A Churchill III's armor

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Mobius
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A Churchill III's armor

Post by Mobius »

I'm trying to define the complicated front armor of the Churchill III and IV.
The sponson armor is not defined anywhere. Looking at photos of hulls in repair or broken up and estimating from there this is what I have so far.

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RE: A Churchill III's armor

Post by Mobius »

Further research finds that the Churchill was built of a mild steel frame and panels with armor plates riveted and bolted on top of that. In some cases further armor plates were bolt on top for a third layer. The mild steel helps to protect from spalling of non-penetrating hits.
But mild steel is weaker than armor plate. By Nathan Okun's M79APCLC ballistics program it looks like mild steel offers only ~75% the protection of British NC amor plate. So the 12mm mild steel would be worth about 9mm of armor. Book armor values look like they add the mild steel thickness to the armor thickness.

Revised armor values and a photo of the mild steel backing of the drivers/hull plate in the lower photo.

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RE: A Churchill III's armor

Post by Yoozername »

http://www.churchilltank.com/Churchill_Tank_MK_III_picures_and_information.html

you have seen this website I suppose?

In any case, the tanks were interesting in hanging armor like that.  Welding takes such time and resources and skill.  If you look at something like the StuG armor in the front, there is a large welding effort involved.

Here is an internal pic from that website...

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Also...

http://www.armourinfocus.co.uk/a22/index.htm
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RE: A Churchill III's armor

Post by Mobius »

From that photo the forward angle of the side sponson doesn't match that of the front glacis slope. In a photo I have it does, both about 70-degrees. That one looks about 60-degrees. I wonder if there was some change in the angle between models?
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RE: A Churchill III's armor

Post by Yoozername »

yes, you're right.  This pic is from the armour in focus website.
 
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RE: A Churchill III's armor

Post by Yoozername »

An interesting note is that the tracks, which go over those sponsons, would act as stanoff 'armor' of sorts.  A armor piercing projectile that is fired at the front of the vehicle would almost assuredly strike a track first then the sloped armor of the sponson itself.  I have read that the early churchill tracks were cast iron and later tracks were lighter manganese type steel.  Photographic evidence does show shermans and other afv using these churchill tracks as expedient 'armor'. 
 
 
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RE: A Churchill III's armor

Post by Mobius »

That certainly is an informative photo as it shows the angles, the cutout at the hull gunner's window and the mild steel backing and rivets. One of the things I can't tell though if the glacis is 25mm of armor+~13mm mildsteel backing or 38mm of armor.

Unfortunately I can't make a track + armor position from the front with any of the notation tools we currently have.
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