Churchill I
| This page is about the British heavy tank Churchill I. For other variants, see Churchill (Family). |
Contents
Description
The Tank, Infantry, Mk IV, Churchill I (A22) (or just Churchill I) is a rank II British heavy tank with a battle rating of 3.0 (AB) and 3.3 (RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.69 "Regia Aeronautica". Like the original model of the Churchill infantry tank, it has the substantial frontal armour able to withstand enemy shells.
The Churchill Mk I is one of the more capable heavy tanks at rank II. The tank has excellent frontal armour that can absorb and bounce shots. Tanks such as the Panzer III, T-34, M4 Sherman, and even the dreaded Panzer IV F2 can be blocked if angled. Very few tanks can deal with the Churchill Mk I effectively from the front, such as the M10 GMC or Achilles. Its 2-pounder gun, however, is sub-par in dealing damage for its battle rating. It is of small calibre and low penetration and damage. Use its very fast reload to make follow-up shots to finish off enemies. Its secondary howitzer is able to fire HE shells, however due to their inefficiency, it is recommended use smoke rounds to cover your teams advance or to smoke out enemy positions.
The Churchill Mk I, despite being a heavy tank, is quite fast and can turn just as swiftly via neutral steering. However, a driver must be skilled to utilise this to the tank's advantage, as turning while in forward motion is slower than the neutral steer, which the enemy can take advantage of when flanking. The Churchill's engine is also easily damaged due to its large appearance.
General info
Survivability and armour
The main attribute of the Churchill I is obviously its armour. the 89 to 178 mm of the front hull together with the 63.5 mm of side armour means that this tank performs very well when angled. However overangling can reveal the thinly armoured engine in the back. The very big tracks also aid in protection as they can soak up a lot of shells. Do not let the enemy get to your rear as all tanks at the Churchill I's BR can go through.
The turret of the Churchill I is very well armoured overall, it has 89 mm all around except 114 mm on the front. On the front there is also a 50 mm thick mantlet plate below the main plate that when combined offer superb frontal protection. The turret front has a couple small weak spots in the front where the turret MG and sight are placed: the armour is only 50 mm thick and can be penetrated by any opposing tank. Always keep the turret in motion when at close range.
The roof armour of the turret and hull are both very thin and can be easily strafed by aircraft with a calibre of 20 mm or larger.
The 5 crew members of the Churchill allow for decent survivability, however due to the packed crew in the turret, an APHE shell will knock the crew entirely if it goes through. If this happens you'll have to wait for the hull-gunner (presuming they're still alive) to take up the gunner's position.
The abundance of smoke munitions on the vehicle (roof-mounted smoke grenades as well as howitzer-fired smoke rounds) allows for increased survivability in most situations.
Armour type:
- Rolled homogeneous armour (Hull, Turret)
- Cast homogeneous armour (Driver viewport, Machine gun area, Gun mantlet)
| Armour | Front | Sides | Rear | Roof |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hull | 89 mm Front plate 89 + 89 mm Front plate (MG Port) 38 mm (63°) Front glacis 76.2 mm (19°) Lower glacis |
63.5 mm Overall side armour 76.2 mm Side hatch 38.1 mm Side edge |
50.8 mm 25.4 mm (68°) Bottom |
15.87 mm |
| Turret | 89 mm Turret front 89 mm (0-30°) Gun mantlet 18 mm (76°) Roof area |
76.2 mm | 76.2 mm | 18 mm |
Notes:
- Suspension wheels are 20 mm thick while tracks are 30 mm thick.
- Belly armour is 19 mm thick.
- A 8 mm Structural steel plate separates the engine and crew compartment.
- 50 mm internal mantlet that can be either a weak spot or an extra layer of armour
- The 8 mm engine vents on the side of the tank lead directly to the engine and fuel tanks
Mobility
As a heavy infantry support tank. the Churchill I is slow and will not be the first to reach the frontline. It was a top speed of 28 km/h (30 km/h in AB) and will reach that top speed fairly quickly due to a good engine and transmission. The Churchill I has a very poor reverse speed (-3 km/h), so it should not be relied on for peaking a hill or corner. The Churchill I can neutral steer allowing for good positioning, however the neutral steering is very slow. Short brakes can be used to pivot the tank much faster (keybinds can be defined in-game in the Controls menu: Controls > Ground vehicles > Short brakes).
