# British tank engines: timelines, specifications?



## tomo pauk (Apr 29, 2013)

When one tries to read the articles about British tank engines in Wikipedia, they inevitably look as cryptic as possible. So where should an enthusiast look for good data? Maybe it would be good to post data here.


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## Shortround6 (Apr 29, 2013)

It would be good to gather as much information as possible.

British information on engines seems to be particularly hard to come by, perhaps it is still on the "Official Secrets List" so people don't find out how screwed up it was  

for a start try:

Engines used by British Vehicles during WWII

One Flat 12 in the Tetrarch and Harry Hopkins, really, at 12 cylinder engine for 165hp?
One Flat 12 in the Covenanter of 280-300hp.
One bedford twin six of 325-350 hp?
the Nuffield Liberty of 340-385hp.
The Merlin/Meteor.


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## yulzari (Apr 29, 2013)

For the Bedford Twin Six 350 bhp try most things about the Churchill tank. You will have to look up AEC buses for the twin engines in the Matilda II and the 6 cylinder of the A9 etc, search Nuffield Liberty for the A13 to Centaur V12 and Ford UK for the V8 in the Matilda I. Sometimes using Rover as the manufacturer for the Meteor and Meteorite helps if Rolls Royce does not. Also Meadows for the Flat 12s in the Covenanter and Tetrarch.


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## tomo pauk (May 1, 2013)

Thanks for the feedback, there is indeed many mysteries to be solved. 
SR6, maybe there is a thread or two at the tank-net covering this; I'm not holding my breath however.

A table, translated by yours truly (so you know whom to blame for the typos), about US, British and German tank engines. Not that many data, but it might be worth a look. (open in separate tab for hi-res)


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## tomo pauk (May 4, 2013)

The direct translation of 'vertical' is not applicable for the engine cylinders layout, the proper term would be 'in-line', for the table above.

BTW, were the British radial engines ever considered to power their tanks, at least as paper proposals?


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## tomo pauk (May 7, 2013)

Seems not 

About Conventer's engine: Meadows DAV, horizontally opposed engine, bore 115mm, stroke 165mm, displacement 16204 cc, making 300 HP at 2400 governed RPM.
Crusader's engine: Nuffield's Liberty Mk.III, 45° V-12, bore 127mm, stroke 177.8mm, displacement 27040 cc, making 340 HP at 1500 governed RPM. Development of the ww1 vintage US Liberty aero engine, main shortcoming being single cylinder layout (ie. cylinders not in block). 
Data from Fletcher's book about the two tanks.


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