British Armoured Recovery Vehicles & Wheels, Tracks & Transporters; AFV/Weapons Profiles 35
Windsor, Berks. Profile Publications Ltd., 1971. Presumed First Printing. Wraps. Pages 177-196. Many illustrations of tanks in black and white; two pages of tanks in full color. Some creasing at spine. The series editor was Duncan Crow. By 1942, the British War Office recognized that there was an urgent requirement for a tracked recovery vehicle, able to operate over the same terrain as the combat tanks, and having the same tractive power to retrieve the dead tank by dragging or towing it to a point where the casualty could be loaded on to a wheeled transport and taken to a base workshop. The recovery vehicle should also be able to carry personnel, spare assemblies, repair equipment, and a light jib crane, so as to be able to make repairs on the spot, and be capable of moving at the same speed as the armoured formation to which it was attached. An armoured recovery vehicle (ARV) is typically a powerful tank or armoured personnel carrier (APC) chassis modified for use during combat for towing or repair of battle-damaged, stuck, and/or inoperable armoured fighting vehicles, such as tanks and armoured personnel carriers (APCs). Most ARVs have motorized tracks, like a tank or bulldozer, enabling the ARV to operate on uneven ground. The term "Armoured Repair and Recovery Vehicle" (ARRV) is also used.
ARVs may have winches, jibs, cranes, and/or bulldozer blades to aid in tank recovery. Typically, any specialized lifting and recovery equipment replaces the turret and cannon found on a regular tank. ARVs may in some cases have electric generators, blowtorches, chainsaws and fuel pumps to help with recovery operations, or spare parts, to facilitate field repairs. Some ARVs have a spade component to anchor the vehicle when it is towing or lifting. Since most ARVs are based on tank or APC chassis, they have an armored crew cockpit and engine, which means that ARVs can be operated in combat conditions. Rarely, an ARV may be armed, such as some M32s, which have an 81 mm mortar for screening purposes, and the M88, which has a .50 cal heavy machine gun. One WWII Sherman-based ARV had a dummy gun installed where the turret would normally go.
Early ARVs in WWII were often repurposed tanks, with the turret and cannon removed and replaced with some type of winch. In the 2010s, ARVs are generally factory-built. Even so, ARVs often use a shared chassis that is used on an army's other fighting vehicles, as this facilitates repair and maintenance of the ARV (as parts from tanks using the same chassis can be used to repair the ARV).
Some ARVs are operated in tandem with armoured bulldozers. ARVs generally can only tow an equivalent-class vehicle or one that is lighter in weight. As such, an APC chassis-based ARV can only tow and recover an APC, but not a much heavier tank. While most ARVs are made from or based on APC or tank chassis, more rarely, an ARV may be based on an artillery tractor chassis. Some ARVs have specialized equipment that enables them to operate on beaches or in shallow water. Condition: Good.
Keywords: British Armoured Recovery Vehicles. World War 2, Tracked Vehicles, Transporters, BARV, ARV, Vickers, Sprocket, Carden-Loyd Track, Semi-Trailer
[Book #79389]
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