| Game Mode | Max Speed (km/h) | Weight (tons) | Engine power (horsepower) | Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | Reverse | Stock | Upgraded | Stock | Upgraded | ||
| Arcade | 30 | 3 | 37.8 | 452 | 668 | 11.96 | 17.67 |
| Realistic | 28 | 3 | 310 | 350 | 8.2 | 9.26 | |
Modifications and economy
| Mobility | Protection | Firepower | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Armaments
Main armament
The 40 mm QF 2-pounder has poor penetration even with its best round at its BR (89 mm point blank). You will still be able to penetrate most light or medium vehicles frontally at close range, but at ranges greater than 500 m the cannon becomes mostly ineffective due to both its lack of penetration and its inaccuracy. From the side, the round will usually go through, even at medium ranges. The 2-pounder's best attribute is its reload speed. Because of this you will in most cases be able to fire 2 rounds in the same times as the enemy can fire only one. It is advised to use the 2-pounder's reload speed to methodically take out key components within the enemy vehicle. This will also be necessary as the only round with explosive filler that he gun has, has terrible penetration. The 2-pounder is equipped with a shoulder stabilizer allowing for stable fire at slow speeds.
The gun has excellent elevation and depression angles as well as a turret with decent traverse speeds, however in a lot of situations the hull may be in the way of the gun, keep this in mind when engaging on uneven or hilly terrain.
| 40 mm QF 2-pounder | Turret rotation speed (°/s) | Reloading rate (seconds) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mode | Capacity | Vertical | Horizontal | Stabilizer | Stock | Upgraded | Full | Expert | Aced | Stock | Full | Expert | Aced |
| Arcade | 150 | -15°/+20° | ±180° | Shoulder | 19.42 | 26.88 | 32.64 | 36.10 | 38.40 | 3.64 | 3.22 | 2.97 | 2.80 |
| Realistic | 14.28 | 16.80 | 20.40 | 22.56 | 24.00 | ||||||||
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.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 |
| 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.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
| Full ammo |
1st rack empty |
2nd rack empty |
3rd rack empty |
4th rack empty |
5th rack empty |
6th rack empty |
7th rack empty |
Visual discrepancy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 150 | 110 (+40) | 80 (+70) | 58 (+92) | 36 (+114) | 26 (+124) | 16 (+134) | 1 (+149) | No |
Notes:
- Racks disappear after you've fired all shells in the rack.
- Centre & turret empty: 58 (+92) shells.
Optics
| Churchill I Optics | ||
|---|---|---|
| Which ones | Default magnification | Maximum magnification |
| Main Gun optics | x1.85 | x3.5 |
| Comparable optics | T-34 (1940) | |
Additional armament
The hull-mounted 76 mm OQF 3-inch Howitzer Mk I has only 2 types of rounds available to it: HE and smoke. This is due to the fact that it was intended to be used against infantry. In the game, the HE round can be used to overpressure the roof or floor of light or open-topped vehicles. The smoke round is self-explanatory, and can be used to fire smoke at a great distance compared to smoke dischargers. The smoke rounds can be used to "smoke out" enemy positions by firing on them with the 76 mm howitzer to force them to move from a good position, or to cover advancing allies from enemy fire.
| 76 mm OQF 3-inch Howitzer Mk I | Turret rotation speed (°/s) | Reloading rate (seconds) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mode | Capacity | Vertical | Horizontal | Stabilizer | Stock | Upgraded | Full | Expert | Aced | Stock | Full | Expert | Aced |
| Arcade | 58 | -5°/+9° | ±15° | N/A | 12.0 | 17.0 | 20.0 | 23.0 | 24.0 | 8.1 | 7.2 | 6.7 | 6.3 |
| Realistic | 8.9 | 10.0 | 13.0 | 14.0 | 15.0 | ||||||||
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 | ||
| 3-inch Mark II | HE | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| 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% | |||||||
| 3-inch Mark II | HE | 210 | 6.02 | 0 | 0.1 | 606 | 79° | 80° | 81° |
| 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) |
| 3-inch Smoke | 210 | 3.18 | 13 | 5 | 20 | 8 |
Ammo racks
| Full ammo |
1st rack empty |
2nd rack empty |
3rd rack empty |
4th rack empty |
Visual discrepancy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 58 | 45 (+13) | 31 (+27) | 16 (+42) | 1 (+57) | No |
Notes:
- Racks disappear after you've fired all shells in the rack.
