Churchill Mk. III* - Reinforced and Rearmed

[Raptor5255]

[Would you like to see this in-game?]

• Yes
• No

History
A logical step in the Churchill’s development was to fit it with a dual-purpose gun firing AP and HE shells befitting its Infantry Tank role. Thanks to Vickers-Armstrong’s modification of the 6pdr and subsequent creation of the ROQF 75mm Mk. V, another rearmament program could be carried out for the Churchill.

In 1943, priorities were established for which vehicles would be the first to receive the new 75mm. The Churchill took precedence, then the Cromwell, followed by the Centaur and Valentine followed by armoured cars and other vehicles.

242 Churchill Mk. IIIs were converted to have the 75mm and these became known as the Mk. III*. As well as receiving a new gun, these tanks were re-inforced with applique armour on the turret front, turret front sides, and the hull sides. These can be seen on the Mk. III AVRE already in-game.

Though the AP performance was reduced compared to the earlier 6pdr, the HE performance was massively improved and allowed the Churchill to excel throughout the North-West European Campaign as the effective Infantry Tank it was meant to be.

They seem to have been given to 31st Tank Brigade (mostly 9th RTR) and 34th Tank Brigade with some potentially going to 141st RAC of 79th Armoured Division as support and Command tanks for their Crocodiles.

Though this could be a Mk. III* and is captioned as a 75mm, it is not a certainty and could’ve been a 6pdr.

In-game
I think the Churchill Mk. III* would provide a good stepping stone for players towards the Mk. VII. Their shared armament would get players used to the 75mm and the applique armour would give it a survivability bonus compared to the other Churchills while not being as well protected as the Mk. VII.
While it might be a tough nut to crack for some vehicles, I think 4.0 would be the best BR for this given that the applique armour doesn’t fully cover it and because the 75mm isn’t the most effective gun at this BR.

Specifications
Crew - 5
Weight - 39t
Length - 24’-1”
Width - 9’-5”
Height - 8’-2”
Engine - Bedford Twin-Six 12-cylinder (350hp)
Max speed - 17.4mph

Armament
ROQF 75mm Mk. V
2xBESA 7.92mm MG
Max elevation/depression - +20/-12.5

Ammunition
Around 80-85 shells
9,450 7.92mm BESA rounds

Figures taken from War Thunder Wiki
Armor penetration (mm) at a distance:
10m / 100m / 500m / 1000m / 1500m / 2000m

M72 - AP: 91 / 88 / 78 / 67 / 57 / 49
M61 - APCBC: 103 / 100 / 89 / 77 / 66 / 57
M48 - HE
M89 - Smoke

Armour
Lower Hull Nose - 76.2mm
Upper Hull Nose - 38mm
Hull Front - 89mm
Hull Sides Upper - 50.8mm
Hull Sides Lower - 63.5mm
Hull Side Doors - 76.2mm
Hull Rear Upper - 50.8mm
Hull Rear Lower - 25.4mm
Hull Roof - 19.05mm
Engine Deck - 15.88mm

Turret Front - 89mm
Turret Sides - 89mm/76.2mm
Turret Rear - 76.2mm
Turret Roof - 19.05mm

Applique plates
Turret front - 31.75mm
Turret front sides - 20mm
Hull sides - 20mm

Applique plates close-up images

Images

Sources
The Churchill Tank - C. Shillito, S. Osfield
British Battle Tanks - David Fletcher
Churchill Tank Vehicle History and Specification - David Fletcher
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUk8AUJZGkA - Tank Chats #116 | Churchill III | The Tank Museum
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXH1vAT8VC8 - Evolution of The Churchill Tank | “No Damn Good”? | The Tank Museum
Churchill tank - Wikipedia

[PlayedStatue626-live]

+1 for any extra Churchill’s

[Nostalgistic]

So it’s an upgunned AND uparmored Churchill Mk III? Solid +1!

Yes, I am aware the 75mm gun has less pen value than the 57mm gun but still :P

[Raptor5255]

Thanks! I’ve got a couple more Churchill suggestions in the works so stay tuned.

[PlayedStatue626-live]

Will do!

[Raptor5255]

Another picture of what seems to be a Mk. III* but is possibly a 6pdr.

