The Tank, Heavy, TOG II* was a prototype British tank design produced in the early part of the Second World War in case the battlefields of northern France devolved into a morass of mud, trenches and craters as had happened during the First World War. When this did not happen the tank was deemed unnecessary and the project terminated. A development of the TOG I design, only a single prototype was built before the project was dropped.
TOG II* – British Heavy Tank
The TOG II* was a British experimental heavy tank developed during World War II, designed by the Tank Operational Group (TOG), a team of engineers led by the British Army’s Department of Tank Design. Introduced in 1941, the TOG II* was an attempt to create a heavily armored, mobile vehicle capable of breaking through enemy defenses.
Weighing around 80 tons, the TOG II* was an enormous vehicle with an overall length of about 10 meters (33 feet), making it one of the largest tank designs ever conceived by the British. Its armor ranged from 102 mm to 152 mm thick, offering substantial protection against most anti-tank weapons of the time. Despite its heavy armor, the tank was powered by a 600-horsepower engine, giving it a top speed of about 8 km/h (5 mph), making it incredibly slow and unsuitable for rapid maneuvers.
The TOG II* was armed with a 76.2 mm (3-inch) QF gun, which was effective against infantry and fortifications but less so against enemy tanks. It also had a coaxial BESA machine gun for close-defense.
Though impressive in terms of firepower and protection, the TOG II* was impractical for combat due to its weight, size, and lack of mobility. Only two prototypes were produced, and it never saw active combat. The project was ultimately abandoned in 1943 as more mobile and effective tanks, like the Churchill and Comet, came to the forefront.
