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The Centurion's development began in 1943, when the British Department of Tank Design was directed to begin design work on a new heavy cruiser tank that was designated A41.
The first mockup of the new vehicle was ready in 1944, with six prototypes being completed by early 1945. They were shipped to Germany, but arrived too late to see combat.The A41 was subsequently redesignated the Centurion Mk I, and was armed with a 20pdr main gun. However, the Centurion saw major design upgrades over its extended life span, with 13 major models - a total of 4,423 vehicles - being produced by 1962. The Centurion is of conventional layout, although unlike most other tanks of the World War II period, it dispensed with the hull gunner and had a crew of four: the driver at the front, and the commander, gunner, and loader in the turret; the engine was at the rear, and drove the tracks through a rear sprocket. The suspension had six road wheels, track return rollers, and protective side skirts. Power is provided by a 650hp 12-cylinder liquid-cooled Rolls-Royce gasoline engine.Later marks of the vehicle, including the Mk 12 version at the Panzermuseum, were armed with the 105mm L7A2 rifled tank gun and fitted with a bore evacuator and thermal sleeve. The L7A2 was fully stabilized, and has a maximum effective range of 1,800m using Armor-Piercing Discarding Sabot (APDS) rounds, and 3,000m to 4,000m when using High Explosive Squash Head (HESH) ammunition. Range for the main gun was normally determined with a .50 caliber ranging machine gun. Secondary armament comprises a coaxial 7.62mm machine gun, plus another 7.62mm machine gun mounted on the commander's rotating cupola. In 1956-1957 the Bundeswehr carried out comparative trials between the Centurion Mk 7 and the U.S. M48; the latter won the trials and was accepted for service with the Bundeswehr. The Centurion was finally replaced in the British Army by the Chieftain, but continued to serve on in a variety of countries (most notably Israel).The Centurion Mk 12 that is on display was a gift to the town of Munster from the British 32nd Armoured Engineer Regiment, which was stationed there until its departure in 1994. The gift was a symbol of the close working relationship between the town and the British troops.
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