SA Armour Museum

Crew: 3 

Combat Mass: 6.3 mt 

Armament: QF 2-pdr (40mm); 7,62 mm Browning Machine-gun 

Engine: RFord V8 liquid-cooled gasoline, 85 bhp

Transmission: GManual 4/1 w/2 spd-tmsf

Speed: Road 82 km/h 

Operating Range: 579km 

 

In March 1943, the last wartime variant of the Marmon-Herrington series was introduced. It was completely redesigned and rapidly entered production. A real improvement over previous designs, it introduced a larger turret armed with a two-pounder gun (40 mm/1.575 in). This put its firepower on par with most British early war designs, and was more than adequate to face enemy reconnaissance vehicles. This was also the version with the most prolonged active service, soldiering until the 1980s in many countries. A testimony to its reliability, ruggedness of design and construction.

 

The Mark IV had a monocoque steel hull, 12 mm (0.47 in) thick at the front and 6 mm (0.24 in) elsewhere. The engine was rear mounted and the turret sported a 2-pounder gun (40 mm/1.575 in), with a coaxial 0.3 in (7.62 mm) Browning machine gun. The driver was located in the narrow front compartment, and had a bulletproof window, protected by a large armoured shutter with a single sight slit. The sides also had similar large windows with shutters. This provided the driver with excellent peripheral vision. Both the front and the rear sections were much narrower than the centre. Tooling straps were installed on the right-side slope. Two sand ramps were attached to the chassis and formed an open storage. The fighting compartment provided enough room for the commander and gunner. The three-faceted, two-man turret was open-topped, with a semicircular opening specifically suited for the African theatre of operations. The gun used an artillery mounting, instead of a heavy mantlet, and was located centreline, provided with some elevation. It was shoulder-elevated as usual. On the late type F model it was coupled with a coaxial Browning 0.3 in (7.62 mm) machine-gun with 3500 cartridges. There were also two side slits in the front sides of the turret and two mushroom-type ventilation caps. A second machine-gun could be installed on an AA mount, located on the right side of the front roof section. A storage basket was installed at the rear, and the turret could receive smoke projectors. There was a fixed searchlight on the right side of the turret. A Wireless N°19 Radio was installed at the rear, with two wipe antennae. Due to the inability of Marmon-Herrington to supply drivetrains in sufficient numbers, the F version used a Canadian Ford drive train. The rear-mounted Ford V8 engine and transmission were bolted directly to the welded hull. Although much heavier and longer than previous vehicles, this model was still fast on a flat, up to 85 km/h (53 mph).