Landships II

Does anyone have any good sources for information on Cunningham tanks?

Most sources don't list all of their vehicles. I have slowly been building up a vague understanding of Cunningham and I've come to the conclusion that several of their tanks were actually quite advanced, although completely overlooked. Just for instance, I have never read much about the T2, and i don't believe Chamberlain and Ellis's "Tanks of the world" even lists it.

http://library.thinkquest.org/04oct/01014/t2.html

I have also heard of a development of the TI one-man tank that resulted in a two-man Carden-Loyd clone. I finally found an image of it, as usual, on the old TANKS site.

"Cunningham 4.2" (107mm) Chemical Mortar SPG

The T1E1 Light Tank chassis was redesigned in a test to carry the 4.2" Chemical Mortar in 1931. The mortar was fairly conventional in that besides being capable of being used for chemical warfare, it could also fire high explosive rounds. The weapon weighed about 250 pounds and had a range of 2.5 miles. The photo to the right shows the Cunningham T2 Light Tank chassis used for the same purpose in 1935."


The evolution of the one-man TI seems apparent. The same style of rubber and steel cable tracks that were tried out on the TI seem to be used on this tank as well. Furthermore, the resemblance to the Carden Loyd is uncanny, right down to the armored differential housing that was a hallmark of the Carden Loyds. I had heard of this vehicle, and seen a sketch of it, but never before did I realize it was actually built. Does anyone have pictures of the original vehicle with the small offset turret?

I would enjoy learning more about Cunninghams vehicles, but there is a distinct lack of information on them, much to my dismay.

Can anyone point me in the right direction?

---Vil.

P.S. A brief history of the company, albeit with a glaring number of flaws, can be found here:
http://www.obs-us.com/people/karen/cunningham/index.htm
For instance, the author says that one of the Cunningham tanks was great because it was so much faster than the lumbering "Christies" of WWI. If he could make such a blatant error like that, it makes me wonder what percentage of the text is factually accurate. Still interesting though.



-- Edited by Vilkata at 08:34, 2007-08-02