Charioteer Mk VII (Sweden)

This page is about the medium tank Charioteer Mk VII (Sweden). For the British version, see Charioteer Mk VII.

▄Charioteer Mk VII

▄T-34-85

▄T-54

▄Charioteer Mk VII

▄T-34-85

▄T-54

Sweden

IV Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
6.0	6.3	6.0

Class:

Medium tank

Research:71 000

Purchase:210 000

Show in game

Description

The ▄Tank Medium Gun Charioteer Mk VII is a rank IV Swedish medium tank with a battle rating of 6.0 (AB/SB) and 6.3 (RB). It was introduced in Update "Fire and Ice". The Charioteer takes the hull of a Cromwell and replaces the turret with a larger one mounting the heavy-hitting 84 mm 20-pdr cannon, which can deal with the enemies it faces at Rank IV.

General info

Survivability and armour

Smoke grenades

Creation of a smoke screen in front of the vehicle

Armourfront / side / back

Hull64 / 46 / 32

Turret30 / 30 / 30

Crew3 people

Visibility89 %

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour (hull, turret)
• Cast homogeneous armour (gun mantlet, driver port joint, obturated MG port)

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	63.5 mm Upper plate 63.5 mm (spherical) Driver port 32 mm obturated MG port 30 mm (70°) Upper glacis 57 (19°) Lower glacis - Top 25.4 mm (65°) Lower glacis - Bottom	44 mm Top - Front half 38 mm + 32 mm (30°) Top - Rear half 32 mm Bottom - Front half 25.4 mm Bottom - Rear half	32 mm Rear plate 20 mm (58°) Lower glacis	30 mm (20°) Front glacis 20 mm Centre 14 mm Rear
Turret	30 mm (8-18°) Turret front 20 mm (cylindrical) Gun mantlet 14 mm Turret ring	30 mm (1-18°) 14 mm Turret ring	30 mm 14 mm Turret ring 14 mm (69-75°)Turret underside	14 mm (0-7°)

Notes:

• Suspension wheels and tracks are 20 mm thick.
• The area where the machine gun port would be has an additional 63 mm of armour placed on it.
• 3 internal structural plates of 5 mm thickness separate:
  • the driver compartment in two,
  • the driver compartment from the crew compartment,
  • the crew compartment from the engine bay.
• These plates have large openings at some places, as visible in X-ray mode.

"Lacking" is the term that comes to mind when thinking about the Charioteer's armour. 63.5 mm of non slopped frontal armour is not enough and the turret armour is only 30 mm thick all around. The turret ring technically can be penetrated by 12.7 mm HMG fire, but not many people will go for that. However, it's best to not get flanked by autocannon-armed tanks (SPAA, late light tanks, etc.).

With only 3 crew members inside, any APHE shot to the turret means instant elimination (RB) or entering crew replenishment mode (AB).

The few advantages of this vehicle are: internal shields (to ensure that at least one crew member survives) and its low ammo load (there are no huge ammo racks everywhere like with the Centurion). Another positive aspect is the presence of improved smoke launchers, equipped with 12 grenades shot in 2 salvos (one forward, one to the sides). They can create a smoke wall in seconds, hiding the Charioteer in an arc of about 200°. These smoke launchers are also found on later British tanks.

Mobility

Speedforward / back

AB63 / 4 km/h

RB and SB57 / 4 km/h

Number of gears5 forward

1 back

Weight30.0 t

Engine power

AB1 145 hp

RB and SB600 hp

Power-to-weight ratio

AB38.2 hp/t

RB and SB20.0 hp/t

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	63	4	30	930	1,145	31	38.17
Realistic	57	4		531	600	17.7	20

