Universal Carrier
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| Universal Carrier | |
|---|---|
 Bren Gun Carrier |
|
| Type | Armored personnel carrier |
| Place of origin | United Kingdom |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 3.75 t |
| Length | 12 ft (3.65 m) |
| Width | 6 ft 4 inch (2.11 m) |
| Height | 5 ft 2 inch (1.57 m) |
| Crew | 2 |
|
|
|
| Armour | 7-10 mm |
| Primary armament |
usually 0.303 Bren Gun or 0.55 in Boys anti-tank rifle. |
| Engine | Ford V-8 petrol 85 hp at 3,500 rpm |
| Suspension | Horstmann |
| Operational range |
250 km [150 miles] |
| Speed | 48 kmh (30 mph) |
The Universal Carrier, usually known as a Bren Gun Carrier (even when it was not carrying a Bren), was a small, tracked British-designed military vehicle, used widely by Allied forces during World War II. Universal Carriers were usually used for transporting personnel and equipment, mostly support weapons, or as machine gun platforms. With some 113,000 built in Great Britain and abroad, it was the most numerous armoured fighting vehicle in history.
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[edit] Development
The Universal Carrier was a successor to the Carden-Loyd Mk.IV tankette developed during the late 1920s. It originated from a light tractor "VA D50", designed by John Carden and Vivian Loyd of Vickers in 1935. The VA D50 appeared to be a succesful design and development was ordered by the British Army. The first production was by Vickers in 1936. There were several different types of Carrier that varied slightly in design according to their function, designated: Medium Machine Gun Carrier, Bren Gun Carrier, Scout Carrier and Cavalry Carrier. It was obvious that production of a single model would be preferred and the Universal appeared in 1940. The Universal would be the most widely produced of the Carriers. It differed from the previous models in having a rectangular body shape in rear section, with more place for crew.
As with the earlier Carriers, the Universal had the driver and commander at the front sitting side-by-side, the driver to the right with a vertical steering wheel. The hull in front of the commander's position jutted forward to give room for the Bren gun (or other armament) to fire through a simple slit. The engine was in the centre of the vehicle and the final drive at the rear. To either side of the engine were two areas in which passengers could ride or stores be carried.
Universal Carriers were commonly used as platforms for infantry support weapons such as the Vickers machine gun or the Bren or Boys anti-tank rifle or to carry weapons such as the 3-inch mortar along with its crew. The Universal was also used to tow anti-tank guns such as the 2 pounder. When the 6 pounder anti-tank gun came into use the Universal was also used for that role but the subsequent QF 17 pounder was too much for such a vehicle.
Universal Carriers were only lightly armoured on their fronts and sides, sufficient to protect to some degree from small arms, shrapnel and explosive blasts but were open at the top leaving the occupants completely unprotected from about shoulder height upwards.
The Canadian designed and built Windsor Carrier was a related vehicle. Similar body and mechanicals but some 30 inches longer and with an extra road wheel. Five thousand were built and sent to Europe.
[edit] Production
In the UK, several companies contributed to the manufacture of the Universal among them Ford UK. By 1945, there were produced approximately 57,000 of all variants, including some 2400 earlier ones.
Ford of Canada made some 29,000 Universal Carriers. They were also manufactured in Australia (some 5000), New Zealand (some 1300) and by Ford in the USA (some 20,000, not counting T16).
[edit] Variants
- The original model.
- Mk. II
- Equipped with a towing hitch.
- Wasp
- A flamethrower-equipped variant.
- LP1 Carrier (Aust)
- Australian built version of the British Bren Gun Carrier.
- LP2 Carrier (Aust)
- Australian built variant of the Universal Carrier. Also produced in New Zealand.
- 2 Pounder Anti-tank Gun Carrier (Aust)
- The Carrier, Anti-tank, 2-pdr, (Aust) or Carrier, Tank Attack, 2-pdr (Aust) was a heavily modified and lengthened LP2 carrier with a fully traversable 2 pounder anti-tank gun mounted on a platform at the rear and the engine moved to the front left of the vehicle. Stowage was provided for 112 rounds of 2pdr ammunition. 200 were produced and used for training.[1]
- 3 inch Mortar Carrier (Aust)
- The Carrier, 3-inch Mortar (Aust) was a design based on the 2 Pounder Carrier with a 3-inch mortar mounted in place of the 2 pounder. Designed to enable the mortar to have 360 degree traverse and to be fired either from the vehicle, or dismounted. 400 were produced and were ultimately sent as military aid to the Nationalist Chinese Army.[1]
- The Carrier, Universal, T16, Mark I. was a significantly improved vehicle based upon those built by Ford of Canada, manufactured under Lend Lease by Ford in the United States from March 1943 to 1945. It was chiefly used by Canadian forces during the war as a gun tractor. After the war, it was used by Swiss and Netherlands forces. It was longer than the Universal with an extra road wheel on the rear bogie, the engine was a Ford Mercury delivering the same power. Instead of the steering wheel controlling the combination brake/warp mechanism, the T-16 had track brake steering operated by levers (2 for each side).
- Fahrgestell Bren (e)
- A captured carrier of 1940, reused by the Germans with a 3.7 cm PaK gun.
- Panzerjäger Bren 731(e)
- Bren carriers captured by the Germans and fitted with a triple Panzerschreck mount, probably the first armoured vehicle to be fitted with anti-tank rockets.[1]
- Praying Mantis
- An experimental vehicle - the hull was replaced with an enclosed metal box structure with enough room for a driver and a gunner. The whole unit could rotate upwards from the rear of the tracks to give an elevated firing position.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Michael K. Cecil - Australian Military Equipment Profiles, vol 2, Local Pattern Carriers 1939 to 1945, 1992 Australian Military Equipment Profiles, ISBN 0-646-12600-8.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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