ammo
! 1st rack empty
! 2nd rack empty
! 3rd rack empty
! 4th rack empty
! Visual discrepancy
|-
| '''16''' || 4 ''(+12)'' || 4 ''(+12)'' || 4 ''(+12)'' || 4 ''(+12)'' || Yes
|-
|}
Notes:
* 1 belt contains 225 bullets. 3600 bullets in total represent thus 16 belts.
* However, ammunition is modeled as 50 boxes, grouped in 4 racks (rack 1: 12 boxes, rack 2: 13, rack 3: 13 and rack 4: 12)
* Racks 1, 2 & 3 will disappear only if you have 4 belts left.
* If you pack 16, 12 or 8 belts the 4 racks will be displayed as full.
* Racks will successively disappear if you pack 16 belts and shoot them until depletion.
* Pack the maximum amount of ammo to go into battle as you are a SPAA.

==== Optics ====

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="50%"
! colspan="3" | {{PAGENAME}} [[Optics]]
|-
! Which ones
! Default magnification
! Maximum magnification
|-
! Main Gun optics
| x2.1 || x3.7
|-
! Comparable optics
| colspan="2" | [[M13 MGMC]]
|-
|}

== Usage in battles ==

The {{PAGENAME}} is a very vulnerable vehicle, so commanders should be careful not to expose themselves to enemy fire. Take care to find a position where you will not be seen by enemy ground vehicles, and watch the sky. Due to the low velocity of the machine guns, the {{PAGENAME}} should not open fire until the enemy plane is very close, probably within 1 km. If you begin to fire while the enemy plane is out of range, they will likely change course and stay away from your position. Also be wary if there is more than one enemy plane up, as you can easily be strafed to death by machine gun fire. Once you have a good shot on the enemy plane, the 4 machine guns are capable of dealing more damage than one might expect. You can down most aircraft quite quickly, although twin engine fighters and bombers will take longer to destroy.

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* Great placement as a Rank I SPAA
* 4 x BESA machine guns have a high ammo load and a good rate of fire
* 4 x machine guns means that you have a high hit probability
* Armour provides some protection from machine-gun fire, though the gunner is vulnerable
* Excels at taking down fighters
* Can be used against low tier SPAA and open-top tank destroyers, however, it is best suited to strictly SPAA duties
* Small and mobile

'''Cons:'''

* Cannot defend itself from ground attacks, all belts cannot penetrate any tanks
* Damage output is nowhere near comparable to SPAA armed with 20 mm autocannons at this tier
* The gunner is exposed to machine-gun fire from above and the front
* The armour will not protect you from 12.7 mm rounds and above
* Vulnerable to artillery

== History ==


The machine-gun armed Mark VI light tank formed the bulk of British tank strength in 1939. They were intended for colonial duties and reconnaissance but would see front-line combat as late as the British defeats in Java in early 1942. In 1940 they were in use in the light tank squadrons of armoured regiments and the main body of the divisional cavalry regiments. They carried a .50 calibre or 15 mm machine gun as the main armament. They were also used in the early war as command vehicles for armoured units.

As they were withdrawn from service, some Mark VI's were converted to anti-aircraft vehicles, raising the superstructure and replacing the turret. In practice the commander also being the gunner was ineffective. British armoured regiments and tank battalions were supposed to have 4-8 of these vehicles each in mid-1942. By mid-1943 they were taken out of service, replaced for this purpose by the significantly more versatile 20 mm-armed Crusader AA Mk II tank.

== Media ==
''Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.''

== 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 ==
''Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:''

* ''topic on the official game forum;''
* ''encyclopedia page on the tank;''
* ''other literature.''

{{Britain anti-aircraft vehicles}}

A13 Mk I

2021-02-19T10:41:12Z

U14177576: Fixed some grammar mistakes in the opening and added a small amount of info, then added info in the various subsections on weapons, armor, etc.

{{About
| about = British light tank '''{{PAGENAME}}'''
| usage = other uses
| link = A13 (Family)
}}
{{Specs-Card
|code=uk_a_13_mk1
|images={{Specs-Card-Image|GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg}}
}}

== Description ==

The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a reserve British light tank {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced along with the initial British tree line in [[Update 1.55 "Royal Armour"]].

This tank is representative of later Rank II-III British tanks: good mobility, flat and thin frontal armour, bad reverse speed and minimal post-penetration damage.