Modifications and economy

Repair costBasic → Reference

AB3 208 → 4 340

RB3 966 → 5 365

SB5 005 → 6 771

Total cost of modifications61 500

102 300

Talisman cost1 800

Crew training61 000

Experts210 000

Aces890

Research Aces570 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

120 / 180 / 220 %

178 / 178 / 178 %

Modifications

Mobility	Protection	Firepower
Tracks Research: 4 100 Cost: 6 800 210 Suspension Research: 2 800 Cost: 4 700 145 Brake System Research: 2 800 Cost: 4 700 145 Filters Research: 3 800 Cost: 6 300 195 Transmission Research: 5 000 Cost: 8 300 260 Engine Research: 5 000 Cost: 8 300 260	Improved Parts Research: 4 100 Cost: 6 800 210 Improved FPE Research: 2 800 Cost: 4 700 145 Crew Replenishment Research: 3 800 Cost: 6 300 195	Horizontal Drive Research: 4 100 Cost: 6 800 210 Adjustment of Fire Research: 2 800 Cost: 4 700 145 84mm_britain_20pdr_APDS_ammo_pack Research: 2 800 Cost: 4 700 145 Elevation Mechanism Research: 3 800 Cost: 6 300 195 Smoke grenade Research: 3 800 Cost: 6 300 195 Artillery Support Research: 5 000 Cost: 8 300 260 84mm_britain_Smoke_ammo_pack Research: 5 000 Cost: 8 300 260

Armaments

Main armament

84 mm 20pdr OQF Mk.I cannon

Ammunition25 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

8.1 → 6.3 s

Vertical guidance-5° / 10°

84 mm 20pdr OQF Mk.I					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	25	-5°/+10°	±180°	-	17.1	23.7	28.8	31.9	33.9	8.19	7.25	6.68	6.30
Realistic					10.7	12.6	15.3	16.9	18.0

The Charioteer Mk VII (Sweden) carries an 84 mm 20pdr gun in a lightly armoured turret protected only with 30 mm RHA box. As the gun is very consequent, the turret traverse is quite slow so one should have to preventively aim towards a corner before going around it. The high penetration power of the gun compensates the poor slewing rate. Plus, even the stock shells has as much penetration as the 76 mm QF 17pdr's APDS shell found on other Rank III tanks, this only gets better with the upgraded APDS shot, which can pierce up to 363 mm of armour at 500 m distance (or a Tiger II (H)'s UFP at point-blank range).

The tank commander has the ability to control the weapon if the gunner is knocked out, which is very unusual at the rank and might allow to aggressively trade shots, or even straight up rush some tanks in AB.

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
		10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
Shot Mk.1	APCBC	232	229	216	201	187	173
Shot Mk.3	APDS	384	380	363	343	324	306
Shell Mk.1	HE	15	15	15	15	15	15

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (kg)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
Shot Mk.1	APCBC	1,000	9.1	-	-	-	48°	63°	71°
Shot Mk.3	APDS	1,430	3.22	-	-	-	75°	78°	80°
Shell Mk.1	HE	600	7.5	0.2	0.1	1.13	79°	80°	81°

Smoke shell characteristics
Ammunition	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Screen radius (m)	Screen deploy time (s)	Screen hold time (s)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
20pdr Shell SS Mk.1	250	9.3	9	5	20	50

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the Charioteer Mk VII (Sweden)

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	Visual discrepancy
25	21 (+4)	11 (+14)	1 (+24)	No

Machine guns

7.62 mm L3A1 machine gun (coaxial)

Ammunition5 000 rounds

Belt capacity250 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

10.4 → 8.0 s

Fire rate500 shots/min

7.62 mm L3A1
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Coaxial	5,000 (250)	500	-	-

Usage in battles

The Charioteer, as with most western tank destroyer, is fitted with a very powerful gun, has good mobility, but is very lightly armoured. As such, it is best to play with its mobility to evade the enemy until the opportune moment. As it uses the same hull as a Cromwell, the reverse speed is atrocious that can make any withdrawal very hard once discovered by the enemy. It is recommended that the Charioteer be used with the forward movement more often, and back up by rotating the entire vehicle before whistling away since the armour back and front is inadequate to deal with any of the tanks you face at its battle rating.

Flanking

This is a classical sniper/flanker tank: fast, a good gun but no armour. One should never engage in front line fights since most tanks at the rank use APHE and will just blast the Charioteer away. The best way to play this tank is to use range and/or speed as armour, only stopping to take a shot and speed up again. Do not worry about sniping, this cannon has been made for that: shells have a very low ballistic trajectory, and keep good penetration values even at distances. When fired at, move into safety while blasting out these smoke cannisters on the move, creating a large smoke wall for the enemy, leaving some space for your allies to manoeuvre without being noticed.

