Valentine IX

Valentine IX

Valentine XI

Matilda III

Valentine IX

Valentine XI

Matilda III

Britain

II Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
3.0	3.0	3.0

Class:

Medium tank

Research:5 600

Purchase:22 000

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Description

The Tank, Infantry, Valentine IX is a Rank II British medium tank with a battle rating of 3.0 (AB/RB/SB). It was released along with the initial British tree line in Update 1.55 "Royal Armour".

The general style of play that best works with the Valentine Mk.IX changes depending on the battle ratings of the current match. If you find yourself at the higher end of the spectrum, the armour is still very viable and you can play much like a standard heavy tank. If you find yourself on the lower end of the spectrum your armour is of less value, and many tanks will be able to penetrate you reliably, this often means its best to play in a supporting role of other tanks. Unlike the first Valentine the Mk.IX can engage most other tanks somewhat reliably at longer ranges and with more reliability due to being significantly up gunned from the former model.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour
• Cast homogeneous armour (Gun mantlet)

Armour	Front	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	60 mm (1°) Front plate 30 mm (65-67°) Front glacis 20 mm (73°), 60 mm (24°) Lower glacis	50 mm	17 mm (58-59°) Top 20 mm (65°), 60 mm (1°) Bottom	20 mm
Turret	65 mm (0-66°) Turret front 65 mm (0-62°) Gun mantlet	60 mm	65 mm (1-57°)	20 mm

Note:

• Suspension wheels, bogies, and tracks are 20 mm thick.
• Belly armour is 20 mm thick.

Mobility

Mobility characteristic
Weight (tons)	Add-on Armor weight (tons)	Max speed (km/h)
17.3	N/A	26.7 (AB)
		24.0 (RB/SB)
Engine power (horsepower)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	256	315
Realistic/Simulator	146	165
Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	14.80	18.21
Realistic/Simulator	8.44	9.54

Armaments

Main armament

57 mm OQF 6-pounder Mk.III
Capacity			Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance	Stabilizer
53			-12°/+20°	±180°	N/A
Turret rotation speed (°/s)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
Arcade	15.2	21.1	__.__	__.__	__.__
Realistic	9.5	11.2	__.__	__.__	__.__
Reloading rate (seconds)
Stock	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
5.2	__.__	__.__	__.__

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration in mm @ 90°
		10m	100m	500m	1000m	1500m	2000m
Shot Mk.5	AP	101	100	83	67	51	45
Shell Mk.10	4	4	4	4	4	4	HE
Shot Mk.5 HV	AP	112	111	92	74	57	50
Shot Mk.8	APC	94	92	83	72	63	52
Shot Mk.9	APCBC	113	112	100	90	84	80

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity in m/s	Projectile Mass in kg	Fuse delay in m:	Fuse sensitivity in mm:	Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):	Normalization At 30° from horizontal:	Ricochet:
								0%	50%	100%
Shot Mk.5	AP	807	2.8	N/A	N/A	N/A	-1°	47°	60°	65°
Shell Mk.10	HE	807	3.0	0.1	0.1	153	+0°	79°	80°	81°
Shot Mk.5 HV	AP	853	2.8	N/A	N/A	N/A	-1°	47°	60°	65°
Shot Mk.8	APC	853	2.9	N/A	N/A	N/A	-1°	48°	63°	71°
Shot Mk.9	APCBC	801	3.2	N/A	N/A	N/A	+4°	48°	63°	71°

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the Valentine Mk IX.

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	5th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
53	43 (+10)	32 (+21)	21 (+32)	11 (+42)	1 (+52)	no

Usage in the battles

Pros and cons

Pros:

• 57mm gun has decent penetration
• Upper glacis is sloped, can bounce a few shots
• Low profile allows it to hide behind obstacles
• Decent stock shells
• Turret is angled and can bounce some shots
• Fast reload speed

Cons:

• No machine gun
• Side armour is very weak
• Slow top speed (22km/h)
• Drivers port and the area around it is a major weakspot
• No explosive filler in shells
• Only 3 crew members (Crew can be knocked out very easily)
• Thin top armour makes it vulnerable to air attacks

History

Development

The experiences taken from the development of the A9, A10 cruiser tanks and the A11 infantry tank prompted Vickers-Armstrongs to begin development of a new tank. As a private venture, the design did not receive any designations from the British General Staff during its creation. The designing of the tank focused on the tank having the weight of a cruiser, but with the armour comparable to the infantry tanks. The basis was to have the vehicle with 60 mm of frontal armour and a 2-pounder gun in a two-man turret. To make it as light as possible, it was small and featured a cramped interior. The design used features taken from the A9 and A10 tanks so the design was easier to produce and cheaper to make. Vickers unveiled the design to War Office at February 10, 1938. While they initially viewed it unfavorably for its tiny two-man turret, they took it in April 1939 due to the growing tense situation in Europe with Nazi Germany, with the first order coming in May 1940 after the losses suffered by the British Expeditionary Forces in the Battle of France. The name Valentine was given to the tank sometime between its introduction to War Office and its adoption. The origin of the name is disputed, some say it was due to its introduction on February 14 in 1938 or 1940, other say it was the middle name of Sir John V. Carden, who helped design the Valentine's predecessors. Other sources say it is a name from the Vickers' company full name (Vickers-Armstrong Ltd Elswick & [Newcastle-upon] Tyne), and David Fletcher from Bovington Tank Museum say that "Valentine" was a code name used by the company for its development.

