| The Tortoise had its origins in a 1942 Nuffield Mechanization Ltd proposal for for an assault tank to penetrate the Siegfried Line. There followed a considerable number of
modifications to the design mainly involving the armament. In August 1943 Design No AT13 appeared which began to resemble the Tortoise and by December 1943 a wooden
mock-up had appeared. After a few more redesigns AT16 appeared in mild steel prototype form and was named Tortoise.
It was a massive vehicle weighing in at 78-tons and fitted with 9-inch armour. The main armament was a 32-pdr gun mounted in the front of the hull with limited traverse.
Secondary armement was three BESA mchine-guns - one mounted in the front of the fighting compartment and two in a sub-turret on the vehicle roof. Top speed was
around 12mph.
Originallt 25 vehicles were ordered but this was reduced to six. The six prototypes were not finished until 1947 and after a series of trials the project was abandoned.
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VARIANTS OF THE SERIES
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GENERAL RECOGNITION POINTS
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- Large cast fighting compartment with small MG armed auxiliary turret on top rear.
- Ball-mounted single-tube main armament with single-baffle muzzle brake.
- Suspension covered by sideplates.
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WEBSITES
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DOCUMENTS
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DISCUSSION FORUM
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