Centurion Mk 1

This page is about the British medium tank Centurion Mk 1. For other versions, see Centurion (Family).

Centurion Mk 1

Comet I

Centurion Mk 3

Centurion Mk 1

Comet I

Centurion Mk 3

Britain

IV Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
6.0	6.0	6.0

Class:

Medium tank

Research:46 000

Purchase:155 000

Description

The Centurion Mk 1 was the first variant of the Centurion medium tank family. Despite being classified as a medium tank by World War II standards, it can also be regarded as an early precursor to the Main Battle Tank, a designation established after the Second World War. The Centurion family is largely regarded as one of the most successful post-war tank designs, with manufacture continuing into the 1960s and combat continuing into the 1980s. The chassis was altered for a variety of various functions, and some of these modifications are still in use. It was a widespread tank with good armour, good mobility, and a powerful main tank gun. The Centurion was designed to fulfil a request for a 45-tonne tank with a 650-horsepower engine, strongly sloped frontal armour, and the new and powerful 76 mm Ordnance QF 17-pounder tank gun in October 1943. This would effectively result in a vehicle comparable to the German Panther tank. When the first production variant, the Centurion Mk 1 had been built, World War II in Europe was almost over. With some fighting still going on there, there was a hurry to bring this brand-new tank to Germany, possibly in the hopes of seeing some action. Even if it was unable to, the tank would be operational, and the experience acquired in a conflict zone would be invaluable in furthering its development. The Centurion Mk 1 swiftly grew into a wide tank family with as many as 13 distinct variants, each featuring multiple major modifications that may be considered a sub-family in and of themselves.

Introduced in Update 1.67 "Assault", the Centurion Mk 1 is a ground-breaking design that combines strong armour, superb mobility, and a potent main tank gun. It is also one of the first British Army ground forces vehicles to have its transmission overhauled, resulting in much enhanced reverse speed. Players will undoubtedly value the new ability to effectively retreat back to cover after firing in order to avoid enemy retaliation. The renowned 76 mm Ordnance QF 17-pounder tank gun should be familiar to players of British Army ground forces.

General info

Survivability and armour

Smoke grenades

Creation of a smoke screen in front of the vehicle

Armourfront / side / back

Hull76 / 51 / 38

Turret127 / 76 / 76

Crew4 people

Visibility119 %

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour (Hull, Turret sides, Turret roof)
• Cast homogeneous armour (Turret front, Gun mantlet, Cupola)

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	76.2 mm (58°) Front glacis 76.2 mm (44°) Lower glacis	51 (12°) + 6 mm	38 mm (7°) Top 38 mm (18°) Bottom	29 mm 8-14 mm Engine deck
Turret	127 mm (2-58°) Turret front 127 mm (6-40°) Gun mantlet	76 mm (9-11°)	76 mm (1°) 38 mm (89°) Turret underside	25 mm
Cupola	90 mm			25 mm Outer ring 19 mm Centre

Notes:

• Tracks and suspension wheels are both 20 mm thick.
• The steel boxes around the turret and hull give a 4 mm additional protection, though this seems to be a negligible addition.
• Skirting are placed on the sides of the Centurion, giving an additional 6 mm of side protection and can act as spaced armour.
• An internal structural plate of 17 mm thickness separates the forward ammo rack from the driver as seen in X-ray mode.
• Another internal 17 mm structural plate with large openings separates the driving compartment from the fighting compartment.
• Angle for maximum effectiveness, even though most guns at the battle rating have trouble penetrating the Upper Frontal Plate even at close range. Namely the Tiger, Panther, T-34-85, and M4A2 (76).

The Centurion Mk 1 is the first tank players will encounter in the British tech tree that sports a sloped hull front similar to the Panther and Soviet tanks, which with a thickness of 76.2 mm provides decent protection for its battle rating, especially when the hull is angled slightly.

Turret armour features 127 mm thickness throughout the front but features many flat areas that cannons of sufficient power will exploit to destroy the tank, especially since 3 out of the 4 crew members are located in the turret. Side armour can withstand autocannon fire with exceptions for HVAP rounds, so don't rely on it outside of that. If the situation becomes sticky and a tactical retreat is required, a single wide volley of smoke grenades launched from the turret can cover you from the line of sight.

The roof armour is mostly around 25 mm thick, which will protect from poorly aimed aircraft attack or HE fired by medium tanks, but will not stop artillery tanks or Soviet heavy tanks. The engine deck armour is only 8 mm thick, which is an even bigger weak spot than the familiar weakness of Churchill tanks.

