20pdr OQF Mk.I (84 mm)

Description

The 20pdr OQF Mk.I is a British tank armament, developed after the end of WWII to combat the Soviet IS-3. It fires a variety of conventional shells typical of British guns, but introduces a new subcaliber APDS round paired with a two-plane stabilizer on all but one of its implementations, making it one of the most deadly armaments at its battle rating.

Vehicles equipped with this weapon

• Caernarvon
• Centurion Action X
• Centurion Mk 3

• Charioteer Mk VII
• FV4202

General info

The 20pdr is first seen on the Charioteer without a stabilizer, but it isn't until it is mounted on the many Centurion variants that it truly shines. Its APCBC round has penetration comparable to the Tiger II's , but as usual for British tanks it lacks explosive filler. The unlockable APDS Mk.3 round, however, can reliably penetrate most tanks frontally with 285mm of penetration at point blank, with a very high velocity that can allow one to land shots at long range with a punctual consistency. Unfortunately, the great penetration and good ballistics comes at a cost as the APDS round has very poor post-penetration damage, with a narrow cone of damage and no explosive filler. One must have a very extensive knowledge of enemy crew placement or ammo rack locations to reliably eliminate enemy tanks with one shot. For a player less familiar with enemy vehicles at the battle rating, it is advised to try to incapacitate the gunner or knock out the cannon to ensure the tank will not fire back at the user.

Available ammunition

Penetration Statistics
Ammunition	Type of Warhead	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
		10	100	500	1000	1500	2000
Shot Mk.1	APCBC	232	229	216	201	187	173
Shot Mk.3	APDS	285	283	262	239	218	198
Shell Mk.1	HE	15	15	15	15	15	15

Comparison with analogues

With the APDS rounds, the 20pdr has a penetration level similar to that of 3BM4 found on the T-62. The APCBC round's closest analogue is the PzGr. 39/43 found on the late-war German tanks such as the Tiger II and Ferdinand.

Usage in battles

In-game, the 20pdr is very proficient at sniping and quick reaction shots due to the impressive ballistics and two-plane stabilizer respectively.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Impressive penetration, negates most armour
• High velocity and low drop, easy to hit moving and distant targets
• Usually stabilized on both axis

Cons:

• Poor post-penetration damage with all rounds

History

Development

The 20 pounder's design followed that of the German 8.8 cm KwK 43, a cannon used in the Second World War Tiger series tanks. Like the KwK 43, the 20 pounder had a length of 66.7 calibres and could fire both APCBC and sub-calibre rounds. The 20 pounder's APCBC projectile had a muzzle velocity of 1,020 meters per second and could penetrate 21 cm of rolled homogeneous armour (RHA) while the APDS projectile had a muzzle velocity of 1,465 m/s (4,810 ft/s) and could penetrate 30 cm (12 in) of RHA. The 20-pounder could also fire high-explosive and canister shot.

Service history

The gun was fitted predominantly to the Centurion tank, seeing action with British and Australian forces during the Korean and Vietnam War. When a Soviet T-54A main battle tank was driven to the British embassy in Budapest by Hungarian rebels during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, analysis of its armour and 100 mm gun led British officials to determine that the 20 pounder was ineffective at defeating Soviet armour. This led to the development of the 105 mm L7 tank gun, which was designed to fit specifically into the turret mountings of the 20 pounder, facilitating for easily upgunning existing tanks equipped with the 20 pounder.

One 20 pounder gun was fitted to a Swiss pre-production Panzer 58, replacing a domestic 90 mm Kanone 1948 gun, before it was equipped with the 105 mm L7.

Media

See also

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

• Centurion Mk 3
• Tank ammunition

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• Wikipedia page

Britain tank cannons
30 mm	L21A1
40 mm	QF 2-pounder
47 mm	Ordnance QF 3-pounder
57 mm	6pdr OQF Mk.III · 6pdr OQF Mk.V
75 mm	OQF Mk.V
76 mm	OQF 3-inch Howitzer Mk I · OQF 3in 20cwt · QF 17-pounder
77 mm	OQF Mk.II
84 mm	20pdr OQF Mk.I
94 mm	28pdr OQF · 32pdr OQF · OQF Mk.II
95 mm	Howitzer, Tank No.1, Mk.I
105 mm	LRF · Royal Ordnance L7A1
120 mm	Ordnance QF Tk. L1A2 · Ordnance BL Tk. L11 · L11A5 · L30A1
165 mm	ORD BL 6.5in L9A1
183 mm	QF L4A1
	Foreign:
25 mm	M242 (USA)
37 mm	M5 (USA) · M6 (USA)
75 mm	M2 (USA) · M3 (USA)
84 mm	kan Strv 81 (Sweden)
105 mm	Sharir (Israel)
120 mm	Rh120 L/55 A1 (Germany)
125 mm	2A46M-5 (Russia)
155 mm	M185 (USA)
	South Africa
20 mm	GI-2
76 mm	GT-4
90 mm	GT-2
105 mm	GT-3 · GT-7 · GT-8
155 mm	G6 L/45