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Britain's Dorchester Command Vehicle

Design

Canopy

Early models had a canopy that could be unrolled and had side panels that formed an extended work area.¹

Chassis

The chassis of the Dorchester was a modified AEC Matador.¹ The fuel tank was relocated and the winch was replaced by a generator that powered the radios.¹

Prototype

Production

1941 - 1945: 380¹

Variants

Dorchester Mk I: One large room used for the office and radio room.¹
- Dorchester Mk I LP: Low Power.¹ Had No. 19 LP and HP radio sets.¹
- Dorchester Mk I HP: High Power.¹ Had RCA (radio crystalline amplifier) receiver and a No. 19 radio.¹
Dorchester Mk II: Had separate office and radio rooms.¹

Usage

The Dorchesters were used in Europe and North Africa.¹

Afrika Korps

The Afrika Korps captured three Dorchesters in July 1941.¹ Two were used by Rommel as his HQ vehicles and were named "Max" and "Mortiz."¹ They were designated Mammute (mammoths).¹

	Dorchester Command Vehicle
Crew	7¹ Driver, radio operators (2), officers (4)¹
Physical Characteristics
Weight	10.33 tons¹ 10,500 kg¹
Length w/gun	20' 9"¹ 6.32 m¹
Length w/o gun
Height	10' 2"¹ 3.1 m¹
Width	7' 10"¹ 2.4 m¹
Ground clearance
Ground contact length
Ground pressure
Turret ring diameter
Armament
Main	1: 0.303" Bren light MG¹ 1: 7.7 mm Bren light MG¹
Secondary
MG
MG - coaxial
Side arms
Quantity
Main
Secondary
MG
Side arms
Armor Thickness (mm)	12¹
Hull Front, Upper
Hull Front, Lower
Hull Sides, Upper
Hull Sides, Lower
Hull Rear
Hull Top
Hull Bottom
Turret Front
Turret Sides
Turret Rear
Turret Top
Engine (Make / Model)	AEC¹
Cylinders	6¹
Net HP	95¹
Transmission
Fuel type	Diesel¹
Octane
Capacity
Performance
Traverse
Max speed	36 mph¹ 58 kph¹
Cross country speed
Road range	360 miles¹ 579 km¹
Cross country range
Turning radius
Elevation limits
Fording depth
Trench crossing
Vertical obstacle
Suspension (Type)
Wheels each side
Return rollers each side
Track length
Tires
Track width
Track centers/tread

Sources:

World Encyclopedia of Armored Fighting Vehicles, Jack Livesey, 2006