All in all, its thick and sloped hull armour is the biggest upgrade from previous British medium tanks. Reaching 152 mm on the turret and a good 76 mm angled at 58° on the front hull, this tank can actually deflect shots from a lot of cannons it will face like the Soviet D-5T, the Japanese Type II 75 mm and even some older German guns (if aimed poorly). This only gets better when the tank is further angled to the side.

This means, that at 500 m range the tank can actually cut into corners or simply expose its upper glacis because it will just bounce inaccurate shots from medium tanks or even weak short SPGs. This tank still has weak spots though: gun and MG mantlet, which are "only" 127 mm thick and barely angled, and lower glacis, which are 76 mm thick at 44°, meaning close-range shots will eventually penetrate, even in full down-tier. It also has thin side armour, meaning that the tank is vulnerable to flank attacks and compound angling cannot be done effectively without exposing the sides.

These traits mean that with some care the Centurion Mk 1 can happily stand on the front against most nations (with major exception being Germany).

Mobility

Speedforward / back

AB43 / 15 km/h

RB and SB39 / 13 km/h

Number of gears5 forward

2 back

Weight46.9 t

Engine power

AB1 221 hp

RB and SB640 hp

Power-to-weight ratio

AB26.0 hp/t

RB and SB13.6 hp/t

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	43	15	46.9	984	1,221	20.98	26.03
Realistic	39	13		562	640	11.98	13.65

The Centurion easily reaches its top speed of 39 km/h on almost any ground, due to its wide tracks and a good engine, even at stock performances. It also has a refreshingly good reverse speed (~13 km/h) (compared to the dreadful reverse speed of tanks on the Cromwell chassis) and can turn on the spot quite fast.

Compared to the many Cromwell based tanks before the Centurion, it does lose out on a great forward speed, only being able to reach 41 km/h (AB) / 37 km/h (RB) maximum, but in return it does receive great reverse speed of 13.4 km/h (AB) / 12.1 km/h (RB), allowing for tactics that would not be recommended with the Cromwell like "Peek-a-boos". It also retains good manoeuvrability, effective neutral steering, and a very acceptable acceleration due to good power-to-weight ratio.

Modifications and economy

Repair costBasic → Reference

AB2 152 → 2 911

RB2 568 → 3 474

SB3 275 → 4 431

Total cost of modifications40 200

78 200

Talisman cost1 400

Crew training45 000

Experts155 000

Aces630

Research Aces440 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

100 / 150 / 180 %

160 / 160 / 160 %

Modifications

Mobility	Protection	Firepower
Tracks Research: 2 000 Cost: 3 900 145 Suspension Research: 1 800 Cost: 3 500 130 Brake System Research: 1 800 Cost: 3 500 130 Filters Research: 2 000 Cost: 3 900 145 Transmission Research: 3 300 Cost: 6 400 240 Engine Research: 3 300 Cost: 6 400 240	Improved Parts Research: 2 000 Cost: 3 900 145 Improved FPE Research: 1 800 Cost: 3 500 130 Crew Replenishment Research: 2 000 Cost: 3 900 145	76mm_britain_17pdr_APC_ammo_pack Research: 2 000 Cost: 3 900 145 Horizontal Drive Research: 2 000 Cost: 3 900 145 76mm_britain_17pdr_APCBC_ammo_pack Research: 1 800 Cost: 3 500 130 Adjustment of Fire Research: 1 800 Cost: 3 500 130 76mm_britain_17pdr_APDS_ammo_pack Research: 2 000 Cost: 3 900 145 Elevation Mechanism Research: 2 000 Cost: 3 900 145 Smoke grenade Research: 2 000 Cost: 3 900 145 Artillery Support Research: 3 300 Cost: 6 400 240 76mm_britain_Smoke_ammo_pack Research: 3 300 Cost: 6 400 240

Armaments

Main armament

76 mm QF 17-pounder cannon

Ammunition75 rounds

First-order5 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

7.6 → 5.9 s

Vertical guidance-12° / 20°

The gun does not fire any shells with explosive filler, meaning that pinpoint accuracy is needed to get reliable kills (aiming for important modules, crew, or ammo racks). This cannon's reload rate is faster than average at its BR, meaning if enemy loader is down, it will be able to land 2 shots before enemy can fire again. After having depleted the ready rack of 5 shells, the reload time increases so be mindful when advancing.

