Supertest: Turtle Mk. I British Tank Destroyer

The Turtle Mk. I was a School of Tank Technology project released just post-war. Very little is known and only a single picture of it survives today, as the original documents have long since gone. Thanks to Ed Webster, Wargaming was able to recreate this vehicle in-game to possibly introduce it as a British Tier VIII Premium tank destroyer.

The Turtle Mk. I, a British Tier VIII TD, will be supertested in no time. It’s born into the British assault tank family headed by the TD FV217 Badger, taking after the latter in both appearance and specs. The first thing you want to know about the “testee” is that its survivability reaches 1400 HP which is quite impressive for the tier. The armour is the second thing you will definitely admire: it’s 228 mm at the front.

Everything has its price, in this case, the price is low mobility. With 20 km/h as its max speed, you will hardly be able to dash about the map. The best tactic is to choose the direction for attack from the get-go and stick to it to the end of the battle.

That said, the Turtle Mk. I has an ace up its sleeve: its gun. Sporting 3000 DPM, it reloads in 6.6 s with the alpha reaching 330 points. The dispersion and aiming time are no less decent being 0.34 at 100 m and 1.7 s, respectively. Let’s see how the vehicle disposes with the enemy armour: penetration with a standard AP shell is 217 mm and a special APCR round will make a dent in the opposing vehicle 245 mm deep. One more special thing about this TD: the depression angle of -10 degrees and the traverse limits of 20 degrees both to the left and to the right (which, as you know, is crucial for a tank destroyer).

Let’s sum up: though the Turtle Mk. I can’t boast a speedy pace, it causes damage at a rate that can impress! Its survivability and firepower combined allow you to destroy the enemy before it destroys you! If protected by heavy tanks from a rear attack, the Turtle Mk. I can succeed both in keeping the enemy at bay and breaking its defence.

SurvivabilityFirepowerManeuverabilityMobilityConcealmentSpottingCrew

Tier	VIII
Hit Points	1,400 (HP)
Hull Armour	228 / 101 / 76 (mm)
Turret Armour	— / — / — (mm)

Penetration	226 / 258 / 42 (mm)
Damage	330 / 330 / 430 (HP)
Rate of Fire	9.48 (rpm)
Reload Time	6.33 (s)
Turret Traverse Speed	20.86 (deg/s)
Depression / Elevation	-10 / +20 (deg)
Accuracy	0.33 (a)
Aim Time	1.63 (s)
Damage per Minute	3,129 (HP/m)

Aiming Circle Spread
after Shot	— (a)
on Turret Traverse	— (a)
on Vehicle Move	— (a)
on Vehicle Traverse	— (a)
on Turret Full Speed Traversing	— (a)
on Vehicle Full Speed Moving	— (a)
on Vehicle Full Speed Traversing	— (a)

Weight / Load Limit	60.0 / 66.0 (t)
Engine Power	800 (h.p.)
Specific Power	13.33 (h.p./t)
Top Speed / Reverse Speed	20 / 10 (km/h)
Chassis Traverse Speed	23.99 (deg/s)
Terrain Resistance	— / — / —  (m/s2)

Concealment of Stationary Vehicle (%)	13.28 / 2.78 (%)
Concealment of Moving Vehicle (%)	7.98 / 1.67 (%)

View Range	370 (m)
Signal Range	595 (m)

About Author

Harkonnen

Tank Nut and Gamer Wannabe! Huge fan of tanks and World War II history. Playing video games since I was six years old, from Streets of Rage on my Sega Mega Drive to World of Tanks, I’ve never stopped since and will always love games.

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