FV3805 Restoration Kickstarter is funded

Contains threads on British Army equipment of the past, present and future.
Post Reply
RetroSicotte
Retired Site Admin
Posts: 2657
Joined: 30 Apr 2015, 18:10
United Kingdom

FV3805 Restoration Kickstarter is funded

Post by RetroSicotte »

Hey folks, I shoulda thought to post this here a long while ago, but there was a Kickstarter to restore an FV3805 on the Isle of Wight to running condition that has now been funded!

http://ritastatusreport.blogspot.nl/201 ... ccess.html

The owner of the museum, after seeing how many people wanted to restore this rare artefact and came to get started on it even before funding was complete, paid for a good 75%+ of the project out of his own pocket by selling a property to make it happen, thus fully funding the project to bring the FV3805 back to life.

"But Retro, what the hell is an FV3805?"

The FV3805 was a self-propelled gun project in the era of the Centurion tank. Built off the chassis of the Centurion, it was intended to bring a 5.5 inch gun to the fore (About 140mm) and provide the British Army with one of their first proper SPGs of their own building. Over time, it was found to be a little unwieldy beside the incoming FV433 Abbot and was cancelled in 1960 in favour of the smaller and more practical 105mm SPG.

The gun was mounted backwards on the hull in order to cope with the engine placement and weight balance and it now sits in rusted condition on the Isle of Wight. The intent of the project is to restore it to running condition in time for Tankfest at Bovington in 2017.

Here's some pictures:

FV3805 archive photo, probably a mockup:

Image

FV3805's condition today:

Image

And just for clarity of how it looks, here's a fairly accurate render from World of Tanks to show its scale and look from multiple angles. Please note, that aside from the big funding by the Museum Owner, it was almost entirely World of Tanks players that funded this.

Image

A lovely piece of British engineering is coming back to life! Not every day you get to say that, especially about something so obscure.

bobp
Senior Member
Posts: 2684
Joined: 06 May 2015, 07:52
United Kingdom

Re: FV3805 Restoration Kickstarter is funded

Post by bobp »

Is this SPG a one off or are there more in existence?

RetroSicotte
Retired Site Admin
Posts: 2657
Joined: 30 Apr 2015, 18:10
United Kingdom

Re: FV3805 Restoration Kickstarter is funded

Post by RetroSicotte »

There were two made, only one of which survives in awful condition, the one above.

User avatar
ArmChairCivvy
Senior Member
Posts: 16312
Joined: 05 May 2015, 21:34
United Kingdom

Re: FV3805 Restoration Kickstarter is funded

Post by ArmChairCivvy »

Did the 140mm piece exist (I mean, obviously on those two, but was is tested and had rounds produced)?

Or was it one of those: Oh, we've got plenty of these on our ships, so we will just make the turret of the gun carrier big enough so that handling unitary rounds is not a problem?
Ever-lasting truths: Multi-year budgets/ planning by necessity have to address the painful questions; more often than not the Either-Or prevails over Both-And.
If everyone is thinking the same, then someone is not thinking (attributed to Patton)

bobp
Senior Member
Posts: 2684
Joined: 06 May 2015, 07:52
United Kingdom

Re: FV3805 Restoration Kickstarter is funded

Post by bobp »

Thanks for the info its pretty unique then and hats off to those involved.

User avatar
whitelancer
Member
Posts: 619
Joined: 05 May 2015, 22:19
United Kingdom

Re: FV3805 Restoration Kickstarter is funded

Post by whitelancer »

If it was a 5.5 inch gun I assume it was a derivative of the famous 2nd World War artillery piece.

RetroSicotte
Retired Site Admin
Posts: 2657
Joined: 30 Apr 2015, 18:10
United Kingdom

Re: FV3805 Restoration Kickstarter is funded

Post by RetroSicotte »

ArmChairCivvy wrote:Did the 140mm piece exist (I mean, obviously on those two, but was is tested and had rounds produced)?

Or was it one of those: Oh, we've got plenty of these on our ships, so we will just make the turret of the gun carrier big enough so that handling unitary rounds is not a problem?
whitelancer wrote:If it was a 5.5 inch gun I assume it was a derivative of the famous 2nd World War artillery piece.
Given the FV3802 (an earlier Centurion SPG prototype) was intended to use a 25-Pounder, yes, it's almost certainly the BL 5.5-inch Medium Gun.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BL_5.5-inch_Medium_Gun

User avatar
ArmChairCivvy
Senior Member
Posts: 16312
Joined: 05 May 2015, 21:34
United Kingdom

Re: FV3805 Restoration Kickstarter is funded

Post by ArmChairCivvy »

Thanks, yes, it is also confirmed in the wiki entry:
" The second, FV3805, in the 1950s used a Centurion tank carriage, the gun being in a barbette mounting in a fully enclosed casemate."
Ever-lasting truths: Multi-year budgets/ planning by necessity have to address the painful questions; more often than not the Either-Or prevails over Both-And.
If everyone is thinking the same, then someone is not thinking (attributed to Patton)

Chris Werb
Member
Posts: 32
Joined: 12 Dec 2015, 22:21

Re: FV3805 Restoration Kickstarter is funded

Post by Chris Werb »

Considering we had the M40 155m self-propelled gun (one TA Regiment in Shropshire IIRC) and the M44 self-propelled Howitzer (in larger numbers, in Germany), switching back to our oddball 5.5" calibre would seem a retrograde step. That said the 5.5" towed outlasted the M40 in service by about 20 years and the towed 155m M2/M59 by much longer (not sure if we kept any towed Long Toms in service pose WW2, but the carriage and recoil mechansim was used for the 7.2" Mk 6 which was around well into the 1960s at least).

User avatar
Old RN
Member
Posts: 226
Joined: 30 Apr 2015, 19:39
South Africa

Re: FV3805 Restoration Kickstarter is funded

Post by Old RN »

5.5" was in service with the South African army in Angola until at least the mid 1980s.

Chris Werb
Member
Posts: 32
Joined: 12 Dec 2015, 22:21

Re: FV3805 Restoration Kickstarter is funded

Post by Chris Werb »

I think OSD for the 5.5 in the UK TA was 1980. Some were subsequently brought back into service for demonstration fires at Larkhill when a stockpile ofammunitiin was found. The South Africans had a few covertly acquired M59 Long Time for long range work until the G5 entered service. IIRC they were from Jordan.

Post Reply