The Valentine was put into service as quickly as possible under the designation Tank, Infantry, Mk.III. Vickers, Metropolitan-Cammell Carriage & Wagon, and Birmingham Railway Carriage & Wagon Company were all involved in the construction of this vehicle. During World War II, Canada was also contracted to build the Valentine to build up their own tank forces. The United Kingdom produced a total of 6,855 Valentines during the war between the three company while Canada built 1,420 Valentine tanks in their factories, for a total of 8,275 tanks produced, making the Valentine the most produced British tank in the entire war.

Variants

The Valentine is one of the most modified British tank in World War II, up to eleven variants were made during its entire production life.

1. Mark I: The first one, it was built with a rivet construction, a 135 hp petrol engine, and a 2-pounder, but was not sent to combat due to mechanical problems.
2. Mark II: Uses a 131 hp diesel engine and has an auxiliary fuel tank added to the left hull.
3. Mark III: Has a slightly thinner side armour (60 mm to 50 mm) and a modified turret design, giving room for a loader in the tank, freeing the commander to do his job.
4. Mark IV A modified Mk.II using an American 138 hp GMC diesel engine and an American-produced transmission, making the tank more reliable.
5. Mark V: The same as Mk.IV, except using the Mk.III as the basis.
6. Mark VI: A Canadian built Valentine, using Canadian and American parts and a GMC diesel engine, plus later switching the BESA machine gun into a Browning machine gun.
7. Mark VII: A Canadian Mk.VI with a new radio set and a modified interior. Another Mk.VII named the Mark VIIA has jettisonable fuel tanks and new tracks, oil cooler, and headlights.
8. Mark VIII: Uses a British AEC diesel engine and a modified turret to use the 6-pounder. The modification eliminated the coaxial machine gun from the design.
9. Mark IX: A Mk.V modified to take the 6-pounder as well, but with an armour reduction. Later version also had a stronger 165 hp GMC diesel engine installed.
10. Mark X: Features another modified turret design using the 6-pounder, but made it able to use a coaxial machine gun again and still uses the 165 hp diesel engine. Uses a welded construction
11. Mark XI: The Mk.X using the QF 75 mm gun instead of a 6-pounder, with the 210 hp diesel engine. However, these tanks only served as a command tank in the battlefield. Uses a welded construction

Combat usage

The Valentine mostly saw service in the North African Campaign, where the crew reported on it very favorable as a reliable and well-protected tank. The first unit who saw action with the Valentine was the 8th Royal Tank Regiment in Operation Crusader, where it was in the process of replacing the Matilda II. The reliability is expressed when some Valentine were reported to have traveled a distance of 4,800 kilometers by the time the British reached Tunisia. The Valentine tanks soon saw wide-spread use by mid-1941 when they were issued out widely to armoured regiments due to the lack of cruiser tanks available to fill in the ranks.

However, the biggest weakness of the Valentine tank is the lack of high-explosive rounds for the 2-pounder, a weakness suffered by every other tank using the 2-pounder. This and the 2-pounder's growing deficiency against tank armour was remedied by the usage of the 6-pounder on the Valentine after the Mark VIII version, and then the QF 75 mm gun. However, these larger guns were harder to mount on the small Valentine turret and made for a cramped interior, even removing the established loader's position made in an enlarge turret for the 2-pounder. By the time these larger guns were introduced for the tank, better tanks were being introduced, such as the Churchill heavy tanks from Britain and the M4 Shermans from the Americans. Despite the better tanks, the Valentine's low height is able to exploit small cover on the battlefield and take up a good hull-down position behind hills.

Some Valentines were sent to the Soviet Union as part of the Lend-Lease program, most of the Valentines came from Canada's production lines. The Valentines saw use from the time of Battle of Moscow in 1941 all the way until the end of the war, though the Valentines saw use more as a second-line tank due to its relative weakness. It was criticized for its slow speed and weak gun, but was liked for its small size, reliability, and armour protection and thus the Soviet Supreme Command continue asking for it and its production to continue until the end of the war.

By 1944, the Valentine is mostly taken out from the front-line services and replaced by the newer tanks. A few were retained for special purposes and command vehicles for Archer units, which is a tank destroyer based off the Valentine chassis. The tank continue to see use in the Pacific in limited numbers until May 1945 in the 3rd New Zealand Division, some had their armaments changed to the larger 3-inch howitzer to use it stronger high-explosive ammunition against the Japanese. New Zealand kept the normal and modified Valentines all the way until 1955. The last known combat usage of the Valentine was on Cyprus in early 1960s when a turret-less Valentine was used by the Greek militia, added with a make-shift armour and a machine gunner position with a Bren gun.

Survivors

About forty Valentines and vehicles based off the Valentine chassis exist in various conditions in the world. Valentines in running condition exist in the Bovington Tank Museum and in private hands in New Zealand and United Kingdom. The Valentines survivors can be seen in UK, Canada, Belgium, France, Russia, Australia, and New Zealand.

Media

Bovington Tank Museum Tank Chats: Valentine

Read also

Official War Thunder forum article: [Vehicle Profile] Small, Slow and Tough: Valentine Mk.I

Sources

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• other literature.