In urban maps, pre-aim before getting around corners since turret slewing rate is slow. One could also use its engine/transmission as an armour when ambushed: quick reaction shots will often "only" ignite the tank without damaging the crew too much, plus, if the shot is missed, you are already in a position to escape swiftly since frontwards speed is good. When zipping past an alley, blast a smoke screen to cover allies from enemy fire while shooting a hasty shot in the general direction of the enemy. Some enemies will turn their turret in order to protect themselves from flanking only to get shot by allied tanks. Your best weapons in close-range fights are both surprise and speed.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Good reload speed without an autoloader
• 20-pdr has access to powerful rounds - AP which can destroy Panther in a single hit and APDS with extreme muzzle velocity and even more penetration, can potentially be played in higher BR games
• Has no ammo in the turret, and commander can use the gun instead of gunner, meaning that even if intercepted, the Charioteer still has an extremely high chance of taking down enemy tanks with itself (even more likely in AB)
• Decent gun optics for the rank, but difficult to use with APDS
• Very speedy tank due to Cromwell chassis, can fill a role of a medium support tank for rushing capture points
• Arguably the best turreted tank destroyer at Rank IV, with benefits of a medium tank (can call artillery)
• Good smoke screen system with a useful spreading angle; great for retreats
• Very low risk of fire due to rear mounted transmission and no fuel tanks on the front of the tank.

Cons:

• As with all Cromwell chassis, reverse speed is awful
• Extremely vulnerable to APHE, even the angled roof top which is supposed to bounce shots will not stop it
• Only 3 crew members, easy crew knock out in RB
• Low post-penetration damage with APDS due to punctual damage
• Poor gun depression and elevation (-5­° to 10°)
• Unstable gun platform; must short-stop or slow down before firing precisely
• Very poor ammo capacity; on the co-op Tank Assault mode, this forces to stay close to repair bonuses, which can eventually backfire

History

Development

After World War II, the Western Allies prepared plans to repel a possible invasion by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Britain called for its Royal Armoured Corps formation to be stationed at West Germany with their tank units. However, due to the low number of the newer Centurion tank, the armoured corps were to be equipped with the more plentiful Cromwell cruiser tank. Due to the deficiency of the Cromwell in the face of the much stronger Soviet tanks, it was required to upgrade the tank with a 20-pounder gun, the same one used on the Centurion at the time. However, the gun mounting required a new turret to accommodate the gun, and the limited space restricted the turret crew to only two crew members. This vehicle with the 20-pounder turret would be known as the Charioteer.

Design

The improvement on the Cromwell focused only on its offensive armaments. Armour was not taken into priority and the turret used very thin armour ranging from 20 to 30 mm thick. Some Charioteers were given additional welded armour over the hull for improved protection. The turret mounted the 84 mm 20-pounder gun with a 7.62 mm Browning machine gun as a coaxial weapon. Smoke dischargers were attached to the left and right of the turret, and a flap on the rear of the turret allow the removal of fired ammunition casings from the turret interior. To mount the larger turret, the turret ring was increased to the limits of the Cromwell's hull width, requiring the turret to have a larger profile to make up the room needed for it. Despite this enlargement, ammunition stowage was limited, the hull machine gunner position was removed to make additional room for the large ammunition, but only allowed 25 rounds to be carried inside the tank. Primary ammunition carried in the tank were high-explosive and armour-piercing discarding-sabot (APDS) rounds.

The Cromwell tanks were converted to Charioteers at the Robinson & Kershaw Ltd at Dukinfield, Cheshire. The first order was for 630 vehicles in 1951, but the production was cut short at a later time. The first 200 were delivered in March 1953 and another 200 the next year. The total number produced is believed to be around 442 vehicles.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the Charioteer Mk VII (Sweden) from live.warthunder.com.

Videos

I Shouldn't Have Ignored This Tank: Charioteer Mk VII Tank Destroyer - Virus -

War Thunder First 10: Charioteer Mk VII (Finland) - Orangefan

See also

Vehicles equipped with the same chassis

• Cromwell (Family)

Other vehicles of similar configuration and role

• Avenger
• Challenger

External links

• [Wikipedia] Charioteer (tank)
• [Tanks Encyclopedia] Fv 401 Charioteer