Page "Centurion tank" Paragraph 7

Prototypes of the original 40-ton design, the Centurion Mark I, had 76 mm of armour in the front glacis, thinner than the then current infantry tank designs such as the Churchill which had 101 mm, but the glacis plate was highly sloped and so the effective thickness of the armour was very high — a design feature shared by other effective designs such as the German Panther tank and Soviet T-34.

The turret was extremely well armoured at 152 mm.

The tank was also extremely mobile, and easily outperformed the Comet in most tests.

The uparmoured Centurion Mark II soon arrived, featuring a new 118 mm-thick glacis and side and rear armour increased from 38 mm to 51 mm.

Only a handful of Mk I's had been produced when the Mk II replaced it on the production lines.

Full production began in November 1945 with an order of 800 with production lines at Leyland, the Royal Ordnance Factories at Leeds and Woolwich, and Vickers at Elswick.

The tank entered service in December 1946 with the 5th Royal Tank Regiment.