Vickers Mk.1

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

Vickers Mk.1

Vickers Mk.1

Description

The Vickers Battle Tank Mk.1 is a rank British medium tank with a battle rating of (AB), (RB), and (SB). It was introduced in Update 1.69 "Regia Aeronautica".

The Vickers Mk.1 is like a sniper, designed to engage with minimal threat to the tank and its crew while still being a major thorn in the enemy's side. Stick to the knowledge of the maps you'll be playing on to enhance your defensive playstyle, grabbing husks of old tanks or tank ditches to your advantage then bursting out of cover to ambush enemies.

That being said, the Vickers has pitiful armour that rarely stands up to any punishment other than SPAA, and even then this is true for the front armour. The ~100 mm frontal armour on the turret is good for stray or hurried shots, although the lack of slopes inhibits your chances of bouncing shots, let the environment do this for you.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour (Hull, Turret roof)
• Cast homogeneous armour (Turret)

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	60 mm (56°) Front glacis 80 mm (32°) Lower glacis	30 mm Top 30 + 4 mm Bottom	20 mm (4-5°) Top 19 mm (58°)	25 mm 5 mm Grills
Turret	80 mm (19°) Turret front 40-100 mm (1-73°) Gun mantlet	40-60 mm (1-17°)	40 mm (10°) 60 mm (1°) Turret ring	25 mm

Notes:

• Suspension wheels and tracks are 20 mm thick.

Mobility

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade				942			__.__
Realistic				538			__.__

The tank has a mediocre off-road top speed of 32 km/h (20 mph) stock, yet can do -11 km/h (-7 mph) in reverse, so don't be afraid to duck back into cover. Suspension is quite strong on this tank, in AB a spaded Vickers Mk.1 can climb hills better than other vehicles. It can even tow other tanks up there if their suspension allows it.

Armaments

Main armament

105 mm Royal Ordnance L7A1					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	44	-7°/+20°	±180°	Two-plane	26.37	36.50	44.32	49.01	52.14	6.50	5.75	5.30	5.00
Realistic					16.48	19.39	23.55	26.04	27.70

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 L28A1	APDS	303	302	296	277	257	252
Shell L35	HESH	127	127	127	127	127	127

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 L28A1	APDS	1,478	4	N/A	N/A	N/A	75°	78°	80°
Shell L35	HESH	720	11.4	0.1	4	3,150	73°	77°	80°

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the Vickers Mk.1

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	5th rack empty	6th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
44	43 (+1)	41 (+3)	39 (+5)	37 (+7)	12 (+32)	1 (+43)	No

Notes:

• Shells are modeled individually and disappear after having been shot or loaded.
• Rack 6 is a first stage ammo rack. It totals 11 shells and gets filled first when loading up the tank.
• This rack is also emptied early: the rack depletion order at full capacity is: 6 - 1 - 2 - etc. until 5.
• Simply not firing when the gun is loaded will move ammo from racks 1-5 into rack 6. Firing will interrupt the restocking of the ready racks.

Additional armament

The 12.7 mm L21A1 machine gun is specifically used to determine ranging for the main gun. While the game indicates a very short clip of 3 rounds, it is in fact more accurate to say that the MG only fires small bursts of 3 rounds. It is not fired alongside the other machine guns but through the "Fire from secondary guns" option (Controls > Ground Vehicles > Weaponry).

12.7 mm L21A1
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Coaxial	600 (3)	300	N/A	N/A

Machine guns

7.62 mm L3A1
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Coaxial	3,000 (250)	500	N/A	N/A

Usage in battles

Although it can be done with its excellent reload speed of 5-7 seconds (crew skill depending), mixing ranks with the enemy is ill advised: instead take upon a sniping role. Your gun has only two types of ammo, both stock so research is not required for enhanced destruction. That being said, the APDS is a potent weapon that has 302 mm of pen at 100 m, falling to 252 mm at 2,500 m: all ranges can be targeted, with enemies moving towards more manoeuvrability over armour in the high ranks. However, the rounds lack spalling potential, so the damage inflicted on a tank interior must be in the APDS direct path past the penetration. If you aim for the turret weak spots, the barrel or breech will be your most common hits, incurring 20-30 precious seconds of repair time. If for any reason you're forced to engage while exposed, attempt to disable the enemy's gun or gunner first, before utilizing the excellent reload time to finish the target off.

The HESH shell is a very different story. While this odd round has its uses, it's somewhat limited in effectiveness against many targets. HESH, which stands for High Explosive Squash Head, relies on this so called 'squash head' spreading as much as possible, creating a spalling effect within the targeted vehicle. This means that it's not particularly effective against thick armour; and it should rather be used against lightly-armoured targets or targets which rely on highly angled armour for survivability. Generally, Vickers tankers will learn to prefer their APDS round for most engagements, only resorting to HESH against select targets.

Some enemies that can be rough to deal with:

• The Lorraine 40t will bounce more shots than you care to admit, or your hits will do minor damage. Just out the nature of the reserved play style this tank likes, any fast tanks will be a problem due to their ability to close the gap as you attempt to reach your favourite position. Engine and transmission upgrades will lessen this, in time.
• All Soviet tanks are difficult to deal with, yet learning their weak spots will lead you to victory.
• German tanks are a problem due to their accuracy and fast reload times, however the cheeks of their turrets, especially the Tiger II, are prime targets for eagle-eyed gunners.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Stock APDS shell has very high penetration values
• APDS shell has a high muzzle velocity, offering a flat trajectory
• HESH ammunition is effective against lightly armoured vehicles
• Has a 12.7 mm L21A1 machine gun used for range finding
• Fast reload speed
• Above average reverse speed compared to some British tanks
• Excellent manoeuvrability, even over rough terrain

Cons:

• Poor armour, even lower ranked guns are quite a threat
• Depression of only -7° which is below average for British tanks
• Lack of ammunition choices, with access to APDS and HESH only
• APDS causes minimal post-penetration damage, meaning that destroying some vehicles can be a challenge
• Many SPAA vehicles can penetrate your sides or back
• The L21A1 machine gun has a very low fire rate (5 rounds/second) and only shoots low-penetration incendiary rounds

History

The Vickers-Amstrong Company designed the Vickers Mk.1 in the sixties as a cheap and efficient variant of the Chieftain, ready to be exported. In 1961, India purchased the license for development, and Vickers-Armstrong helped to set up the factory. Over the course of its life, many variants were developed, including the Mk.2 and Mk.3. Later, Vickers Valiant(Mk.4) in 1977 and finally Mk.7 MBT. Currently, Kenya, Nigeria, and Tanzania are the foremost operators.

Media

Skins

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

Videos

The Shooting Range #240 - Metal Beasts section at 00:28 discusses the Vickers Mk.1.

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.