- Minimal load: 16 (+42) shells.
Machine guns
| 7.92 mm BESA | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount | Capacity (Belt) | Fire rate | Vertical | Horizontal |
| Coaxial | 4,950 (225) | 600 | N/A | N/A |
Usage in battles
This tank can use a play style similar to the Matilda or a weaker Churchill III. It is best played up close, to make use of the armour and also gun. Since the tank is rather boxy, it is very good at angling. Unlike the Churchill III, its gun isn't capable of taking on most other tanks of its rank. Its main role in the battlefield is to soak up and take shots, with its thick armour, that can withstand most tanks of its rank. In RB mode you will most likely have the Americans on your team, with the M10s and Shermans providing support for you. Main enemies for this tank would be the M10, the Achilles, and most Panzer IVs and StuGs.
The Churchill has heavy armour, especially when it is angled, but this certainly does not mean that it is invincible. In fact, there are a lot of guns around BR 3.0 that can destroy the Churchill, even at long range.
Germans
- Almost every RB/SB battle the British will be facing them. By far the most lethal tanks are the Panzer IVs with the long barrel 75 mm. They can penetrate the Churchill Mk I frontally at long range. Later versions of the Panzer IV also have armour which the Churchill's 40 mm will really struggle to penetrate at long range, putting the Churchill at a big disadvantage. The same applies to any vehicle armed with the long barrel 75 mm gun, including the StuG III F/G and Marder III H.
- The 8,8 cm Flak 37 Sfl. "Flak Truck" is a massive threat. The 88 mm gun will easily penetrate the Churchill, and the explosive mass will knock out all your crew. Your 40 mm is almost useless against the Flak Truck as it will have to take each crew member out individually. Luckily, the Churchill Mk I has access to the 75 mm howitzer, which provides well needed explosive firepower. Aim for the ammo box at the back to quickly dispatch the Flak Truck.
- Watch out for tanks armed with HEAT (such as Panzer III/IVs with the short-barreled 75 mm), as it has up to 100 mm penetration. The StuG III G is also dangerous, with a powerful HE round and a high penetration HEAT round. Luckily, these tanks will have to close in to shorter ranges to effectively attack the Churchill Mk I, as their guns have poor ballistics. This means that Churchill's 40 mm gun will be more effective. Also, watch out for the Sd.Kfz.234/2 or Sd.Kfz.234/4. These are vehicles based on the Puma armoured car. The /2 has a 50 mm and the /4 has a 75 mm gun. Both are excellent flanking vehicles, extremely fast and potent. They will easily outflank the slow Churchill, and destroy you from your less-armoured sides.
Soviets
- At long range, the ZiS-30 proves to be a real threat. it has a high penetration gun and is great at ambushing. Luckily, it has light armour and can be destroyed easily even with machine guns.
- Soviet armour is a bigger threat. Tanks like the T-34 are highly resistant to the 2-pdr gun due to their steep sloping armour. The L-11 gun on the T-34 (1940) will struggle to penetrate the Churchill, but the F-34 gun found on post-1940 versions is much more effective. Below 500 m, the F-34 guns can destroy the Churchill with its potent BR-350B APHEBC rounds or APCR rounds (though they do less damage). An even bigger threat is the KV-1 type tanks. A Churchill vs a KV-1 (L-11) can end in a stalemate situation, as both tanks will struggle to penetrate the other frontally. However, later KV-1 models have the ZiS 5 gun, which is pretty much identical to the F-34 gun found on the T-34. There is also the German premium KV-1B which has upgraded armour but a weaker gun, which is a dangerous opponent and quite common despite being a premium vehicle.
- When fighting the T-34's aim for their turret weakspots. On the T-34 (1940) and (1941), aim for the flat spot on their sloped turret cheeks, or shoot below at the shot trap. This will either disable their turret crew or destroy them. When fighting the KV-1 frontally, you cannot do much damage against it unless you manage to get a lucky shot through their turret cheeks. Otherwise, let your teamates distract it, or use smokes, and flank so that you can shoot its less angled 75 mm sides.
