Vickers Medium Mark C

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A different Medium Mark C

The Vickers Medium Mark C was a private export-oriented prototype of the 1920s. It is distinct from the First World War Medium Mark C Hornet: the similar name does not make them one family or a continuous production series. Accounts describe the Vickers vehicle as a single completed tank sold to Japan for evaluation and reference, not a type adopted in quantity for operational service. Sources

Its classification also reflects context. Sources call it a light tank, a medium tank or a twelve-ton export design. Those labels belong to the market and period in which it was offered. They cannot be forced into a later weight-based scheme at the expense of preserving the names used in the available evidence. Sources

A description of a small export batch conflicts with accounts identifying only one completed Mark C. Both statements remain traceable. Sources

An export alternative and its customers

Vickers developed the design as an alternative suited to export at a time when the contemporary British medium designs were subject to government restrictions. It retained a turreted main gun but adopted its own layout and automotive choices. The available evidence connects its design phase with 1925, a sale or order in July 1926, and completion, inspection and import events in 1927. Those are distinct milestones, not proof that one account's year invalidates all the others. Sources

Japan's purchasing mission and the search for a useful tank reference form the main customer story. Accounts place the Vickers vehicle beside Japanese experimentation with the heavier Type 87, while describing the imported machine as a source of practical experience. A possible influence on Type 89 remains disputed. The cited evidence does not establish Japanese license production of an unchanged Vickers design. Sources

Polish representatives also evaluated the design and considered changes. Accounts describe a January 1927 visit, proposals for greater armor and other alterations, and no confirmed purchase. A prospective customer's requirements belong in the proposal history. They do not establish an improved vehicle actually built with those features, much less a Polish operational fleet. Sources

Hull and armament arrangement

The Mark C placed its engine at the rear and carried its main weapon in a central turret. The riveted hull incorporated a prominent front access arrangement, machine-gun positions and external fuel tanks. These details distinguish the export prototype from the British Mark I/II mediums and matter when identifying photographs with generic “Vickers medium” labels. Sources

The preferred main-armament identification in the cited sources is a low-velocity 6-pounder, or 57 mm, gun. The cited accounts also preserves a 47 mm possibility, which the account interprets as likely confusion with the other British mediums' 3-pounder. That interpretation is not a substitute for a primary mounting or armament record. Sources

Four water-cooled .303-inch Vickers machine guns are commonly described: one in the front hull, two at the sides, and one at the turret rear. Accounts give approximately fifty main-gun rounds, 4,000 machine-gun rounds, and a crew of four to five, often summarized as five. Original stowage and crew-allocation details are not firmly established. Sources

Protection was thin, with roughly 5–6.5 mm reported for the basic tank. Figures around 13 mm and even 20 mm concern improved proposals and Polish requests, not demonstrated plates on the vehicle purchased by Japan. Treating the largest proposal thickness as the prototype's armor would erase one of the principal reasons the design required reconsideration. Sources

Automotive performance and unresolved figures

The engine is identified as a six-cylinder, water-cooled Sunbeam Amazon II petrol engine. The source distinguishes a normal rating of about 130 bhp from reported maximum values of 160–165 bhp. They are not interchangeable measurements of sustained output. Derived power-to-weight ratios also depend on which rating and which reported mass are used. Sources

Published accounts give approximately 11.3 long tons, or 11.5 metric tonnes, with a four-speed transmission and epicyclic steering. They describe paired bogie wheels and additional supporting wheels. Track width and obstacle-crossing figures are less securely documented than the general layout. Sources

Road speed is especially unsettled: roughly 30 km/h or 18 mph appears in one technical account, while a museum social-media summary gives a lower figure around 11 mph. The operational range is not established. A reported fuel capacity of 431.6 litres cannot be converted into a reliable range without consumption and test conditions. Sources

Evaluation, proposed improvements and related designs

The reported fire during Japanese demonstrations and subsequent Mitsubishi repair remain unconfirmed in the cited evidence. They do not establish that a single incident caused Japan’s later preference for diesel tank engines. Sources

Improved export proposals addressed armor, manual starting and other practical concerns. The Polish modified concept and the improved twelve-ton proposal remain distinct from the completed vehicle. A later Vickers Mark D is included as a related successor in the available evidence, but the technical connection is not fully established and it is not part of Mark C production. Ireland's association with Mark D likewise does not make it a Mark C operator. Sources

The only firm customer relationship in the cited sources is Japan as purchaser, evaluator and user of the design as a reference. Vickers' factory trials, Polish inspection and the later Type 89 development belong to different relationship categories. No combat history is established. The vehicle's final disposal is also uncertain; “probably scrapped” is not an exact documented fate. Sources

Its significance is therefore industrial and developmental. The tank illustrates how a private manufacturer could offer a foreign customer a design distinct from its home army's equipment, and how imported experience could inform another national program without making the resulting vehicle a licensed copy. Sources

Two photographs and a conspicuous technical gap

Only two images are embedded: an IWM-related view and a photograph associated with Japanese use. They are useful exterior references, but the account does not supply an interior, an authenticated cutaway or a complete technical drawing. The first photograph's approximate historical date is separate from any later upload date. The cited accounts do not firmly establish the second's location and exposure date. Sources

A verified interior, a period arrangement drawing, and documentation of proposed alterations would be valuable additions. Sources

Photograph and image credit

Background reading and references. Each photograph has its own source and credit.

Sources and further reading

Background reading and references. Each photograph has its own source and credit.

1. Tank Encyclopedia 2024: Marcjan Zawadzki, "Vickers Medium Mark C," Tank Encyclopedia, 28 October 2024
2. Tank Museum Mark II: The Tank Museum, "Tank Medium, Mark II*."
3. Taki: Akira Takizawa, "The Development of Imperial Japanese Tanks," Taki's Imperial Japanese Army Page
4. IWM/Commons Vickers image: Wikimedia Commons, File: Vickers Medium Tank.jpg. Source Imperial War Museums, object 205127175, IWM STT 6542; described as Vickers Medium Tank Mk.C. The Commons page marks the image as public domain under expired United Kingdom Crown copyright
5. Wikimedia Commons. “File: Japanese vickers medium mk c.jpg.” Described as an Imperial Japanese Army Vickers Medium Mk C, 1928; attributed to the Imperial Japanese Army, via ww2technik.de. The file lists PD-Japan-oldphoto. Original publication details are incomplete. Source
6. Armor Archives 2016: Yuri Pasholok, "Vickers E: Bestselling Export," Armor Archives, 12 November 2016

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