Rover Light Armoured Car

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rover Light Armoured Car
Rover Light Armoured Car in Royal Australian Armoured Corps Tank Museum, Puckapunyal, Victoria, Australia.
Type	Armoured car
Place of origin	Australia
Specifications
Weight	Mk1 5.2 tonnes, Mk2 5 tonnes
Length	Mk1 6.1 m, Mk2 5.6 m
Width	2.3 m
Height	2.1 m
Crew	5 (Commander, Driver, 2 Gunners, Wireless operator)
Armor	16 mm
Primary armament	0.303 (7.7 mm) Vickers MMG
Secondary armament	0.303 (7.7 mm) Bren LMG
Engine	Ford V8 95 hp (71 kW)
Power/weight	19 hp/tonne
Suspension	4x4, leaf spring
Operational range	km

The Light Armoured Car (Aust), also known as Rover, was an armoured car produced in Australia during the Second World War.

[edit] History and description

At the outbreak of the World War II the United Kingdom was unable to meet the needs of the Commonwealth for armored fighting vehicles. It led many Commonwealth countries to develop their own AFVs.

A Light Armoured Car in 1942

The Rover was designed in 1941. It utilized Ford 3-ton CMP truck chassis, either F60L or shorter F60S. The armoured bodies were produced by Ruskin Motor Bodies Pty Ltd of Melbourne. The production was stopped in 1943, a total of 238 cars were built.

The Rover entered service with the Australian army in April 1942. It never saw combat and was used mostly for crew training. A long narrow opening at the top of the hull earned the vehicle a nickname mobile slit trench. Late in 1943 Australia started to receive US-made armoured cars and the Rover was soon declared obsolete.

There are two restored Rover Mk II cars on display in Australian museums, at the National Military Vehicle Museum in Port Adelaide and at the Royal Australian Armoured Corps Tank Museum at Puckapunyal, Victoria.

[edit] Variants

• Mk I - F60L chassis (40 units).
• Mk II - F60S chassis (198 units).

[edit] References

• Michael K. Cecil - Australian Military Equipment Profiles vol. 3, Australian Scout and Armoured Cars 1933 to 1945, 1993 Australian Military Equipment Profiles, ISBN 0-646-14611-4.

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Rover Light Armoured Car

• Diggerhistory.info
• Old CMP
• Australian CMP Based Armoured Vehicles

v • d • e	British Commonwealth armoured fighting vehicles of World War II

v • d • e Tanks Light tanks Vickers 6-Ton • Mk II • Mk III • Mk IV • Mk V • Mk VI • Mk VII Tetrarch Cruiser tanks Mk I • Mk II • Mk III • Mk IV • Mk V Covenanter • Mk VI Crusader • Mk VII Cavalier • Mk VIII Centaur • Mk VIII Cromwell • Challenger • Comet • Sherman Firefly • Ram (Canada) • Sentinel (Australia) Infantry tanks Mk I Matilda • Mk II Matilda • Mk III Valentine • Mk IV Churchill

v • d • e Self-propelled artillery Bishop • Sexton • Deacon • Archer

v • d • e Armoured personnel carriers Universal Carrier • Loyd Carrier • Kangaroo • Terrapin

v • d • e Scout Cars and Armoured cars Scout Cars Daimler Dingo • Dingo Scout Car (Australia) • Humber Scout Car • Lynx Scout Car (Canada) • S1 Scout Car (Australia) Light Reconnaissance Cars Humber LRC • Morris LRC • Otter LRC (Canada) Armoured Cars AEC Armoured Car • Coventry Armoured Car • Daimler Armoured Car • Fox Armoured Car (Canada) • Guy Armoured Car • Humber Armoured Car • Lanchester Armoured Car • Marmon-Herrington Armoured Car (South Africa) • Morris CS9 • Rhino Heavy Armoured Car (Australia) • Rolls-Royce Armoured Car • Rover Light Armoured Car (Australia) • Standard Beaverette • Armoured Carrier Wheeled Indian Pattern (India) Armoured Trucks Bedford OXA • C15TA Armoured Truck (Canada) Armoured Command Vehicles AEC ACV • Guy Lizard ACV

v • d • e Experimental vehicles Avenger • Black Prince • Centurion • Excelsior • TOG 1 • TOG 2 • Tortoise • Valiant • Harry Hopkins • Alecto • Thornycroft Bison

v • d • e Unarmoured vehicles Artillery tractors AEC Matador • Morris C8 Quad • Scammell Pioneer • Canadian Military Pattern Trucks and lorries Bedford QLD • Austin K2 • Morris 15 cwt Tank transporters Diamond T tank transporter • Scammell Pioneer Semi-trailer Utility and cars Car, Heavy Utility 4x2 Ford C11 • Car, Light Utility ("Tilly") • Car, 4-Seater 4x2 British armoured fighting vehicle production during World War II

British armoured fighting vehicle production during World War II