AC 1 Sentinel
AC 1 Sentinel
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[Client Values; Actual values in
1,200  Cost |
| 570114 HP Hit Points |
| 27.94/3110.42/31 t Weight Limit |
- Commander
- Gunner
- Driver
- Radio Operator
- Loader
| 330330 hp Engine Power |
| 60.4/20 km/h Speed Limit |
| 4040 deg/s Traverse |
| 11.8131.67 hp/t Power/Wt Ratio |
| NoNo Pivot |
| // mm Hull Armor |
| 65/65/6565/65/65 mm Turret Armor |
AP/APCR/HE
AP/APCR/HE Shells |
30/1200/15
30/1200/15 Shell Cost |
| 45/45/6045/45/60 HP Damage |
| 88/121/2388/121/23 mm Penetration |
|
30 r/m ▲
30 r/m Standard Gun ▲ Rate of Fire Standard Gun |
|
1304.55 ▲
Standard Gun
▼
Standard Gun
▲
1304.55 Standard Gun ▲
Standard Gun
▼
Standard Gun
▲ Damage Per Minute Standard Gun |
|
0.37 m ▲
0.37 m With 50% Crew: 0.458 m ▲ Accuracy With 50% Crew: 0.458 m |
| 2.7 s 2.7 s Aim time |
| 4444 deg/s Turret Traverse |
| 360° Gun Arc |
| -10°/+20°-10°/+20° Elevation Arc |
| 195195 rounds Ammo Capacity |
| 2020 % Chance of Fire |
| 350 m 350 m View Range |
| 450 m 450 m Signal Range |
IV
1200
The AC 1 Sentinel is a British tier 4 premium medium tank.
Developed in 1941 under the program for Australian cruiser tanks. There were plans to produce 2,000 vehicles, but from 1942 through 1943, only 65 vehicles, with serial numbers from 8001 to 8065, were manufactured. In July 1943, it was decided to stop development and cancel the program. The vehicles never saw combat and were used only for training purposes. In 1946, the tanks were removed from service.
The AC 1 Sentinel is a medium tank, as of October 2022 one of only five Tier IV premiums in the game. The tank is the object of derision due to it's allegedly poor gun and "distinctive" machine gun ports (due to them being water- instead of air-cooled, necessitating armored covers). The tank is in the British tech tree as Australia doesn't have it's own tree but is part of the British Commonwealth.
Modules / Available Equipment and Consumables
Modules
Guns
| Tier | Gun | Penetration (mm) |
Damage (HP) |
Rate of fire (rounds/minute) |
Dispersion (m/100m) |
Aiming time (s) |
Weight (kg) |
Price (  )
| |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IV | QF 2-pdr Mk. X-A | 88/121/23 | 45/45/60 | 30 | 0.37 | 2.7 | 130 | 20150 |
Engines
| Tier | Engine | Engine Power (hp) |
Chance of Fire on Impact (%) |
Weight (kg) |
Price ( )
| |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IV | Cadillac "75" x3 | 330 | 20 | 1000 | 10350 |
Suspensions
| Tier | Suspension | Load Limit (т) |
Traverse Speed (gr/sec) |
Rmin | Weight (kg) |
Price ( )
| |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IV | AC 1 Sentinel | 31 | 40 | B/2 | 5000 | 6250 |
Radios
| Tier | Radio | Signal Range (m) |
Weight (kg) |
Price ( )
| |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VII | WS No. 19 Mk. II (Aust.) | 450 | 40 | 21000 |
Compatible Equipment
Compatible Consumables
Player Opinion
Pros and Cons
Pros:
- High fire rate
- Pretty good forward and decent reverse speed
- Low dispersion bloom when rotating turret (only)
- Good gun depression, shell velocity, and accuracy
- Reasonable view range
- Good experience earner even when not taking its premium xp bonus into account
- Good credits maker with cheap AP shells
Cons:
- Poor alpha damage
- Poor aim time -- reloads faster than it can aim, hurting potential DPM unless engaging at point blank range
- No preferential matchmaking
Performance
The AC 1 Sentinel is a versatile medium tank, able to both snipe and work a ridge line. With the frontal armor of the Valentine, HP pool of the Matilda, and some of the speed of the Covenanter, it can't make aggressive maneuvers on flat ground and take a few hits without turning into a burning wreck. This is especially true in Tier IV and V battles. In Tier VI it is relegated to a secondary role as an anti-scout and flank protector in coordination with allies, but at least in this role it has the benefit of a 350 meter view range.
Firepower-wise the Sentinel has reasonable DPM, good shell velocity, and a good armor penetration of 88mm. However its alpha damage of 45 means it will take numerous shots to take out opponents, something partially compensated for with its high rate of fire. While comparable British 2-pdr guns on the Valentine and Covenanter can fire more quickly and do more damage, they only have 78mm of armor penetration -- often the difference between punching through a KV-1 or Matilda and not. Therefore the Sentinel's 2-pdr gun is able to deal less but more consistent damage. The only 2-pdr gun that beats the Mk X-A on the Sentinel is the 2-pdr Mk. X-B with the Little-John adapter on the Matilda. The Sentinel has good gun depression, though the Covenanter, Valentine, and Matilda are not lacking in gun depression either.
The biggest fault of the AC 1 is its 2.7-second aim time -- it doesn't snap-shot well, and reacts poorly to changing conditions and targets. But a 100% gunner, Improved Ventilation, Gun Laying Drive, and a full Brothers in Arms crew can bring this down to 2.25 seconds, which is workable.
Armor protection is fair -- it will bounce the occasional enemy shot but as usual it's not something that can be relied on. If you can, angle your hull so your main gun is just past the front drive wheel.
