The Black Prince A43 | British Infantry Tank Prototype

Black Prince A43 is a experimental development of the A22, Churchill infantry tank. Designed in 1943 by Vauxhall motor company of UK, 6 prototypes were produced during 1943-1945 era. The general staff designation was A43 and the official British army designation was Tank, Infantry, A43, Black Prince.

The black prince is heavier, longer and wider than the Churchill A22 tank. A better gun, QF 17 pdr replaced the QF 2 and 6 canons used in A22 tank.

Tank Name	Black Prince A43
Tank Type	Experimental Infantry tank
Improved From	A22 Churchill
Years in service	1943 - 1945
Number Made	6 Prototypes
Designer	Vauxhall
Manufacturer	Vauxhall
Place of origin	United Kingdom
Served in	WWII Commonwealth army, As a prototype

Black Prince Production Summary

The last of Infantry tanks

The infantry tank concept was introduced to French and British armies in the WWII era. The requirement was to support infantry units with better fire power and heavy armour. Matilda 1 and 2, Mark 1 to 7 tanks and finally the black prince entered the infantry tank production list.

The black prince never entered commercial production. If it was mass produced it would have been the last of the era. From Matilda 1 to Churchill a lot have changed in the infantry tank category. Matilda 1 was only equipped with a MG and almost hopeless when fighting against enemy tanks. Later in the development infantry tanks were equipped with better armour, better anti tank guns and better mobility.

Churchill A22 was Black Prince A43

Black prince is almost 10 tonnes heavier, 4ft longer, 1ft wider and 1ft taller than the Churchill tanks. But, the same engine used in Churchill series was used in the A43 Black Prince development. This made the black prince under powered and slow tank comparing to other infantry tanks.

However, infantry tanks are meant to be heavy due to the presence of a strong armour. Also, since its purpose is to provide infantry support they are not expected to have high mobility or speed.

Tank	Black Prince	Churchill
Total Mass	50 T	39.1 (Mk 1) 40.7 (Mk 2)
Maximum Armour	152 mm	102 mm (Mk 1 - 6) 152 mm (Mk 7-8)
Main Armament	QF 17 Pounder	QF 2,6 Pounder guns QF 75mm and 95mm Howitzers
Engine Power	350 hp	350 hp
Power / Weight Ratio	7 hp/ton	9.1 hp/ton
Maximum Speed	16.9 Km/h	24 km/h
Range	160 km	90 km

Churchill vs Black Prince Summary

Parallel with the infantry tank development British engineers also developed Cruiser tanks which had higher mobility and better speeds to fight against enemy tanks. Typically, a combination of cruiser tanks, infantry tanks and tank destroyers are implemented in the battle field. So, infantry tanks been heavy and slow was not a big issue.

Improved suspension

Since, the prince is 10T heavier than Churchill the conventional spring suspension was not suitable enough to absorb shocks. So, in the Prince, a sprung bogie suspension system was introduced replacing the spring coil system.

Better anti tank gun

Considering the purpose of a infantry tank, it does not require a heavy anti tank weaponry like what a heavy tank or a tank destroyer may have. But, in practical application even the infantry tanks were required to have some sort of anti tank fire power for self defense purpose. The first models of infantry tanks such as Matilda 1 was not successful in the battle field due to lack of antitank fire power.

QF 2 pounder anti tank gun was used in the early versions of Churchill. It is a 40mm semi-automatic gun with a hydro spring recoil system manufactured by Vickers. QF 2 can accelerate the ammunition to 792 m/s with a maximum fire range of 1600m.  The effective fire range is 1400m.

In the later versions of Churchill, a better gun with larger caliber QF6 57mm was introduced. QF 6 has a better recoil system which is Hydro-pneumatic.  The effective firing range is 1,510m and maximum firing range is 4,600m.

The dark prince was equipped with even better canon which is QF 17 with 76.2mm caliber. Like QF 6 QF 17 also use a Hydro-pneumatic recoil system. The effective fire range is equal as QF6. But, QF 17 has a way better maximum firing range which is 10.5km.

QF 17 a game changer anti tank gun

17 pounder gun can accelerate High explosive ammunition to 880 m/s and APDS (Armour-piercing discarding sabot) to 1,200m/s. So, a AP ammo can reach a enemy tank located in the maximum effective range just within 1.25 seconds.

QF 17 gun was originally introduced to replace QF 6 guns in the North African Campaign. With the approach of Tiger tanks in the battle field,  a better anti tank field gun was required to fight against the upcoming threat.

The QF 17 gun was used in many other tanks such as,

• A30 Challenger (Cruiser)
• Comet 1 A34 (Cruiser)
• Valentine Mk 1
• Sherman Firefly (Medium)

Black prince design

Black prince was designed by Vauxhall motors in 1943. The design of hull and the shape of the tank is similar to the Churchill tank, but larger and heavier.

Tank front

The drivers position is brought forward from the position what is was in Churchill tank. This improved the drivers overall visibility of the battle field. To bring the position forward the front slope design is modified. As usual the head lights and tow mounts can be seen in the hull front.

7.92mm Besa machine gun can be seen as the hull gun in the front.

Tank side and tracks

As in the Churchill tanks the side crew doors remain in the Prince as well. Behind the crew doors mounting links are installed to carry spare tracks for repairs. Large scrapers can be seen in the front and back of the track.

Back of the Tank

Telephone box, first aid kit and two smoke discharges can be seen in the back of the tank. The back towing pin is located little bit high from the ground. Left side spender is for oil storage and right side spender is for water storage purposes.

Hull design

A storage compartment can be seen behind the turret. This was originally made for personal equipment storing purposes. As the listing mention this compartment was designed to hold

• 5 Great coats
• 5 Ground Sheets
• 15 Blankets

, For the crew of 5.

3 Radio antennas installed in the back of the turret roof for communication purposes. A sub-turret or a all-round vision cupola can be seen in the top of turret. It has 7 periscopes inside. Another larger periscope can be seen in the front. Overall, the vision arrangement provide a way better visibility of the battlefield to the commander than many other tanks had.

Instead of using modern hatch cover in the black prince still the old fashion split cover hatch can be seen. The opening is little small and difficult for the crew to get in through.

Specifications of the Black Prince A43 Tank

Total Mass	50T
Length	8.81m
Width	3.442m
Height	2.7m

Armour – Black Prince A43

The hull armour of A43 is 6 inches thick. Same type of armour can be seen in the later versions of Churchill tanks. As one of the most vulnerable place of taking damages, the turret front has a 6 in thickness. Back of the turret is about 4 in thick while the top is 3 and three quarter inch thick.

Black prince power

Black prince is equipped with same engine as what Churchill tanks are equipped with. A bedford type 120 12 cylinder engine used in the tank is horizontally opposed.

The engine was capable of outputting 350hp (at 2200rpm) or 260 kW of power. A water cooling system with radiator fans used for cooling purpose. A merit brand steering system with neutral steer capability is used to improve handling. Black prince can carry 156 gallons of fuel which allow 160 km on road and 96 km cross country.

Armament

As mentioned above the black prince is equipped with a QF 17 pounder gun and carry 89 rounds of ammunition. As the secondary armament two 7.92mm Besa machine guns are used which are mounted, one in the hull front and the other in the turret.

A tribute to a great warrior – Edward the black Prince

Infantry tank, A43, The black prince is named after a great warrior of England, Prince Edward who was named as the black prince. He was the son of 3rd Edward of England.