Footage of this one and other Churchills in motion including a few scenes of Mk. IIIs:

CHURCHILL TANKS IN ACTION - NO SOUND

[Raptor5255]

Churchill tanks of 7th Royal Tank Regiment form up for the assault on Le Havre by Canadian I Corps, 10 September 1944. - IWM (BU 1197)

Great view of the applique armour and a varied bunch of Churchills.

[Raptor5255]

Churchill tanks of 7th Royal Tank Regiment (31st Tank Brigade), move forward during Operation Epsom, Normandy, 28 June 1944. - IWM (B 6121)
What appears to be a Mk. VI and two Mk. IIIs though I can’t tell if they’re 75s, 6pdrs, or one of each.

Mk. VI with a Mk. III that could either have the 75 or 6pdr.

Churchill tanks of 34th Tank Brigade cross a temporary bridge in Roosendaal, 30 October 1944. - IWM (B 11490)
Mk. III following a Mk. VI. Unfortunately can’t see enough of it to discern the armament.

[Jadenbetter-live]

III* can be either a 57 or 75, the * part is explicitly on about the applique armour

The 75mm and 6pr use the same mount so its a matter or just swapping the barrels which we know they didnt have enough of anyway

[Raptor5255]

Have you got a source for that please? I’ve only seen the * apply to the 75mm conversion.

[Raptor5255]

Churchills of 34th Tank Brigade travel through the village of St Lenaarts. - IWM (A70 182-3)

Elements of the 31st Armoured and 44th Infantry Brigades participate in an operation designed to secure the ‘Scottish Corridor’s’ western flank. - IWM (A70 60-2)

[Константинович7]

Lovely, for more Churchills’ tanks to come.

I always hated that the British Pathé took, legally, ownership of most WW2 good and accessible archives.

[Raptor5255]

I’ve got a couple more Churchill suggestions pending so hopefully they’ll be accepted soon.

[Tomgun_BLYAT]

Would be really cool if this was added, subpar armor is on of my main problems with churchill III and NA75 and this upgraded Mk III wold give it more options to play as actual heavy/breakthrough tank.
And since we have AVRE Petard in game which is basicaly III* with Petard mortar and special hatch on frontal hull to reload it, it would be really simple to just slightly alter its model into standard Churchill Mk III*.

[Raptor5255]

A Churchill tank moves up towards the village of Tourville, in preparation for an attack on Hill 112, 16 July 1944. - IWM (B 7443)

Churchill tanks of 34th Tank Brigade form up before the assault on Le Havre, 10 September 1944. - IWM (BU 854)

A tank crew watching British aircraft flying overhead on their way to bomb the enemy lines preceding the armoured attack - IWM (BU 856)

[Jarms]

Bottom one is famous and still survives to this day. It’s located at Musée des Blindés, Saumur, France. Definitely a Mk VI (all Mk VI’s had QF 75mm guns).

This one could be a premium due to the field modification giving more armour over the mantlet.

[Raptor5255]

Oh I know it’s a Mk. VI but what I meant is that unfortunately not enough of the Mk. III behind is visible enough to see if it’s got the 6pdr or 75. Bad wording on my part.

I’ve got a pending suggestion for the Mk. VI as I think it’s unique enough to warrant addition and could share the turret asset with the Mk. V if that were added too which I’m hoping would be a bit of an incentive for the devs.

As part of my suggestion I’ve added the external mantlet as a possible researchable modification. Apparently it was an experiment to prevent the shadow created by the internal mantlet and to help against bullet splash. Certainly only seems to be found on VIs, though, I don’t know how ‘official’ of a mod it was.

[Raptor5255]

Yeah I’m hoping that the relative ease with which the AVRE’s model could be repurposed would be an extra bit of incentive for adding this in.

In terms of gameplay, I agree completely. I’ve barely used the NA75 as it feels very underwhelming and I just don’t like it at that BR.

[FlyingOstridge]

Oh I LOVE it.

[PlayedStatue626-live]

How on earth do you get games like that!? I had to use the concept 3, m44 and bosvark to even get a modicum of the result you got. Every time I play that Churchill (or any variant including the petard) It’s a immovable object with no force (or in the petards case, very miserable to aim force).