As any other tanks equipped with the QF 17-pounder, you will have to grind through subpar AP, APC and APCBC shells before getting APDS. This last type of shell helps make aiming quite easy and remains effective at long ranges while not being too costly in terms of Silver Lions .

76 mm QF 17-pounder					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	75	-12°/+20°	±180°	N/A	17.14	23.72	28.80	31.84	33.88	7.67	6.79	6.25	5.90
Realistic					10.71	12.60	15.30	16.92	18.00

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
		10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
Shot Mk.6	AP	171	168	155	139	126	113
Shell Mk.1	HE	20	20	18	16	15	13
Shot Mk.4	APC	171	168	155	139	126	113
Shot Mk.8	APCBC	190	187	172	155	140	126
Shot SV Mk.1	APDS	269	264	246	226	207	189

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
Shot Mk.6	AP	883	7.71	-	-	-	47°	60°	65°
Shell Mk.1	HE	883	6.98	0.2	0.1	580	79°	80°	81°
Shot Mk.4	APC	883	7.71	-	-	-	48°	63°	71°
Shot Mk.8	APCBC	883	7.71	-	-	-	48°	63°	71°
Shot SV Mk.1	APDS	1,204	2.48	-	-	-	75°	78°	80°

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)
17pdr Shell SS Mk.1	229	8.44	13	5	20	50

Ammo racks

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	Visual discrepancy
75	74 (+1)	73 (+2)	68 (+7)	38 (+37)	30 (+45)	22 (+53)	14 (+61)	6 (+69)	1 (+74)	No

Ammo racks of the Centurion Mk 1

Notes:

• The QF 17-pounder cannon fires single-piece ammunition stored in stowage racks in the hull floor and the hull front next to the driver.
• Recommended ammo load is 38 to remove the large ammo rack at the front of the hull.
• Ammo rack 9 is a ready rack, and takes priority in being filled at the beginning of the battle.
• After the first order ammo rack is depleted, the reload time is longer, at around 10 seconds.

Machine guns

7.92 mm BESA machine gun (coaxial)

Ammunition3 375 rounds

Belt capacity225 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

10.4 → 8.0 s

Fire rate600 shots/min

Unlike many turret-mounted machine guns that are co-axial, this machine gun is mounted in pintle mount similar to hull-mounted machine guns, so it is able to independently traverse on its own to a degree, a trait that is shared with the Soviet T-28. This can provide a slight advantage when the turret ring is disabled, as it can allow more accurate fire without the need to move the turret/hull.

A minor issue to notice is that the machine gun has very poor elevation and is loader-controlled, meaning that it cannot target even low flying aircraft and that it will be disabled once the tank has lost two or more crew members.

7.92 mm BESA
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Coaxial	3,375 (225)	600	±7°	±7°

Usage in battles

Overview:

The Centurion Mk 1 is widely considered as the first Main Battle Tank (MBT), and plays in the role of a medium/heavy. The armour is more than satisfactory against most enemy weapons, although it should not be relied upon. The 17-pounder cannon is very effective against enemy armour, although its post-penetration damage is lacklustre. The tank is not particularly fast, but is mobile, especially in reverse.

Strategies:

Centurion tank commanders should use cover and be careful for the majority of the time. When the opportunity arises, the Centurion can help lead the charge against enemy medium and heavy tanks. Centurion commanders should keep in mind that the APDS ammunition is unlikely to destroy enemy vehicles in one shot, so they may need to expose themselves to enemy fire for extended periods of time in order to secure a kill. Generally, the Centurion plays similarly to other medium tanks of the tier. It is best practice to angle the turret, but the hull should not be angled due to the thin side armour.

In terms of engagement ranges, the Centurion works well at both long and short ranges. The issue with sniping in the centurion is that it is very difficult to secure kills with the lacklustre post-penetration damage. Because of this, medium and short range engagements are preferable.

