Vickers-Carden-Loyd amphibious light tank (A4E11/A4E12)

The Vickers-Carden-Loyd amphibious light tank was an experimental amphibious tank developed by Vickers in 1931 and 1932. The War Office designated the prototypes A4E11 and A4E12, and they were also known as L1E1 and L1E2. Closer to a tankette than a true light tank, it carried a crew of two and one Vickers .303 in machine gun behind 11 mm of armour.

Design

Balsa wood packed into the hull kept it afloat. In the water a propeller drove it and a rudder steered it. A 90 hp Meadows six-cylinder engine gave 20-27 mph (32-43 km/h) on land and about 3.7 mph (6 km/h) afloat. The tank weighed about 2.2 tonnes and was 4.06 m long and 2.06 m wide.

Export

The British Army did not adopt it, but Vickers sold it abroad to China, the Dutch East Indies, Thailand and the USSR. The Soviet T-37 amphibious tank was developed directly from it. China's Nationalist government bought 29 in 1935 and formed them into the 1st Tank Battalion. They were faster than the army's FT-17s, though more lightly armoured. In 1932 the tank was demonstrated in Poland and swam the Vistula at Modlin. Poland considered buying one but lacked the funds. Instead it commissioned the State Engineering Works (PZInż.) in 1935 to develop its own amphibious tank for the swamps and rivers of Polesie.