Japanese Be careful of the Ho-Ro with its massive howitzer, or the Chi-Nu with its powerful 75 mm gun. However, they don't have much armour and you will be able to destroy both relatively easily.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Excellent armour
- Almost immune to small calibre guns
- Well armoured sides and a strong mantlet
- Extremely fast-firing 40 mm gun, you will pretty much always get another shot off before your enemy does
- The Churchill can fire APHE shells which have potent post-penetration damage
- Its size eliminates any recoil from the gun, making it easy to fire a second shot without losing any accuracy
- Ability to pivot steer
- 76 mm cannon can be used to smoke out enemy positions at any range
- Large suspension sides have side hits more likely to break tracks than penetrate the hull
- Incredibly hard to dislodge or destroy when properly angled
- Works well as the spearhead of an assault when capturing a point, absorbing damage
- Good acceleration
Cons:
- 40 mm gun is ineffective against anything with sloped armour
- Shell Mk.1 AP/T with explosive mass has a low penetration of 66 mm
- Will lose a lot of speed when making a sharp turn in motion
- Has difficulties engaging other heavy tanks
- Up-gunned Panzer IVs (Pz.IV F2, Pz.IV G, etc.) will penetrate your armour with ease
- Poor mobility when compared to other heavy tanks from other nations
- Terrible reverse speed
- Slow, will take a lot of time just to reach the combat zone from spawn points
- Frontal 50 mm weak spot (machine gun port)
- Roof armour is somewhat thin
- Priority target by planes due to size and bad reverse speed
History
Development
The General Staff specification A20 was implemented before World War II and was meant to replace the Matilda II and Valentine infantry tanks. The specification was based around the British infantry tank doctrine and with the expectation that the coming war would be based off the World War I trench warfare, thus the tank was needed to travel across unfavourable terrain and able to destroy enemy defenses and infantry obstacles. As speed and heavy firepower was not taken with priority, the vehicle was to have two 2-pounder gun on side sponson mounts with a coaxial machine gun, with another machine gun and smoke dischargers on the front hull, armour was about 60 mm on the turret. Four prototypes were made by June 1940 by Harland and Wolff. The front hull would see an upgrade in armament with a 3-inch howitzer during the prototype stages, the 43 ton tank had a 300 hp Meadows engine from the Covenanter tank and was made the tank underpowered. The A20 project was cancelled with the Battle of France, which saw the emergency evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk that left a majority of their heavy equipment behind.
The Battle of France proved that the coming World War II was not going to be a stagnant battlefield like the trench warfare from World War I. The entire concept had to be redesigned and was done so by Henry Merrit, the director of Tank Design at Woolwich Arsenal. His new concept, the A22 or Infantry Tank Mark IV Churchill, was given to Vauxhall Motors in June 1940. War Office requested that the A22 be ready to enter production within the year due to growing pressure of a German invasion of Britain. The designs were ready in July 1940 and the first prototypes were made by December of the same year, production soon followed in June 1941. The rushed development was acknowledged in the company to being the cause of many faults and defects in the tank, but the demand by the government was so great that it must be carried out, with the expectation that the issues will be fixed during production. The Churchill tank suffered from an under-powered engine, weak armament, and mechanical issues. The weak armament from a 2-pounder was fixed with the arming of a 6-pounder on the Churchill, but the other issues caused poor performance of the Churchill in the battlefield. In fact, the Churchill production was almost cancelled in favour of the Cromwell due to its issues, but its usage in the Second Battle of El Alamein proved its value and kept it in service.
The Churchill would carry on the rest of the war as one of the most versatile tank design in British service, serving in many specialist roles other than its tank role. Altogether, a total of 7,568 Churchill units produced from 1941 to 1945, with 5,968 as tanks.
Variants
The Churchill, used in a multitude of roles, is made into many different variants. 12 different kinds of tank variants were produced for combat roles, with 11 more variants in specialized roles ranging from armoured personnel carrier, a bridge-layer, mine clearer, a Gun Carrier (3-in), flamethrower tank, and an armoured recovery vehicle.
Combat usage
The Churchill tank was first used in the Dieppe Raid in August 1942. While it was really a test on how an opposed landing would work, the 60 Churchill tanks to support the Canadian units suffered from mechanical issues, and those that did work are not able to penetrate past the sea wall due to impassable defenses. None of the Churchill tanks that landed returned from the beaches and with a 70% casualty rate, the raid's attempt to establish a beachhead was a failure.
