A13 Mk II 1939

A13 Mk II 1939

A13 Mk II 1939

Britain

I Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
1.3	1.3	1.3

Class:

PREMIUM

Light tank

Purchase:Bundle or Gift

MARKET

This page is about the light tank A13 Mk II 1939. For other uses, see A13 (Family).

Description

The Tank, Cruiser, Mk IV (A13 Mk II) 1939 is a rank I British light tank with a battle rating of 1.3 (AB/RB/SB). The tank was added in Update 1.53 "Firestorm" and was one of the first British tanks introduced in the game. It was available for purchase during the early stages of the British tanks introduction, but has since been removed from the store. However, it briefly became available on two different occasions: first, during the 2017 April Fools event when Gaijin made it available in the "A Very British Exit" Pack; second, during the War Thunder 7 Years anniversary event. It is now only obtainable through the Gaijin Marketplace.

As a British Cruiser style tank the Tank, Cruiser, Mk IV (A13 Mk II) 1939 focuses on mobility, agility and flanking. Armour is in this concept is literal dead weight and foregone. Compared to the tech tree A13 Mk II, this version features an additional armour plate for the turret.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armour type:

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

Armour	Front	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	14 mm Front plate 14 mm (0-62°) Front glacis 14 mm (64°) Lower glacis	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

Notes:

• Cupola is 14 mm incl. roof hatches
• Suspension wheels and tracks are 15 mm thick.

While the A13 is in many ways very similar to the Soviet BT series in regards to armour and mobility, it is however unlike it by featuring four crew men. This difference is quite noticable despite their cramped conditions.

Further the A13 Mk II 1939 features an improved turret armour to the standard A13 Mk II. Another 14 mm plate was added to the turret's face. It does not make a significant difference to survivability, neither does angling the hull against incomming fire. Even machine gun fire poses a significant threat, hence the preferred means of survival (alike for all Cruiser style British tanks) is to not be seen. Luckily the low profile and small size benefit this playstyle greatly.

Mobility

Game Mode	Mobility characteristics			Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Max Speed	Weight	AoA Weight	Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	53 km/h	14.5	n/a	527	649	36.34	44.76
Realistic	48 km/h			301	340	20.76	23.45

Even though the A13 has good mobility, it sometimes feels weird to drive. It loses speed on turns, does not accelerates quite as fast as it's overpowered engine(RB stock: 20 HP/tonne) should provide it. Hill-climbing and other inclination have it struggle to pick up a proper pace. All of these flaws come from the gearbox, which has bad and uneven ratios, resulting in a kick when changing speed. Knowing that keep an eye on the "gear" counter top-left of the screen (activate it in the options menu) since it provides crucial information on how the tank will react to commands. With a bit of practice, one should swiftly masters these peculiarities.

Armaments

Main armament

40 mm OQF 2-pounder
Capacity			Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance	Stabilizer
87			-15°/+20°	±180°	Vertical
Turret rotation speed (°/s)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
Arcade	15.2	__.__	_.__	_.__	_.__
Realistic	9.50	11.20	_.__	_.__	_.__
Reloading rate (seconds)
Stock	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
3.64	_.__	_.__	2.8

Since the QF 2-pounder is used on most British tanks of Rank 1, it is important to know it well. This cannon has a major disadvantage at distances since its bullet 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 (500m or more), the general centre of the foe. Firing the 2-Pounder, one will easily notice its last but not least flaw: it does almost no post-penetration damage, which rewuires the 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 being finished 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 the 2-Pounder 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: enemies will only block a shot if it happen to hit a steep-angled plate of armour. With the hand stabilizer it can fire on the move too, at low speeds and on relatively flat road, though. Doing so it is much more precise than the comparable BT-7 with the 20-K. Last but not least, small shells mean more shells: the A13 can bring up to 87 bullets into the game, much more than needed to knock out 3-4 tanks, which means one can try to 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, the great gun depression enables it to fire over hills, peeking only it's a small turret, shooting and disappearing swiftly. Use these features cunningly.

