The Assault Tank T14 was a joint project between the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

with the goal being to produce a universal

infantry tank The infantry tank was a concept developed by the United Kingdom and France in the years leading up to World War II. Infantry tanks were designed to support infantrymen in an attack. To achieve this, the vehicles were generally heavily vehicle armo ...

. The T14 project never came to fruition, as a pilot model was not delivered to the UK until 1944 by which time the British

Churchill tank The Tank, Infantry, Mk IV (A22) Churchill was a British infantry tank used in the Second World War, best known for its heavy armour, large longitudinal chassis with all-around tracks with multiple bogies, its ability to climb steep slopes, a ...

had been in service for two years and greatly improved over its initial model. US efforts working on a similarly well-armoured tank but with a higher speed for use other than in infantry support led to the T20 Medium Tank.

Design and development

In 1941, the head of the

United States Ordnance Department The United States Army Ordnance Corps, formerly the United States Army Ordnance Department, is a Combat service support (United States), sustainment branch of the United States Army, headquartered at Fort Lee (Virginia), Fort Lee, Virginia. The ...

travelled to Britain to learn of their experience, ideas and requirements for the future. Among the discussion was the possibility of designing a well-armed and armoured combat vehicle, one that was stronger than the British

Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from 1 ...

then in production. The tank design would have a British QF 6-pounder (57 mm) or a US 75 mm gun and share many parts with the

M4 Sherman } The M4 Sherman, officially Medium Tank, M4, was the most widely used medium tank by the Military history of the United States during World War II, United States and Allies of World War II, Western Allies in World War II. The M4 Sherman prove ...

; they had the same armour thickness, but with

sloped armour Sloped armour is armour that is neither in a vertical nor a horizontal position. Such angled armour is typically mounted on tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs), as well as naval vessels such as battleships and cruisers. Sloping an a ...

at extreme angles, effective armour on the T14 was greatly increased to . The British initially ordered 8,500 in 1942 following which detail design work started. Testing of the pilot model which was completed in 1944 showed the vehicle to be much too heavy for practical use. By this time, the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

was satisfied with the Churchill and its

cruiser tank The cruiser tank (sometimes called cavalry tank or fast tank) was a British tank concept of the interwar period for tanks designed as modernised armoured and mechanised cavalry, as distinguished from infantry tanks. Cruiser tanks were develop ...

designs and further production of the T14 was halted. Only two were built; one tested in the US and the other sent to Britain. The example sent to Britain survives in

The Tank Museum The Tank Museum (previously The Bovington Tank Museum) is a collection of armoured fighting vehicles at Bovington Camp in Dorset, South West England. It is about north of the village of Wool and west of the major port of Poole. The collection ...

, Bovington. The British had developed the Heavy Assault Tank A33 "Excelsior" design to the same specification as the T14 but this did not go into service either.White BT, ''British Tanks 1915-1945'' Ian Allan pages 68-69

References

;Notes ;Bibliography *David Fletcher ''The Universal Tank: British Armour in the Second World War'' *http://www.tankmuseum.org/ixbin/indexplus?:mus_administration_name=VEH&_IXFIRST_=520&_IXSPFX_=templates/full/tvod/t&_IXMAXHITS_=1&submit-button=summary The Tank Museum accession record] *

External links

World War II vehicles
{{WWII_tanks, style=wide World War II heavy tanks World War II tanks of the United States Heavy tanks of the United States Abandoned military projects of the United States Abandoned military projects of the United Kingdom Trial and research tanks of the United States Trial and research tanks of the United Kingdom United Kingdom–United States military relations

Design and development

See also

Tanks of comparable role, performance and era

References

External links