;Driving

Even though the A13 has good mobility, it sometimes handles strangely: it loses speed on turns, does not accelerate quite as fast as its overpowered engine (38.19 HP/ton, stock) should allow and hill-climbing is difficult. All of these flaws come from the gearbox, which has bad and uneven ratios, resulting in a kick when changing speeds. Know that you should always keep an eye on the "gear" counter top-left of your screen (activate it in the options menu) since it provides you crucial information on how your tank will react to your commands. With a bit of practice, one should swiftly master these peculiarities.

;Shooting

Since the [[Ordnance QF 2-pounder (40 mm)|40 mm QF 2-pounder]] is used on most British tanks in Rank I, it is important to know it well. This cannon has a major disadvantage at distance since its projectiles lose around 20 mm of penetration for every 500 m they travel. As if this was not enough, it has poor accuracy. Even with the ''adjustment of fire'' modification, one should target large components (crew, engine, transmission) or, as distance increases (500 m or more), the general centre of the foe. Firing it, you will easily notice its other flaw: it does almost no post-penetration damage, which means you will need to snipe crew members, one by one. Combine this difficulty with a bit of distance and this task can prove difficult, sometimes leaving the enemy enough time to replenish their crew before you finish them off.

On the other hand, this cannon has five major advantages: reload speed, close-quarter penetration, a primitive stabilizing system, lots of ammo and awesome gun depression. Its fast reloading speed allows you to compensate for its poor accuracy. Missed a shot? Why not take another even before you can re-position! The cannon's close quarters penetration, which is one of the best at its tier, is also a plus. Your enemies will only block your shot if you happen to hit a steeply-angled plate of armour. The primitive stabilizer allows the tank to fire on the move as well. That being said, it works best at low speeds and on relatively flat road, but it still allows the cannon to be much more precise than the comparable [[BT-7]] with its [[20-K (45 mm)|20-K]]. Last but not least, small shells means more shells. The A13 can bring up to 87 shells into the game, much more than you need to knock out 3-4 tanks. This allows you to try and suppress an enemy and keep it in cover by constantly firing near it (at this rank, this tactic can prove effective against new players). Finally, its good gun depression enables it to fire over hills, exposing only its a small turret, shooting and disappearing swiftly. Proper use of these features allows this tank to compete well at its BR.

;Others

Since the addition of smoke in War Thunder, light tanks have it easier. Use your forward-launching smoke to create a wall of smoke in a strategic place. It can be used to cover your allies, when capturing a point, or flanking in a street (urban environment). However, the A13 can only carry two smoke grenades, and firing the smoke mortar uses both of them. They are best saved for a crucial moment.

== General info ==
[[File:A13 Mk 1 Screenshot 1.jpg|thumb|A13 Mk I on [[Jungle]]]]
=== Survivability and armour ===
{{Specs-Tank-Armour}}

'''Armour type:'''

* Rolled homogeneous armour
* Cast homogeneous armour (Gun mantlet)

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Armour !! Front !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
|-
| Hull || 14 mm ''Front plate'' 14 mm (0-62°) ''Front glacis'' 14 mm (64°) ''Lower glacis'' || 7 + 7 mm || 14 mm (0-62°) || 14 mm
|-
| Turret || 14 mm (0-15°) ''Turret front'' 14 mm (1-63°) ''Gun mantlet'' || 14 mm (21°) || 14 mm (2°) || 14 mm
|-
! Armour !! Sides !! Roof
|-
| Cupola || 14 mm || 14 mm
|-
|}
'''Notes:'''
[[File:A13 Mk 1 Screenshot 2.jpg|thumb|A13 Mk I on [[Jungle]]]]

* Suspension wheels and tracks are 15 mm thick while the torsion bars in between the side armour are 10 mm thick.
* There is a 14 mm thick armour plate between the engine bay and the driving compartment.

The A13 Mk I's armour is only strong enough to provide protection against rifle-caliber machine guns. Even tanks or SPAAs armed with heavy machine guns will be able to penetrate the thin, flat armour from close range, and aircraft with HMGs or cannons will be able to strafe you and inflict serious or fatal damage. Additionally, the four crew members are packed such that a single explosive shell to the turret or front of the hull will knock out all of them. To make matters worse, they are completely surrounded by ammo, making getting ammo-racked a serious risk. The best strategy for survival is to avoid exposing yourself and shoot to disable enemies immediately whenever possible, as you will likely not be able to survive return fire from a skilled opponent. Should you take a hit and survive, consider using your smoke grenades to disengage and find cover quickly.

