| Carden Loyd Tankette | |
|---|---|
A Carden-Loyd tankette towing a howitzer. |
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| Type | Tankette |
| Place of origin | United Kingdom |
| Service history | |
| Used by | see text |
| Wars | Chaco War, French-Thai War, World War II |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Carden-Loyd Tractors Ltd. |
| Manufacturer | Vickers-Armstrong |
| Produced | 1927-1935 |
| Number built | 450 |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 1.5 tonnes |
| Length | 2.46 m |
| Width | 1.75 m |
| Height | 1.22 m |
| Crew | 2 |
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| Armour | 6 - 9 mm |
| Main armament |
0.303 inch Vickers machine gun |
| Engine | Ford Model T petrol 4 cylinder 40 hp |
| Suspension | Bogie |
| Operational range |
144 km |
| Speed | 40 km/h (road) |
The Carden Loyd tankettes were a series of British pre-World War II tankettes, the most successful of which was the Mark VI, the only version built in significant numbers. It became a classic tankette design worldwide, was license-built by several countries and became the basis of several designs produced in several different countries.
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The Carden Loyd tankette came about from an idea started, as a private project, by the British military engineer and tank strategist Major Giffard LeQuesne Martel. He built a one-man tank in his garage from various parts and showed it to the War Office in the mid 1920s. With the publicization of the idea, other companies produced their own interpretations of the idea. One of these was Carden-Loyd Tractors Ltd, of Sir John Carden and Vivian Loyd. Besides one-man vehicles they also proposed two-man vehicles which turned out to be a more effective and popular idea. Vickers-Armstrongs manufactured and marketed it worldwide.
Considered a reconnaissance vehicle and a mobile machine gun position, the Mark VI was the final stage of development of Carden Loyd series of tankettes.
The Carden Loyd tankette was the prototype for the Universal Carrier.
Production started in 1927 and lasted until 1935. From 1933 to 1935 production was by the Royal Ordnance Factories. Some 450 were made in all. The British Army used at least 325 Mark VI tankettes (other data: 348) in several variants, mostly as machine gun carriers, but also as light gun tractors, mortar carriers or smoke projector vehicles.
In 1929, Poland bought 10 or 11 Mark VI tankettes with a licence and used them for development of their own TK tankette series, which was followed by the Polish TKS tankette.
Czechoslovakia also bought three Mark VI tankettes in 1930 with a licence, and then improved the design, producing 74 Tančík vz. 33 tankettes in the ČKD (Praga) works (the original British construction was evaluated as unusable in modern warfare).
The Soviet Union bought 20 Mark VI tankettes (which they designated K-25) as well as a license. However, the final project was significantly modernised and the license was dropped. Instead, the Bolshevik Factory in Leningrad started the production of the T-27 tankette, a modernised and enlarged variant of the British design. A total of 3,228 T-27 tankettes were built between 1931 and 1933.
Bolivia purchased between two to five tankettes in 1931 (the actual number is not known). They saw action in the Chaco War, where they proved to be ill-suited for the bushy environment.
Japan also bought six Mark VIb tankettes, and later developed its own Type 94 Te Ke design based on them. Italy bought a number of Carden Loyd Mark VIs, built a few licence copies designated CV-29, and then developed this design further into the L3/35 tankette.
In addition, the Carden Loyd tankettes were also supplied in small numbers to Canada, France, India, Italy, the Netherlands (5), and Siam. The five Dutch tankettes were involved in fighting German parachute troops during the May 1940 invasion of the Netherlands. The French unarmed Renault UE carrier was based on the Carden Loyd design. A small number were acquired by Greece prior to 1935. Thailand had about 60 in the French-Thai War. Carden Loyd tankettes were also used by Chile, the Republic of China,[1] Finland (Mk. IVs and Model 33s), and Portugal
The design of the German Panzer I light tank was influenced by the Carden Loyd tankette, thanks to the cooperation of the USSR.
Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Carden_Loyd_tankette Carden Loyd tankette] at Wikimedia Commons
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