Hmm. I was just flipping through some tank books and I was wondering if anyone knew why so many British tanks begin with he letter "C".

Crossley Martel tankette
Carden-Loyd tankette
Cruiser tanks
Covenator
Crusader
Cavalier
Centaur
Churchill
Cromwell
Challenger
Comet
Centurion
Conqueror
Chieftain
Challenger 1 and 2

Is it a coincidence or am I missing something?



Mark C tank

According to page two of the Bovington Tank Museum FAQ there are two explanations.

The first - and this is the specific reason given - is that Churchill ordered it so that they would sound glamorous, similar to the aircraft industry (Hawker Hurricane, Supermarine Spitfire, Handley Page Hampden, etc). Hence, all the C's

The second explanation is similar, only this time it's because of the fact that all the 1939 - 45 tanks listed (with the exception of the Churchill) were cruiser tanks, hence the C's.

Either way, after 1945 the tradition had stuck, leading to the Challanger and the Centurion.

Cheers,
Linz

This is not only limited to tanks all CVRTs begin with S (Scimitar, Spartan)
Wheeled Recce with F (Fox, Ferret)
This trend of naming vehicles can also be seen when you look at the NATO ID names given to foriegn equipment, such as;
Planes: Flogger, Fishbed
Helicopters: Hip, Hind
AA Vehicles: Gauntlet, Gopher

This list could go on and could be placed to alot of countries and time ie all German Tanks were given names of cats and still are.
Robbo

all US tanks start with "M" nyuk nyuk

There is actually some reasoning behind this.

Aircraft
F (1 syllable) = Fighter, propeller powered (Fin, Fang)
F (2 syllable) = Fighter, jet powered (Fulcrum, Fargo)
B (1 syllable) = Bomber, propeller powered (Bear)
B (2 syllable) = Bomber, jet powered (Backfire, Bison)
C (1 syllable) = Transport, propeller powered (Cub, Coal)
C (2 syllable) = Transport, jet powered (Candid)
H = helicopter (Hind, Hip)
M = Miscilanious (Mermaid)

Missiles/Rockets
SA = surface to air missiles (SA-2, SA-7)
G = surface to air missile (Grail, Goa)
AT = anti-tank missile (AT-7, AT-4)
S = surface to surface missile (Scud, Spiral)
SS = surface to surface missile
AA = air to air missile (AA-4, AA-9)
A = air to air missile (Aphid, Atoll)
AS = air to surface missile (AS-1, AS-7)
K = air to surface missile (Kangaroo, Kelt)
N = naval missile (SA-N-3)

Naval missiles do not always equate with land conterparts (SA-N-1 is a naval version of the SA-3; but SA-N-2 and SA-2 are the same)

All of this however was not for traditions sake, but for ease of memory. It also allowed identification of something where the real name/designation was not known.

Cheers,
Linz