=== Mobility ===
{{Specs-Tank-Mobility}}


{{tankMobility|abMinHp=527|rbMinHp=301}}
The A13 Mk I is quite a fast light tank on flat ground without obstacles, but it suffers from the gearbox's poor ratios in rougher terrain. Turning and climbing, and especially turning and climbing simultaneously, can feel slippery or stuttery. Despite this shortcoming, you are more than fast enough to act as a flanker or spotter, and you can easily get around to the side of unaware or slow opponents and take them by surprise.

=== Modifications and economy ===
{{Specs-Economy}}

== Armaments ==
{{Specs-Tank-Armaments}}
=== Main armament ===
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|1}}

{{main|QF 2-pounder (40 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[QF 2-pounder (40 mm)|40 mm QF 2-pounder]] || colspan="5" | Turret rotation speed (°/s) || colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
|-
! Mode !! Capacity !! Vertical !! Horizontal !! Stabilizer
! Stock !! Upgraded !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
! Stock !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
|-
! ''Arcade''
| rowspan="2" | 87 || rowspan="2" | -15°/+20° || rowspan="2" | ±180° || rowspan="2" | Vertical || 15.23 || 21.08 || 25.60 || 28.31 || 30.12 || rowspan="2" | 3.64 || rowspan="2" | 3.22 || rowspan="2" | 2.97 || rowspan="2" | 2.80
|-
! ''Realistic''
| 9.52 || 11.20 || 13.60 || 15.04 || 16.00
|-
|}
The QF 2-pounder is a very versatile gun, capable of a high fire rate and fair accuracy at close range. The A13 Mk. 1 mounts it in a good turret, which has solid traverse speed and excellent gun depression, as well as a shoulder stabilizer that allows for accurate fire when coming to a stop and at slow speeds. Unfortunately, the gun can not elevate well enough to fire at targets above the tank, but situations that require this are a rarity. The QF has only two main drawbacks - a lack of post-penetration damage, as the only shells with good penetration have no explosive filler, and poor accuracy at longer ranges. These can be overcome by keeping engagements around the 100-200 m range and aiming accurately, first taking out the enemy's weapon and then knocking out their crew or detonating their ammunition with follow-up shots.

==== Ammunition ====

* Shot Mk. 1 {{Annotation|AP/T|Armour-Piercing/Tracer}} - Stock solid shot. Decently effective against most vehicles at this tier, but loses penetration very quickly at range.
* Shot Mk.IXB {{Annotation|APCBC/T|Armour-Piercing Capped Ballistic Capped/Tracer}} - The best penetrating shell available for the A13 Mk I. Very effective against most vehicles at this tier, and much better at maintaining penetration at range than Mk. 1 shot. It still becomes much less effective beyond 500 m.
* Shot Mk.1 {{Annotation|APHV/T|Armor-Piercing High Velocity/Tracer}} - Higher velocity than the other shells, so easier to aim, but loses penetration extremely quickly at range and is likely to ricochet off angled armor.
* Shell Mk.1 {{Annotation|AP/T|Armour-Piercing Tracer}} - {{Annotation|APHE|Armour-Piercing High Explosive}} - Contains explosive filler and is likely to one-shot anything it penetrates, but is much less penetrating than the other shells. Devastating against tanks with weaker armor, but will encounter difficulty with the tougher tanks at this tier.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)'''
|-
! 10 m !! 100 m !! 500 m !! 1,000 m !! 1,500 m !! 2,000 m
|-
| Shot Mk.1 AP/T || AP || 72 || 68 || 52 || 37 || 27 || 19
|-
| Shot Mk.IXB APCBC/T || APCBC || 89 || 86 || 77 || 66 || 57 || 50
|-
| Shot Mk.1 APHV/T || AP || 80 || 75 || 58 || 41 || 30 || 21
|-
| Shell Mk.1 AP/T || APHE || 66 || 62 || 49 || 36 || 26 || 20
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
! colspan="10" | Shell details
|-
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
! rowspan="2" | Type of warhead
! rowspan="2" | Velocity (m/s)
! rowspan="2" | Projectile Mass (kg)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse delay (m)
! rowspan="2" | Fuse sensitivity (mm)
! rowspan="2" | Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
! colspan="3" | Ricochet
|-
! 0% !! 50% !! 100%
|-
| Shot Mk.1 AP/T || AP || 792 || 1.08 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 47° || 60° || 65°
|-
| Shot Mk.IXB APCBC/T || APCBC || 792 || 1.24 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 48° || 63° || 71°
|-
| Shot Mk.1 APHV/T || AP || 853 || 1.08 || N/A || N/A || N/A || 47° || 60° || 65°
|-
| Shell Mk.1 AP/T || APHE || 792 || 1.08 || 1.2 || 9 || 20.9 || 47° || 60° || 65°
|-
|}

