Canadian Valentine Mk VII

Discussion in 'Vehicle Names and Census Numbers' started by KevinT, Aug 5, 2022.

  1. KevinT

    KevinT Senior Member

    This is the first Mk VII I have come across where the census T.41063 is listed. It was brought over to the UK on SS Pacific Pioneer in April 1942 and was delivered to the Tank Design Experimental Wing Farnborough. It is listed as coming from the Angus Workshops in Montreal and is from contract S/M 1021.
    Source Canadian Heritage

    https://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c5657/1650

    Cheers

    Kevin Screenshot 2022-08-05 10.13.58.png Screenshot 2022-08-05 10.14.53.png
     
    Chris C likes this.
  2. Temujin

    Temujin Member

    Information on the above tank

    The British desire for more Valentines was not selfish. Britain itself only kept two Canadian tanks for trials. The two tanks were sent to England in the fall of 1941 for demonstration to a delegation from Vickers. One of the tanks was given the WD number T.41063, the other T.41105. Trials of Canadian tanks were completed by December of 1942, but a report on the acceptance trials of T.41105 was ready by October 19th. The tank functioned splendidly, failing after an impressive 2943 miles (1500 miles of which was on a road, 1443 cross-country) due to a breakdown of the second final drive. Canadian made tracks lasted almost for the entire march, 2431 miles, before they had to be replaced entirely with British tracks. During that time, only 12 track links failed. The report discusses minor faults, such as insufficient performance of the cooling system, failure of five shock absorbers, issues with electrical contacts, and short lifespan of Canadian-made brake linings. A stripped tyre also resulted in the destruction of one of the wheel rims, as the driver didn’t notice that the tyre was gone in time. With the exception of these issues, the reliability of the Canadian tank was judged to be equal to that of British production. Examination of the tank in detail showed that the parts that didn’t break down were still in excellent condition. The engine was found to be within specification, without any excessive wear. Gunnery trials also showed that the Canadian Valentine tank was up to British standards.

    [​IMG]
    Workers perpare Valentine tanks for shipment
    A Canadian Valentine tank on a railcar with many more behind it waiting to be shipped.

    T.41063 performed better than its brother, having completed the 3000 mile trial in its entirety. The one defect that both tanks shared was water entering the tank and causing rusting of the controls. Some tyre failure was also observed, but it was not as critical. This tank was used to measure the Canadian Valentine’s speed and fuel consumption. The tank’s top speed was measured to be 16 mph during the flying quarter mile trial. Fuel consumption was 2.48 mpg (113.9 L/100 km) on roads and 1.83 mpg (154.4 L/100 km) cross-country. Oil consumption was 139.5 mpg (2 L/100 km).

    The tanks continued to be used for experiments after these trials were finished. One of these two tanks served as a testbed for a gyroscopic stabilizer in the fall of 1942. At least one tank had its Browning machinegun replaced with a BESA. T.41105 was equipped with an external oil cooler. Trials showed that this addition reduced the temperature of both oil and water in the tank.

    Tanks built to fulfil contract CAN 279/SM1021 had W.D. numbers in the T.40981-T.41430 and T.73554-T.74193 ranges.

    Source: Canadian Valentines
     
    Last edited: Aug 6, 2022
    TTH likes this.
  3. KevinT

    KevinT Senior Member

    Here is T.41105

    Cheers

    Kevin

    Screenshot 2022-08-06 12.03.34.png Screenshot 2022-08-06 12.04.12.png
     
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