Forget the listed top speed of 60.4kph, on a level stretch you'll never see it; the top speed is more like 42 or so -- still above average for its class. With a specific power of 11.81hp/ton the Sentinel will struggle a bit up hills, but it goes downhill well -- its transmission lets it hit 67kph or even faster. Its reverse speed of 20kph is good, letting you get out of trouble faster than the average.
The Sentinel is also a good money maker, possibly the best compared to other Tier IV mediums. And it has cheap AP ammo -- on average you pay only two-thirds of the credits per point of damage; only the Matilda (and its LVT variant) offers a bigger bang for the buck.
With its one-for-each-position crew setup of Commander/Gunner/Driver/Radio Operator/Loader the Sentinel is crew-compatible with the AC 4 Experimental and Cromwell B -- the same crew can more or less be used in all three tanks. Compatible non-premiums which can plug their crews into the Sentinel without penalty are the Cavalier, Comet, Cromwell, Medium I, Medium II, and Sherman III. (The Matilda is also compatible but a radio operator must be supplied from elsewhere; the Medium III can be used but has to leave one of its radio operators behind.)
The Sentinel is not a bad Tier IV medium tank, capable of holding its own when top tier and supporting allies when its bottom tier with its good combination of protection, mobility, and firepower. It also has good view range, which comes in handy when bottom tier.
Early Research
As this is a premium tank no research is needed.
Suggested Equipment
Gallery
Historical Info
When design work began in November 1940 the AC 1 was originally intended to be a 2-pounder gun-equipped vehicle, that was intended to be a true Cruiser tank [3], with a weight of between 16 and 20 tonnes. [4] Due to a lack of home grown experience in tank design a mission was sent to the US to examine the M3 design and Colonel W.D. Watson MC, an artillery officer with many years of tank design experience was provided by the UK. He arrived in December 1940. [5] Like the Canadian Ram, the Australian Cruiser was to be based on the engine, drive train, and lower hull of the American M3 Medium tank, [6] mated to an upper hull and turret built closely along the lines of a British Crusader. By 1942 attempting to keep pace with German tank developments, [7] the design specification had become more like an American medium tank, resulting in a heavier design and a higher silhouette profile. [4]
The Australian Cruiser Tank Mark 1 (AC 1) was designated "Sentinel" in February 1942. [8] Manufactured by the New South Wales Railway Company, [4] fabrication took place at Sydney's Chullora Tank Assembly Shops with serial production vehicles emerging in August 1942, the premises also being used as a testing ground. The design used existing parts where available from other tank designs, simplified where necessary to match the machining capacity present in Australia. The hull was cast as a single piece, as was the turret -- a technique not used on the hull of any other tanks of the era. [9]
The original vehicle was designed to mount a QF 2-pounder; this was later changed to a QF 6-pdr (57 mm, 2.25 in). However none of these were available and the first 65 tanks were built with the 2-pounder. Two Vickers machine guns were carried as secondary armament -- one in the hull and a second mounted coaxially beside the main gun. The preferred engines suitable to power a 28 tonne tank, a Pratt & Whitney Wasp single row petrol radial, or a Guiberson diesel radial, were not available within Australia, so the Sentinel was powered by the combined output of three Cadillac 346 in³ (5.7 L) V8 petrol car engines installed in clover-leaf configuration (two engines side-by-side to the front and a single to the rear: all three feeding a common gearbox). 65 production vehicles had been completed by June 1943. [10]
An AC 3 Tank
The Sentinel was to be succeeded by the AC 3, a much improved design with better armour protection, and most importantly increased firepower. The next step up in firepower available in Australia was the 25-pounder (87.6 mm, 3.45 in) gun-howitzer. This was quickly redesigned as a tank gun, work that would later prove useful for the design of the Short 25-pounder. Mounted in a fully traversable turret larger than that of the AC 1 but using the same 54 in (1.4m) turret ring, [11] it was slightly cramped for the turret crew but gave the AC 3 both armour piercing capability as well as an effective high explosive round. The hull machine gun and gunner were removed from the design to make room for stowage of the larger 25-pounder ammunition. Powered by the same three Cadillac V8 engines as the AC 1, they were now mounted radially on a common crank case and geared together to form the "Perrier-Cadillac", [Note 1] a single 17.1 L, 24-cylinder engine, very similar in some respects to the later A57 Chrysler multibank used in some variants of the US M3 and M4 tanks. One pilot model AC 3 had been completed and work had started on producing 25 tanks for trials when the programme was terminated. [8]
In an effort to further improve the firepower of the Australian produced tanks, a turret was developed and mounted on one of the earlier development vehicles to assess the vehicle's ability to mount the foremost Allied anti-tank gun of the day – the British 17 pounder (76 mm, 3 in). This was achieved by mounting two 25 pounder gun-howitzers which when fired together would significantly exceed the recoil of a 17 pounder.[12] It was later fitted with a 17 pounder and after successful gunnery trials the 17 pounder was selected for the AC4 design. For the AC4 the 17 pounder was to be mounted in a new and larger turret, attached by a 70 inch (1778 mm) diameter turret ring, the space for which was accommodated by changes to the upper hull permitted by the compact nature of the "Perrier-Cadillac".[8]
The completed Sentinel tanks were used for evaluation purposes only and were not issued to operational armoured units. The Australian Cruiser tank programme was terminated in July 1943 believing it better for Australia to put the effort spent on the AC tanks towards building her own railway locomotives and supporting the large number of US tanks due to arrive.[13] The tanks that had been produced were placed in storage until the end of the war.[14] In 1943, the 3rd Army Tank Battalion was equipped with a squadron of AC1 tanks which had been modified to resemble German tanks. These tanks were used in the filming of the movie The Rats of Tobruk. This appears to have been the only time a squadron of Sentinels was used for any purpose.
Historical Gallery
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