Medium Mark III

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Medium Mk III
Type	Medium tank
Place of origin	United Kingdom
Service history
Used by	British Army
Wars	none
Production history
Designed	1926
Manufacturer	Vickers-Armstrong Royal Ordnance Factory
Specifications
Weight	16 tonnes
Length	hull: 21 ft 6 in ( m)
Width	8 ft 9 in ( m)
Height	9 ft 2 in ( m)
Crew	7
Armour	9-14 mm
Primary armament	3 pdr
Secondary armament	3x 0.303 Vickers machine guns
Engine	Armstrong Siddeley air cooled V8 180 hp ( kW)
Operational range	120 miles (190 km)
Speed	30 mph (48 km/h)

The Medium Mark III was a medium tank developed in the United Kingdom during the inter-war period.

[edit] Development history

In 1926, the British War Office wanted to replace their existing Mark II tanks with a new design. One of the requirements was a weight limit of 16 tons, which led to the nickname "16-tonners". The result was called A6, of which three prototypes were constructed. Testing showed deficiancies in the suspension and the gunnery arrangements. The vehicles were tested until 1938. These vehicles were the first ones to use the new Wilson epicyclic gearbox (the predecessor Merrit-Brown gearbox).

The disappointments in the A6 design led to that a new design, the "Medium Mark III", was being constructed in 1930. It was similar to the A6 design but featured a new turret and improved armor. Still, the designed suffered from its bad suspension design. Three Mark IIIs were built, one by Vickers and two by the Royal Ordnance Factory at Woolwich. However no orders followed due to its high price.