==== [[Ammo racks]] ====

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Full ammo
! 1st rack empty
! 2nd rack empty
! 3rd rack empty
! 4th rack empty
! 5th rack empty
! 6th rack empty
! 7th rack empty
! 8th rack empty
! 9th rack empty
! 10th rack empty
! 11th rack empty
! 12th rack empty
! 13th rack empty
! 14th rack empty
! 15th rack empty
! 16th rack empty
! Visual discrepancy
|-
| '''87''' || 78 ''(+9)'' || 75 ''(+12)'' || 72 ''(+15)'' || 69 ''(+18)'' || 66 ''(+21)'' || 62 ''(+25)'' || 60 ''(+27)'' || 56 ''(+31)'' || 51 ''(+36)'' || 47 ''(+40)'' || 43 ''(+44)'' || 41 ''(+46)'' || 36 ''(+51)'' || 31 ''(+56)'' || 16 ''(+71)'' || 1 ''(+86)'' || No
|-
|}
[[File:Ammoracks_A13MkI.png|right|thumb|x250px|[[Ammo racks]] of the {{PAGENAME}}]]

Center hull empty: 41 ''(+46)''

==== Optics ====
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="50%"
! colspan="3" | {{PAGENAME}} [[Optics]]
|-
! Which ones
! Default magnification
! Maximum magnification
|-
! Main Gun optics
| x1.85 || x3.5
|-
! Comparable optics
| colspan="2" | [[AMR.35 ZT3]]
|-
|}

=== Machine guns ===
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|2}}

{{main|Vickers (7.7 mm)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="50%"
|-
! colspan="5" | [[Vickers (7.7 mm)|7.7 mm Vickers]]
|-
! Mount !! Capacity (Belt) !! Fire rate !! Vertical !! Horizontal
|-
| Coaxial || 3,500 (250) || 390 || N/A || N/A
|-
|}
The Vickers machine gun is mostly only useful for spotting other tanks for teammates or knocking out crew in open-top vehicles. As a rifle-caliber MG it cannot damage other tanks, and the very low fire rate of 390 RPM as well as having only 20 degrees of turret elevation makes it difficult to use effectively against aircraft.

== Usage in battles ==

[[File:A13 Mk I Screenshot 3.jpg|thumb|A13 Mk I on [[Jungle]]]]
This vehicle's role is that of a light tank in the truest sense, sporting an acceptable gun, great mobility and virtually no armour to speak of.

This tank has a very active playstyle and should not be used in the front lines. Instead, use your mobility to your advantage: Spot, flank and provide artillery support for your teammates, blind your enemies with well-placed smokes screens in key avenues. Make sure to only target secluded enemies in flanking tactics so you can take full advantage of the element of surprise and outflank your opponent. Never expose yourself for too long because even anti-aircraft guns are a potential threat to your non-angled armour. The [[Ordnance QF 2-pounder (40 mm)|QF 2-pounder]] has an awfully long-range accuracy so you must get close to your enemies to actually land a shot where you expect. Load up this agile (but reluctant) cat with ammo and flank your enemies with a constant flow of bullets.

=== Pros and cons ===


'''Pros:'''

* Good gun for its rank
* Fast
* Slim target
* Has a "lock", which is a primitive form of stabilisation; this makes stopping and firing a useful tactic as the 2-pdr doesn't bounce as much as a non-stabilised gun
* Brings lots of ammo to the fight (87 rounds max)
* Has forward-launching smoke launchers
* Coaxial machine gun
* Good horse-power per ton ratio
* Decent turret sewing rate
* -15° gun depression
* Four crewmen and a three-man turret
* Quite a fast reload, makes finishing off a target both quicker and easier
* Very effective in its historical role, a flanker and scout

'''Cons:'''

* Next to no armour
* Barely any response from the engine
* Loses speed when turning
* The ability to carry almost 90 rounds comes at a cost, this cost is that the ammunition is very hard to miss and thus, the A13 series suffers from frequent ammunition detonations
* Wiggles when trying to turn on 5th gear
* Regular machine guns can penetrate side armour
* The coaxial machine gun is a Vickers which, compared to other Rank I machine guns, has an incredibly slow fire rate
* Not effective at anything other than how it was historically used; ill-advised to brawl or support heavier vehicles