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration in mm @ 90°
		10m	100m	500m	1000m	1500m	2000m
Shot Mk.1 AP/T	AP	71	68	52	37	27	19
Shot Mk.1 APCBC/T	APCBC	88	83	64	46	33	24
Shot Mk.1 APHV/T	AP	80	78	67	56	47	40
Shell Mk.1 AP/T	APHE	65	62	49	36	26	20

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity in m/s	Projectile Mass in kg	Fuse delay in m:	Fuse sensitivity in mm:	Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):	Normalization At 30° from horizontal:	Ricochet:
								0%	50%	100%
Shot Mk.1 AP/T	AP	792	1.08	N/A	N/A	N/A	-1°	47°	60°	65°
Shot Mk.1 APCBC/T	APCBC	792	1.24	N/A	N/A	N/A	+4°	48°	63°	71°
Shot Mk.1 APHV/T	AP	853	1.08	N/A	N/A	N/A	-1°	47°	60°	65°
Shell Mk.1 AP/T	APHE	792	1.08	1.2	9	19	+4°	47°	60°	65°

The QF-2 pounder is not starved for armour piercing shells. The APCBC, APHV and the APHE "Shell Mk.1" all fill different niches. The APCBC has great performace at close range and against angled slopes. It does well for sniping modules up to medium ranges, but is here quickly outshined by the APHV shot. Depending on the map size, several of these should be kept as back up for combat above 500 m. Ultimatively the Shell Mk.1 APHE is objectively the hardest hitting of the bunch with the explosive filler. However the penetration goes down to an average 60 mm @ 100 m which unlike the other shots requires aiming for weakpoint more often. The delay can be unwanted in close range combat, but so is an enemy able to shoot back. As the HE filler is underwhelming in firepower, larger vehicles such as the Pz.IV C and LVT will survive initial hits. Given the British tech tree's tendency for solid AP shot, sticking with the APCBC shot for training purposes might be for the best. The lack of a dedicated high explosive shell is negligible as the small bore diameter would have rendered it quite impotent, the coaxial LMG does the job adequately already.

Ammo racks

Last updated: 1.77.2.128

File:Ammoracks A13MkI.png

Ammo racks of the A13 Mk I.

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

Center hull empty: 41 (+46)

Optics

A13 Mk II 1939 Optics
Which ones	Default magnification	Maximum magnification
Main Gun optics	x1.85	x3.5
Comparable optics	AMR.35 ZT3

The sights are very weak in magnification. While this correlates in a wide field of view, beneficial for the close-quarters combat style of the A13, it is a major downside for medium and long range battles. Without the binoculars (or the penetration indicator in Arcade Mode) any far ranged combat becomes a sore to the eyes. Yet this is great training for spotting hostiles with the binoculars and aligning the gun to the target.

Machine guns

7.7 mm Vickers
Coaxial mount
Capacity (Belt capacity)				Fire rate (shots/minute)	Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance
3,500 (250)				390	N/A	N/A

In these low tiers the meagre 9 mm of penetration is plenty to damage a wide range of armoured vehicles from the side and rear. Having an easy to reach key bind is recommended anyway, as it pays off quickly, from highlighting enemies on the map in Realistic Battles, clearing bushes and obstacles to finishing off open top vehicles.

Usage in the battles

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. The main difference from the Mk II to the Mk I is that the former has better turret protection, adding about 0.8 tonnes of steel without hindering mobility.

The A13 has a very active playstyle and should not be used in the front lines. Instead, use the mobility to its advantage: Spot, flank and provide artillery support for the team, blind enemies with well-placed smokes screens in key avenues. Make sure to only target secluded enemies in flanking tactics to take full advantage of the element of surprise and outflank opponents. Never expose yourself for too long , as even light machine gun fire is a potential threat to survivability . The QF-2 pounder has an awful long-range accuracy, so get close to the enemy to actually land a shot. Load up this agile (but reluctant) cat with ammo and flank the enemies with a constant flow of bullets.

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

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Fast
• Good HP/tonne ratio
• Slim target
• Better turret armour than A13 Mk II
• Good gun for its rank
• Primitive gun stabilisation
• Brings lots of ammo
• Forward-launching smoke launchers
• Coaxial MG
• Decent turret sewing rate
• -15° gun depression

Cons:

• Thin armour
• Poor post penetration damage
• Barely any response from the engine
• Loses speed when turning
• Wiggles when trying to turn on 5th gear
• Regular LMGs can penetrate side armour

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. 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 Panzer IIIs and Panzer IVs began to appear on the battlefield.

Due to its growing obsolesce on the battlefield, the A13 was replaced in 1941 by the better armoured A15 Crusader tank.

Media

• [Skin] "Girls und Panzer St. Gloriana" - by CmdNomad
• [Skin] 2nd Royal Tank Regiment 7th Armour Brig (Egypt 1941) - by Tiger_VI
• [Skin] "Pz.Kpf.Wg.A13 (e)" "144" 100. Pz.Abt. (Russia 1941) - by Tiger_VI

See also

Related British Cruiser style tanks

• Crusader series
• Tetrarch Mk I

Vehicles of comparable role, configuration and era

• BT-7

External links

• [WT Mainpage] Devblog "Pioneering British Tanks in War Thunder with developer's answers"
• [Wikipedia] Cruiser Mk IV (A13 Mk II)