Light Tank Mk VIII Harry Hopkins
In service 1943 - 1945
A better-protected Tetrarch that arrived after the light gun tank had no job left, and never saw action.
Built byMetropolitan-Cammell
Development history
Named after Roosevelt adviser Harry Hopkins, the Mk VIII kept the Tetrarch steering principle but added sloped 38 mm frontal armour and a lower profile. By the time it was ready in 1943 the 2-pdr could not hurt a German tank and reconnaissance had passed to armoured cars, so of roughly a hundred built none was used operationally; many were converted to the Alecto self-propelled gun programme. Sources give 99 to 102 completed.
Notable actions
- None - no operational service