Italeri 7054 Bishop I SP Gun

Bishop was a British self-propelled howitzer from the Second World War. The first prototypes were built in 1941, and serial production was carried out in the period 1942-1943. In total, about 100-150 copies of this vehicle were built. Bishop was single powered 131 HP AEC engine. The vehicle was armed with a 25th gun howitzer. Mk. II, caliber 87.6 mm in a rotating turret, and a single 7.7 mm Bren machine gun.

Bishop was the first self-propelled gun in the history of the British Army. The chassis and the hull of the Valentine Mk. III, on which the main armament was placed in the turret. It soon turned out, however, that Bishop was an underdeveloped weapon. First of all, it was characterized by a low maximum speed, very poor armor and a high silhouette that made camouflage in desert conditions difficult. Bad tower design also caused the cannon howitzer 25 pdr. it could not be raised to the maximum, which reduced its range! The vehicle was replaced relatively quickly by more successful designs, primarily the Sexton car. The Bishop self-propelled gun, however, managed to take part in the fighting in North Africa in 1942-1943 and at the beginning of the campaign in Italy (1943-1945). The vehicle was used by the British Army only.