The Bishop Self-Propelled Gun was a Self Propelled Artillery used by Great Britain in the North African Campaign in World War II
Description[]
The Bishop SPG was a self-propelled artillery piece used in the North African Campaign. It was based on Valentine Mk. II hull and mounted the field howitzer Ordnance QF 25-pounder, the standard British artillery piece of World War II. . The superstructure was fixed (despite it looking like a turret). It used the AEC A190 6-cylinder diesel engine, which generated 131 hp, as mounted on the Valentine Mk. II. This meant it was a relatively slow vehicle.
History[]
Design[]
The Bishop was built on the chassis of the Valentine II tank, with a new gun housing fitted to the top. This mounted the Ordnance QF 25-pounder gun, a heavy artillery piece used by British forces.
At the time of its design, the Ordnance QF 2-pounder was the only anti-tank gun in British service, and it was slowly becoming obsolete. The Bishop was designed to fix this issue by motorizing the much heavier 25-pounder, which could effectively combat the new German panzers. Unfortunately, the tank had a lot of problems. Due to its weight, and the low power of its engine, the Bishop was painfully slow.
The box-shaped turret was noted to be uncomfortable and restricting for the crew. It also prevented the gun from reaching its full elevation, which severely lowered its range to only 5,852 meters (6,400 yds). The standard 25-pounder was capable of firing up to 12,253 meters (13,400 yds). The turret itself could only turn up to 8 degrees, meaning the whole vehicle had to be rotated to change targets.
The Bishop's silhouette was equally problematic, and made it an easy target for enemy vehicles.[2]
Operational Service[]
The Bishop SPG served in the North African Campaign with the British army during the later part of the campaign. By that time, the 25 pound artillery wasn't being used in the anti-tank role, so the Bishop was used as self-propelled artillery.[3] The Bishop was used in the Opening stages of the Italian campaign as well as in Sicily.[3]
References[]
- ↑ http://www.militaryfactory.com/armor/detail.asp?armor_id=342
- ↑ http://ww2db.com/vehicle_spec.php?q=159
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Bishop, Chris. The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II. London: Amber Books Ltd, 2018.