== History ==

===Development===
The British development on their cruiser tanks, tanks that focus on mobility to exploit breakthroughs beyond enemy lines, took a turn in 1936 after General Giffard LeQuesne Martel became the Assistant Director of Mechanization at the British War Office, the head of the army in the government. Martel, an advocate of the tanks, and developer of the concept of "tankettes", witnessed a tank demonstration in 1936 that had Soviet designs. The one that attracted his attention was the [[BT-5|BT light tank]]. The BT's use of the Christie suspension had Martel argue for the usage of the same suspension in their tank designs, to which the British government complied with the purchase and licensing of the system from the Nuffield Organization.

The acquired vehicle from the purchase of the Christie suspension was labelled as the ''A13E1'' and became part of the design development under the designation ''Cruiser Mk III (A13)''. The General Staff requested for the vehicle to have 30 mm of armour, a 2-pounder gun, and a road speed of 48 km/h. The original vehicle was extensively reworked due to many interior and mechanical issues. Until the tank design was finished, the British Army adopted the ''Cruiser Mk I (A9)'' tank for use, but these tanks were delayed due to the A13's near completion. The first prototype was delivered in 1937 under the name ''A13E2'', this featured the turret from the A9 cruiser tank, with a 2-pounder and a Vickers machine gun. The armour on the prototype was 15 mm and the design could reach a top speed under a governor of 48 km/h (64 km/h ungoverned). The last and revised design was the ''A13E3'' that became adopted by the British Army and ordered into production in 1939. The General Staff specification number for the tank was the '''A13 Mk. I, Cruiser Tank Mark III'''. 65 of these tanks were ordered from the Nuffield Mechanization & Aero Limited, to which 30 were built before the War Office decided to upgrade the A13 Mk.I with more armour than the '' [[A13 Mk II|A13 Mk.II, Cruiser Tank Mk IV]]''. Some of the A13 Mk.I Cruiser Mk III was also converted into Mk IV to stay modernized.

===Combat usage===
The A13 first saw combat in the Battle of France under the British Expeditionary Force in 1940. The A13 encountered many troubles during its employment, the crew having little to no training with the new tanks due to their rushed adoption into service. The tanks were in poor condition and some were even missing parts. The A13s were used in the 1st Armoured Division, but many were either destroyed by the superior German armoured forces or abandoned at Calais during the evacuation of Allied troops at Dunkirk, which forced the units to leave behind their heavier equipment.

After the disaster at France, the A13 were still used to support the war. Some were sent to Greece to support their defence against Germany in the Battle of Greece, but a majority were sent to North Africa as part of the Western Desert Campaign near Libya under the 7th Armoured Division. Compared to the time in France, the A13s in North Africa fared much better, ironing out most of its initial defects, and was even more suited to the environment than other tank designs. The A13 was popular with the crew for its high speed, reliability, and a powerful 2-pounder cannon that could engage a majority of Axis tanks in 1941. However, there was an insufficient number of A13s available for use, so tank units were mixed with the faster cruiser tanks and slower infantry tanks, which caused tactical and logistical difficulties trying to accommodate all of the tanks. Another deficiency with the tank and every other British tank with the 2-pounder was the lack of high-explosive shell issued to the tankers, which made them vulnerable to anti-tank guns, which caused a majority of British tank losses in the North African Campaign. Still, the A13 fared very well with its armour and armament until late 1941 where better armoured [[Pz.III L|Panzer IIIs]] and [[Pz.IV G|Panzer IVs]] began to appear on the battlefield.

Due to its growing obsolescence on the battlefield, the A13 was replaced in 1941 by the better armoured [[Crusader Mk II|A15 Crusader tank]].

== Media ==


;Skins

* [https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?vehicleCountry=britain&vehicleType=tank&vehicleClass=light_tank&vehicle=uk_a_13_mk1 Skins and camouflages for the {{PAGENAME}} from live.warthunder.com.]

;Videos
{{Youtube-gallery|4_cJ1CpEatw|'''Best gun depression''' discusses the {{PAGENAME}} at 1:33 - ''War Thunder Official Channel''|mjacUnmi2iY|'''David Fletcher's Tank Chats #1: The A13 Cruiser''' - ''The Tank Museum''}}

== 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 ==
''Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:''

* ''topic on the official game forum;''
* ''encyclopedia page on the tank;''
* ''other literature.''

{{Britain light tanks}}