Notable Enemies:

At its BR, the Centurion faces many iconic German big cats like the Tiger I, the Panther and even the Tiger II. The Centurion is capable of going head to head with the big cats. The APDS rounds will slice through the Tiger I at most angles but one must be cautious of facing Tiger II, and can even penetrate the upper front plate of a Panther at close ranges or at range when using APDS. This round can even penetrate the Jagdpanther. It can also easily penetrate the hull of the IS-1 and early IS-2. Generally when firing at enemies, be careful to aim for the flat parts of the armour. APDS ammunition doesn't handle angled armour very well most of the time.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Fast firing 17-pounder armament with APDS rounds
• Good gun depression of -12°
• Tough round and sloped armour that is quite resistant to the 85 mm, 76 mm and even the German 88 mm (KwK36) guns at medium/long range
• Turret's top armour is thick, can resist most aircraft guns and some HE shells
• Average mobility and decent manoeuvrability
• Good reverse speed and neutral steering
• Benefits greatly from the learning curve of the Comet I and Challenger, their players will find themselves at home when playing the Centurion
• Mastering this tank will provide a good learning curve for the next Centurion variants

Cons:

• Precision and knowledge of enemy tanks are required, because of the APDS localized damage
• Weak side armour, angling the armour too much will result in the side armour being penetrated
• Vulnerable to high ground and tall tanks due to reliance on angled armour
• The Centurion Mk has a slow top speed for a medium tank
• Unlike its later iterations, no gun stabilizer
• Some-what weak lower frontal plate (LFP); ammo rack also present there, a weakness carried over to all British tanks onward
• Top armour covering the engine is poor, only 8 mm
• Only 6 shells available before the first order ammo rack is depleted, leading to a longer reload time
• Frontal turret cheek armour is flat
• Many angles and faces on the turret can yield various results when shot, armour is ultimately unreliable

History

Design

In 1943, the British War Office mandated the Directorate of Tank Design to start working on a new heavy cruiser tank. The requirements stated that the new tank should be capable of withstanding a direct hit from the infamous German 88 mm gun, while providing greater protection against mines as well as staying under the 40-ton limit imposed by logistical constraints. The tank also had to offer a good cross-country capability when offroad, a high reverse speed was required but not a high forward top speed. The new project, called A41, had to surpass the Comet tank in all areas except the main armament for which the 17-pdr gun was still deemed effective enough to deal with enemy tanks.

Development

Early in the development, it became clear that the 40-tons limit imposed by logistical constraints (transport trailers, Bailey truss bridge, etc.) could not be held if the other requirements were to stay the same (armour and turret size). The limit was raised to 50 tons and the tank's maximal size for railway bridges and tunnels was also scrapped. The hull was designed larger, welded and with sloped armour. The turret was made of thick cast armour, with the sides sloped and overall wider than previous tanks to fit the 17-pdr gun and 3 crew members. The tank was designed and fitted with a Rolls-Royce Meteor engine, the same engine found in the Comet and Cromwell tanks. The suspension was changed to a Horstmann suspension to reduce its size and encroachment while allowing for modular maintenance in the field. Prototypes for evaluation arrived in Belgium less than a month after the end of WW2 in Europe and manufacturing began later in 1945. The new A41 tank was subsequently designated the Centurion. During its test phase, it demonstrated better performance than the Comet in all areas and was adopted by the British Army.

Combat usage

The Centurion Mk 1 never saw combat and was quickly upgraded to Mk 2 and 3 with the introduction of the 20-pdr gun. The first Centurions to see combat were British and Canadian Centurions Mk 3 in Korea in the 1950s where the tank gained its laurels and became a major export success.

Media

Skins

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

Videos

Centurion Mk 1 Tank Review - APDS Only - Napalmratte

British Blitzkrieg - Centurion Mk 1 Review - MikeGoesBoom

See also

Vehicles equipped with the same gun and ammunition

• Challenger
• Black Prince

External links

• [Devblog] Centurion Mk I: A Tank for a New Era
• [Wikipedia] Centurion
• [Tanks Encyclopedia] FV4007 Centurion

Department of Tank Design
Medium Tanks
Sherman Firefly	Sherman Firefly · Sherman IC "Trzyniec"
MBTs
Centurion	Centurion Mk 1 · Centurion Mk.2 · Centurion Mk 3 · Centurion Action X · Centurion Mk.5 AVRE · Centurion Mk 10
Challenger*	Challenger Mk.2 · Challenger Mk.3 · Challenger DS
Tank Destroyers
Achilles	Achilles · Achilles (65 Rg.)
Centurion-based	Conway · FV4005
Export
Sherman Firefly	Sherman Ic · ▄Sherman Vc
Centurion	Centurion Mk.5/1 · Strv 81 · Strv 81 (RB 52) · ▄Strv 81 (RB 52) · Strv 101 · Strv 104** · Strv 105** · Sho't
See also	US Ordnance Department · Israeli Ordnance Corps · Vickers-Armstrongs Limited
	*By successor, the Military Vehicles and Engineering Establishment
	**Swedish modernizations incorporating innovations from the Israeli Sho't Kals.