Peerless Armoured Car

Infobox Weapon
name=Peerless armoured car


caption=A Peerless armoured car at Bovington Tank Museum.
is_vehicle=yes
length=6.12 m
width=2.23 m
height=2.77 m
weight=6,900 kg
suspension=
speed=25 km/h (18 mi/h)
vehicle_range=145 km (90 mi)
primary_armament=Two × Hotchkiss 0.303 (7.7 mm) machine guns
secondary_armament=None
armour=10 mm maximum
engine=Peerless
crew=4
engine_power=40 bhp (30 kW)
pw_ratio=5.8 hp/tonne

During the First World War sixteen American Peerless trucks had been modified by the British to serve as armoured cars. These were relatively primitive designs with open backs armed with a Pom-pom gun and a machine gun, and were delivered to the British army in 1915. They were used also by the Tsarist Russian Army as self-propelled anti-aircraft guns.

After the war a new design was needed to replace armoured cars that had been worn out. As a result the Peerless Armoured Car design was developed in 1919. It was based on the chassis of the Peerless three ton lorry, with an armoured body built by the Austin Motor Company.

The Peerless lorry was a relatively slow and heavy vehicle but was reckoned to be tough with solid rubber tires and rear wheel chain drive. The armour for the vehicle produced by the Austin company was based on an earlier design created for the Russian Army, which had been used in very limited numbers at the end of the War in France. The original Austin design, however was shorter than the peerless, the resulting combination was awkward and difficult to steer in confined spaces. In order to reduce the problem a duplicate set of driving controls were installed at the rear of the vehicle.

The most common variant was a twin turret design fitted with two machine guns, however a number of other variants were developed including a vehicle armed with a 3 inch gun and an anti-aircraft variant armed with a 13 pounder AA gun.

Poor off-road performance hampered the vehicle, however, it saw considerable service, notably in Ireland. A few were still in service with the British at the start of the Second World War. 7 were in service with the Irish Army during the Irish Civil War and up until 1932. Plans were considered to transfer the armour onto a more modern chassis. The type was not popular in Irish service. One was taken to Cork City on board the SS Avronia as part of the sea-borne landing force but took a long time to unload. The car was reliable, but slow, heavy and unstable and unsuitable for poor roads - effectively meaning that it's deployment by the Irish Army was almost exclusively restriced to urban areas. See Rolls Royce Armoured Car

References

* "The Encyclopedia of Tanks and Armoured Fighting Vehicles", Christopher F. Foss, Thunder Bay Press, ISBN 1-57145-806-9

External links

* [http://www.warwheels.net/Peerless1919INDEX.html Photos at WarWheels.net]