The next use of the Churchill was in North Africa during the Second Battle of El Alamein. At this point, the Churchills have been upgraded to the Mk.III variants with 6-pounders as their main armament. The detachment, code named "King Force", help supported the 7th Motor Brigade in their attack. The Churchills were fired upon by many German anti-tank weapons, but none were taken out with only one receiving note worthy damage. "King Force", as a test bed for the feasibility of Churchills operating in the desert environment, was disbanded with the establishment of the 25th Army Tank Brigade with the Churchills to see action in February 1943 in Tunisia. In the German offensive Operation Ochsenkpf, two Churchill Mk.III from the 51st Royal Tank Regiment came across an entire German transport column that they ambushed. The end result was a loss of twelve artillery pieces, 25 wheeled vehicles, two Panzer IIIs and 200 casualties on the German side with no losses for the British. The Churchill also played a key role in the Battle of Longstop Hill, where Churchill tanks in the 48th Royal Tank Regiment faced off with Germany's newest heavy tank Tiger I. Though suffering losses, a lucky 6-pounder shot from the Churchill ended up jamming the Tiger's turret and turret ring that injured the crew, forcing them to abandon the tank. The Tiger tank was captured by the British for intelligence purpose on Germany's armoured forces. The Tiger Tank is named Tiger 131.
After the North African campaign, the Churchill began to see widespread usage in the British army as a support unit for the infantry. The Churchill saw much more operation hours than any other British tank in service. It was at this point that the Churchill Mk.III began a conversion into the 75 mm guns that were used on the American M4 Sherman tanks. These conversions, known as NA75, proved to be more efficient than the Shermans and were used more effectively. Some Churchills were also converted into close support vehicles with 95 mm howitzers as their main armaments. In response to the growing German anti-tank firepower in the later years of World War II, the Churchill tanks were also upgraded in armour by a large degree, though their engines were also upgraded to compensate for the additional weight. The Churchill VII, for example, has armour ranging up to 152 mm thick in the front, in comparison to the Mk.III 89 mm thick front hull. The Churchills also saw service in Europe during Operation Overlord. At the time, it was considered that the Churchill would become severely outdated with the growing tank technology, so an experimental program under specification A43, otherwise known as the Black Prince, to uparmour and upgun the Churchill. While this experimented seem fruitful, the development of more agile tanks with the same level of protection and armament such as the Centurion rendered the project obsolete.
The Churchills were also given out to the Allies to help combat the Axis forces. The Australian Army received a handful of Churchills for testing alongside the M4 Sherman with the Matilda II as the basis, to which proved that the Churchill was superior in jungle warfare. Of the 510 Churchills ordered by the Australians in the war, only 46 arrived in time and were not used in the Pacific War, the rest were cancelled with the end of World War II. The USSR also used the Churchills given by the British as part of the Lend-Lease act. 301 Churchills were sent, but 43 were lost to the sea by German naval forces. Of those that arrived, the Soviets gave the Churchills to the 5th Guards Tank Army in the Battle of Prokhorovka during the Kursk Offensive.
After World War II, the Churchill stuck around in the British Army until the Korean War, where the British sent the Churchill Crocodile Squadron (C squadron of the 7th Royal Tank Regiment) to Korea to fight with the Allied coalition. They fought as gun tanks in battle such as the Third Battle of Seoul. The Churchills were instrumental in some victories and were widely praised by both British and American forces and historians. After the Korean war, the Churchills remains in combat service until 1952, with the specialized bridge-layer variant staying until the 1970s. The Irish Army also received three Churchill tanks in 1948 and another in 1949 as rentals until 1954, where they were purchased after trials with the vehicles. Despite running out of spare parts for the Churchill, the Irish Army took them in and experimented with using different engines to keep them functional, though this ended with a failure and by 1967, only one was still functional. All were retired in 1969 and one was preserved at the Curragh Camp.
Media
- Skins
- Videos
See also
External links
| Britain heavy tanks | |
|---|---|
| Matilda | Matilda III · Matilda Hedgehog |
| Churchill | Churchill I · Churchill III · Churchill VII · Churchill Crocodile · Churchill NA75 · Black Prince |
| Post-war | Caernarvon · Conqueror |
| Other | Independent · Excelsior · TOG II |
