Archer (tank destroyer)

SP 17pdr, Valentine, Mk I, Archer
SP 17pdr, Valentine, Mk I, Archer front (and direction of driving) to left, engine to right
Type	Self-propelled artillery anti-tank gun
Place of origin	United Kingdom
Service history
In service	September 1944 - ? (UK)
Used by	United Kingdom, Egypt
Wars	World War II, Suez Crisis
Production history
Designer	Vickers-Armstrongs
Manufacturer	Vickers-Armstrongs
Produced	March 1943 - May 1945
Number built	655
Specifications
Weight	15 long tons (15 tonnes)
Length	21 ft 11 in (6.7 m)
Width	9 ft (2.76 m)
Height	7 ft 4 in (2.25 m)
Crew	4 (Commander, gunner, loader, driver)
Armour	14 - 60 mm (.55 - 2.36 in)
Main armament	QF 17 pounder (76.2 mm) gun 39 rounds
Secondary armament	.303 Bren light machine gun
Engine	GMC 6-71 6-cylinder diesel 192 bhp
Power/weight	10.1 hp/t
Suspension	coil spring bogie
Fuel capacity	50 imp gal (230 L)
Operational range	140 mi (230 km) on roads
Speed	20 mph (32 km/h) off road: 8 mph (13 km/h)

The Self Propelled 17pdr, Valentine, Mk I, Archer was a British self propelled anti-tank gun of the Second World War based on the Valentine infantry tank chassis fitted with an Ordnance QF 17 pounder gun.

Design and development

The 17 pounder anti-tank gun was a very powerful gun but also very large, heavy, and could only be moved about the battlefield by a vehicle, which made the gun more effective in defence than in the attack. A version of the Churchill tank had been tested in 1942 as a self-propelled gun; the "3-inch Gun Carrier" and the US was expected to be able to provide the M10 Wolverine through Lend-lease. Other projects were considered using obsolete tank chassis. Possible vehicles included the Valentine, for its reliability and low profile, and the Crusader, for its good power-to-weight ratio. In development were tank designs using the 17-pdr, which led to the Cruiser Mk VIII Challenger tank (and its post-war variant the Avenger SP gun) derived from the Cromwell cruiser tank, and the Sherman Firefly conversion of the Sherman tank.

The Valentine chassis was soon chosen, as it was in production but obsolescent as a tank in British use, and was also one of the few chassis that could accommodate such a large gun.The engine in the Archer had a higher power rating than in the Valentine. Since the Valentine had a small hull and it was not possible to use a turret, the gun was mounted in a simple, low, open-topped armoured box, very much like the early Panzerjäger German self-propelled guns in appearance, with the gun facing to the rear, which kept the length of the Archer short. The mounting allowed for 11 degrees of traverse to either side, with elevation from -7.5 to +15 degrees.

On firing, the gun breech recoiled into the driver's space, with the driver staying in position, in case the vehicle needed to move quickly. The rear mounting combined with its low silhouette made the Archer an excellent ambush weapon, allowing its crew to fire, then drive away without turning round.

The first prototype was completed in 1943, with firing trials carried out in April 1943. Vickers were given orders for 800 vehicles.

Service

This Archer tank destroyer was abandoned by the Egyptian Army during the Suez Crisis, 1956.

Production started in mid-1943 and the Archer entered service in October 1944. It was used in North-West Europe and (in 1945) in Italy. By the end of the war, 655 of them had been produced. The Archer was classified as a self-propelled anti-tank gun and was operated during the war by the Royal Artillery (RA) rather than by Royal Armoured Corps units, as too were the British 3in SP, Wolverine and 17pdr SP. Achilles.

Post war the Archer served with the Egyptian Army. Surviving vehicles are preserved at the Yad La-Shiryon museum in Latrun, National War and Resistance Museum, Overloon in the Netherlands, and the The Tank Museum in the UK. The Archer served with some units of the Royal Armoured Corps in the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) in the early 1950s.

References

• Fletcher, David (1989). Universal Tank: British Armour in the Second World War - Part 2. HMSO. ISBN 0-11-290534-X.

External links

• OnWar
• The Archer Tank Destroyer wwiiequipment.com