Centurion Main Battle Tank, Coomandook, South Australia - Military Ground Equipment Displays on Waymarking.com

The Centurion tank was designed and developed towards the end of the Second World War to combat the newer German Tiger and Panther heavy tanks. The Centurion became the standard battle tank for British and Commonwealth armies during the post-1945 period.
The Australian Army purchased its first Centurion tanks in 1950. However, with the start of the Korean War, the tanks were sent to a British regiment and the first Centurions did not arrive in Australia until February 1952.
Centurions went to Vietnam in 1968, where their firepower and offensive capability were great assets for the Australian Task Force. The tanks remained in Vietnam until 1971.
The Australian Army purchased 127 Centurions from the United Kingdom, including four bridge-layers. The tanks remained in service until 1977.

This unit number 169042 spent most of it’s career in the 1st Armoured Regiment. Starting life as a Mark 3, it was used for training at Puckapunyal by 1st Armoured Regiment until 1959, when it went in for its first base overhaul and upgrade to Mark 5 standard. Following a short period in storage, it was then reissued to 1st Armoured Regiment in 1965, remaining with the regiment until sent for its second base overhaul in late 1967. This second overhaul included an upgrade Mark 5/1 (Aust) standard, and was completed early in 1969. It remained in storage for much of 1969, before being sent to South Vietnam, where it was equipped with various in-theatre modifications, by 106 Field Workshops during early December. Following a short period with 1st Forward Delivery Troop, it was assigned call sign 1C.
On February 21st 1970, it detonated an offset mine which dented the floor, near the centre of the turrent, splitting several rounds in the underfloor bins, and spilling the propellant. The damaged RJB probably caused the sparks that ignited the spilt propellant, which effectively burned out the vehicle. The tank had covered just 323 miles since it's last rebuild. 169042 was base overhauled for a third time in late 1970 and early 1971, before being sent to storage. In early 1977, it was re-issued to 1st Armoured Regiment for the last time, spending most of that time with the regiment, before being returned to Bandiana. Along with most of the other Centurions 169042 was sold to Combat Vehicles P/L in the late 1980's, who then on-sold it.
Specifications
Armament: 20 pdr gun, a .50-calibre machine-gun and two .30-calibre Browning machine-guns
Armour: 152 mm
Crew: 4
Power plant: Rolls Royce Meteor V12 liquid-cooled petrol engine
Speed (max): 34 kp/h
Length: 7.6 m
Height: 3.01 m
Width: 3.39 m
Weight: 52 t

Location restrictions: The unit is only visible through the front and side fences

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